[LouisianaGuy]

Decided to change my oil after I changed it a few months ago, and ran the car for 20 or so minutes after not running it for 6 months.....first change oil looked fine and same with filter, and I added a bottle of lucas and ran it 20 or so min and shut it off...no noise or anything.....Decided to change it again after I swapped the heads in preperation for turbo deal, I got some water in when changing heads....Drained oil tonight and the oil had a few Gold swirls in it but nothing in the filter paper, nothing at all, but I did have some crap floating in the bottom of the filter canister after I removed the element....What gives why would the oil have some gold material but none in the filter ellement....engine has been in the car a few years with around 2500 miles and 40 or so drag strip passes...has good oil pressure and is not knocking ...well not yet any how...I rally dont wana pull the motor yet because im right in the middle of finishing up the turbo build.
I guess once the turbos are on and everything is tuned if there is a problem I will know it after it starts seeing boost :P
Oh I added a magnetic plug a few months back with tha last oil change, and it had a build up of sludgy crap on it like a magnet in arear end has but not near as much, but had no metal particles....is this motor eating its self up or am I being paranoid and just seeing normal wear?
Mike

[Bad Karma]

gold is usually a bad sign but I am not an expert.

[SCOTT ESTERLE]

Mine recently had the same issue so i pulled it down to find basically nothing wrong with it. I think it was coming off the Harland Sharp rockers. There was nothing else in the motor that was that color.

[Jagtec1]

Did you use copper coat on your head gaskets? Either time?

[LouisianaGuy]

Yes I used copper coat on my head gaskets every time but the most recent, and i have not fired it with the new head gaskets with no copper coat on them. And I had and still have HS rockers. The set of rockers I have noe have NO wear on them yet because I have not run them :P But I hope they dont wwear by the nuts where the last 2 sets did.
Maby not bad news then
Mike

[LouisianaGuy]

Scott, did you continue to use you HS rockers? I think after they wear in they are ok? Should I send em back to HS if this set begin to wear on the insides near the nuts.
Mike

[pontorquer]

What about your distributor gear ? What kind do you have ? Bronze ? Just a thought.

[LouisianaGuy]

Dont member what kinda gear, need to go look...had dist redone by Suntuned and there seemed to be some wear on it when I looked at the gear when I pulled it...more wear than the old gear had, course the old gear was exactly that..OLD so it was all worn looking LOL.
Mike

[INJUNTOM]

you should have only had a bronze gear installed if you have a roller cam.

also from what i have seen, the bronze is in flakes, not so much gold swirls.

[Jagtec1]

Maybe a pic would help, if you have any. If you are not running a roller cam, as mentioned, the gold will not be from the dist. gear. I'm guessing perhaps it's from the copper coat, but that all depends on how much "gold" you found. If you found nothing in the filter media, I wouldn't get too worked up over it. You'd have found other silver bearing material before the copper looking color if you were eating bearings. JMO.

[SCOTT ESTERLE]

Yes i'm still running them. Funny thing is i can't see where it is coming off the rockers. I think it just wears off as the oil passes over it. That's just a guess.

[formulabird428]

It's kinda funny, because my engine had the same thing going. It was a gold swirl in the oil. However, if you dump the oil onto the counter, there are really small (and i mean tiny) specs of either gold or silver metal. They are magnetic, so I guess that would rule out the bearings?

This has happened twice with me, once with their being a rod bearing issue, although the issue could have been both detonation & coincidence of gold in oil. Specs on that build were 11.75:1 CR and 50/50 mix of 93 & 110. The bearings were only worn on the piston side, not the cap side...which I'm thinking detonation. Engine also ran hot, 205-220. Timing was a solid 38 degree w/iron heads. Oil was Pennzoil Racing GT 25w-50, K&N filter HP-2003. Clearance were .0035 main, .0019 to .0023 rod, .013 rod side clearance. Only 5 hrs of run time on the engine. Pressure was 55 to 60, idle, hot, at the filter.

The second time, I checked and I talked to both Kauffman & a very well known local pontiac guy, been racing for 35+ years with the Pontiac. They both said it's nothing to worry about. I didn't pull the pan, and the engine runs fine. 30 degrees timing, 180 engine temp, 195 oil temp, 15w-40 Rotella oil, and 93 octane. CR is about 11.25:1. Pressure is 55 to 60, idle, hot, at the distributor, 85 idle cold at distributor.

I don't have a bronze dist. gear, i did use copper coat on the first time, but it wasn't that, and I do have HS rockers. The second time, I switched head gaskets. The only thing that has stayed the same both builds was the gold iridited Milodon pan & HS rockers.

The oil problem, I don't see how it could be. After the bearing issue, I changed brand bearings, filter, pump, & pickup. Clearances are .0025 rod, .003 main, .015 side clearance.

Go figure...lol.

[LouisianaGuy]

Well I dont have a bronze gear, and the gold stuff is not magnetic...humm well I will know in a few weeks when the turbos are on and going...Im just going to run it and if it goes to knocking, then I will pull it....I do plan on pulling it after running the turbos for a few weeks if things work out ok...So I will be able to check it out soon enough.
Mike

[Hard-Timess]

Amsoil provides a service for oil analysis where the dealer gives you a kit that you send off to a lab. For $26, the lab provides a report that tells you exactly what is in the oil and if it indicates a problem with the engine.

I use Cleveland Tech and send a sample every three months to ensure I have no un-expected problems. I have no dip stick so I measure and filter my oil through a 10 micron screen after each race and reuse it. I also have a 6"X1/2" circular rare earth magnet on the bottom of my oil pan to catch and hold any foreign material.

The last time I sent my oil sample was shortly after switching to Torco fuel and the oil developed a silvery look. The lab actually called me because the lead content in the oil was very high but there was no tin or copper. I called Torco and found that their fuel has a very high lead additive pkg. No problem, still running the same oil.

Hope this helps take the guessing out of this issue.

[Jack Gifford]

Kendall used to do oil analysis for free- don't know if they still do.