Engine Builders: After 75,000 miles, your customers’ engines can begin to show their age. They may consume a bit more oil or oil could leak past intake valve stem seals. Higher Mileage specialty motor oils typically contain additives that condition the rubber seals to help reduce oil consumption. They can also have high quality base oils that are less likely to evaporate when near the combustion chamber. An example of this type of specialty oil is Quaker State® Higher Mileage Engine™ with Slick 50®, which is specifically engineered to help reduce oil consumption.
Another way these specialty oils help provide performance is by helping provide a better seal around the aging piston rings by incorporating thicker oil viscosity.
After modifying an engine to boost horsepower, some engine builders and automotive enthusiasts look for a motor oil that provides the right balance among oil viscosity, oil flow and oil pressure to help free up as much horsepower as possible without sacrificing bearing life. Today’s racing specialty oils such as Q Racing™ come in a variety of viscosity grades and also contain select friction modifiers that make the racing oil slippery to help free up more horsepower.
Racing oils may also address the wear sometimes associated with stiffer valve springs added to help keep the valves from “floating” at higher rpms. These oils include additional antiwear additives to compensate for the increased loads the stiffer springs place on the camshaft.
As you can see, an oil company does have the ability to develop different engine oils to not only meet the specifications listed in a car’s owner’s manual, but also to modify engine oils to meet your customer’s particular driving demands on the road or on the race track.
The preceding information on specialty engine oils has been provided by Quaker State.
Engine Builders: The AERA Technical Committee offers the following information regarding a revised lower thrust bearing for 2000-2003 Ford/Navistar 7.3L diesel engines. It has been reported that service technicians have been confused while re-assembling the crankshaft into engine blocks for the above engine. The confusion exists while installing the lower thrust bearing shell as it has no locating lug.
This unwarranted confusion is the result of a revised bearing that was introduced with the model year 2000 engines. The new lower thrust main bearing (#5 position only) was released for production and service for ease of installation. The bearing was modified by removing the locking tab.
The new production and service bearing now affords service technicians the opportunity to install and orient the lower thrust bearing in either direction. Additionally, the elimination of the locking tab for the #5 main bearing lower thrust position prevents assembly interference issues with the lower thrust bearing locking tab and the #5 main bearing cap. The functionality of the new bearing is not impeded because it is secured by the upper bearing with a locking tab. Service bearings are available in standard and three common undersizes (see Figure 1).
Main Set P/N
Description
1812325C92
Standard Crankshaft Bearing Package
1812326C92
.010″ (.25 mm) Crankshaft Bearing Package
1812327C92
.020″ (.50 mm) Crankshaft Bearing Package
1812328C92
.030″ (.75 mm) Crankshaft Bearing Package
Figure 1: Main bearing sets for 2000-2003 Ford/Navistar 7.3L diesel engines.
Note: Service bearing for lower main bearings 1-4 and crankcase (upper 1-5) continue to require the locking tab feature.
Engine Builders: The AERA Technical Committee offers the following information regarding the lower intake manifold installation for 1993-’96 Ford 4.6L VIN V engines. This engine is the DOHC design used in Lincoln vehicles.
This engine uses a combination of twenty long and short studs and nuts as well as four mounting bolts to secure the lower intake manifold to the cylinder heads. The correct installation procedures must be used to obtain an effective long lasting gasket seal.
Review the steps and procedures listed below before attempting installation.
Clean and verify cylinder head and intake manifold surfaces are true and flat within .002″ (.051 mm).
Install new intake manifold gaskets.
Following the sequence shown in Figure 2, tighten fasteners numbered 5, 7, 9, and 11 to 9-11 ft.lbs.
In sequence, tighten the remaining numbered fasteners to 13-16 ft.lbs.
In sequence, rotate all twenty fasteners an additional 85-95° as shown in Figure 2.
Tighten the 4 (A, B, C, D) intake manifold runner control (IMRC) bolts to 71-89 in.lbs. in sequence (A, B, C, D) as shown in Figure 3.
In sequence, tighten them an additional 85-95°.
For information on receiving all of AERA’s regular monthly technical bulletins and other association services and benefits, call toll free 888-326-2372 or send an e-mail to [email protected]
Choosing the Correct Block for Your LS Engine Build
Whether you’re scouring junkyards, ordering cores, investigating factory options, looking at aftermarket cast iron or aluminum blocks, or spending big bucks on billet LS blocks, you’ve probably noticed it’s been harder to find exactly what you want for the foundation of your LS build than it historically has.
As we’ve often written about in the pages of Engine Builder, and certainly in recent LS-focused issues, the LS engine family is still a hot commodity. The reasons are many and those reasons are valid. However, as that popularity has remained high from more and more people seeking an LS engine build or doing an LS swap or boosting a junkyard find, the availability of LS blocks are taking a hit. The result has been higher prices in some cases and longer waits in others, leaving people with a more difficult choice.
Closed-loop control can be programmed to either add or subtract up to a certain percentage of fuel in order for the engine to reach the target air/fuel ratio.
Next time you have set of large journal small block Chevy connecting rods to resize, consider honing the big ends of them for a +.002” outside diameter bearing that the LS engines with fracture cap rods use.
Engine components are serious investments for any racer and maintaining that investment could be the difference between winning a championship and losing it.
It’s not just the port work alone that creates spectacular cylinder head performance. The most critical areas of a cylinder head are those which pass the most air at the highest speed and for the longest duration. Your bowl area, the valve job, the throat diameter, and combustion chamber are all crucial parts.
As you ascend Mt. Everest, you reach an area called the death zone. Once you climb high enough, the margin of error becomes perilously thin. That death zone also applies to engines. As the horsepower per cubic inch and rpm increase, the margin of error decreases.
Precision is key when it comes to automotive parts; the complex designs of connecting rods, pistons and rings, blocks, cylinder heads, and other parts require super tight tolerances that are getting more and more difficult to be met by hand or with other machining processes outside of CNC.
Engine building is a segment of the automotive industry that has always been ahead of the curve in media blasting, and no matter the engine shop, cleaning equipment is a common bond.
