onesickpantera

iTrader: (1)

My friend has a Check 253 with a procharged 454. Last week he called me and said his alarm went off and he lost some power. I ran down to the launch and hopped in and immediately noticed his oil pressure was very low. Checked the oil and it smelled like it might have some fuel in it so I told him to change it.

I went out with him today and it was holding about 40 lbs of oil pressure at idle after about 10 minutes. So, we went for a 3000 rpm cruise. After about a mile it starting losing power. He brought it to idle and oil pressure dropped down to about 5-10 lbs. Shut it down and popped the hatch. Oil filter pod and filter were HOT. Too hot to hold your hand on for more than a second or two. Let it set for a few minutes and started it back up. The valve cover breathers were smoking a bit. Not horrible, but mine go to my flame arrestor so I don't know what is normal. Oil pressure crept back up to about 15-20 lbs at 1200 rpm.

One last thing, I personally think his procharger is noisy. He says it's sounded like that since he bought it(just this year) but I think something is wrong. I wanted to pull the belt and see if it spun smooth but we didn't have the right tools. Is it possible the prochager has a bearing going and making the engine "work" way to hard increasing the oil temps? He's gonna pull the belt and see if it spins freely.

And no we haven't done a leak down or compression test since this just happened a few minutes ago. But it sounds great at idle.

fireboatpilot

Just had the same exact same thing happen to one of my 468's. I spun 2 rod bearings, #1&#2 rods then heated up and burnt the oil passing thru the heated lournal causing the internal smoke. I was lucky and caught it before I trashed the crank, block, pistons and rods. Looks like he has a project for the winter.

PatriYacht

Sounds like the engine is hurt. I'd be worried about bearings with that oil pressure. Does the oil smell burnt?

paradigm shift

I would cut the oil filter open also if you have not already. I do this every oil change looking for any change. If you see bearing material or brass backing tear down is in order. Not sure about pro charger but if I was betting my money is on bottom end trouble. Sorry just my guess. Time for a

wtfo

My first thought... coming on sudden, drop in oil pressure... spun bearing(s)...

especially if it's a procharger motor with a stock bottom end...

FIXX

iTrader: (2)

pull spark plugs and read them,,the gas in the oil is my concern,may have leined it out and did some piston damage..

ezstriper

oil was contaminated by the fuel, carb flooding/etc and that broke the oil down, now has spun a rod bearing or two....and ir does not take long for fuel in oil to kill the engine....Rob, ps I have a brand new 489 blower motor for sale

onesickpantera

iTrader: (1)

I told him to keep the filter to cut it open.

If you spin a bearing doesn't oil pressure remain low? If he lets it sit and cool down the oil pressure will come back. Oil does not look or smell burnt.

I'll help him do a compression test and see if I can round up a filter cutter.

ezstriper

sounds like it already is.....don't waste your time with a compression test..won't tell much about what happened here..pull the engine and start checking the rod bearings, ck 1/2 first...