Lubrication of main and rod bearings question

[Papageorgio]

So firstly i have a Chevy 5.3l v8 gen 3 engine that im doing head Gaskets on and a few new parts in the valvetrain. The friend helping me used scotch brite at first, on the block deck only and after that i got oit the plastic scrapers because of evertthing ive read about the abrasive particles that shed from scotch brite. The engine sits as a short block with no heads on it currently and brake cleaner and compressed air was used to clean things off the make sure no abrasive particles were left. Its getting new cam and lifters so the lifter bores are open and no cam inside and brake cleaner was used in that area and washed down of course onto the bottom end parts in the crankcase. The motor was rotated by hand a few times and then oil was poured over the bottom end and the cylinder bores were sprayed with wd40 forrust prevention. This is of course not ideal which leads to my questions.

Would the brake cleaner that ran down have been able to get into crank or rod bearings enough to dry them out? If so would the oil that was poured over all these parts have gotten back onto them? And lastly would having turned it over a few times by hand with them possibly dry have hurt anything?

To add, the crank and pistons spin freely with a wrench on the balancer bolt and either way will be primed with oil before it gets started again.

Thanks for any thoughts on this.

 

[mattd]

I wouldn’t worry about the brake clean. If it were me, before you put the heads on, maybe pour some oil down to “rinse” everything to the pan with the drain plug out.

 

[Papageorgio]

I wouldn’t worry about the brake clean. If it were me, before you put the heads on, maybe pour some oil down to “rinse” everything to the pan with the drain plug out.

Yes, will do. My biggest concern was the rotations by hand that were done with the brake clean down there. Im wondering if as long as it not spun at speed like with a starter or by the motor firing up that the bearings wouldnt have gained any damage

 

[mattd]

As I said don’t worry about it. If you are really concerned, get a pre-lube kit and pressurize the oil galleries and it will flush everything out.

 

[Papageorgio]

As I said don’t worry about it. If you are really concerned, get a pre-lube kit and pressurize the oil galleries and it will flush everything out.

Ok, thanks. I looked at a couple of kits for that, wouldnt be a bad thing to get and have for future use as well.

 

[wpod]

Now would be a good time to doa complete inspection and R&R parts as needed. Rookie move by the way.

 

[Chris142]

There is no way for the brackcleaner to get between the rods / mains and crank unless you took those parts apart and sprayed it in them delibritly.

Drain the oil and replace the filter. Put in new oil right before you start it.

I usually run them a couple hours and change the oil again

 

[AutoMechanic]

Yeah I agree with the above no worry too much.

 

[philipp10]

Yes, will do. My biggest concern was the rotations by hand that were done with the brake clean down there. Im wondering if as long as it not spun at speed like with a starter or by the motor firing up that the bearings wouldnt have gained any damage

Think about how difficult is it to sand or file steel. Now can you imagine a scenario where rotating an engine by hand would realistically remove any material? Didn't think so. No worries.

 

[Silver]

I guess if you were really paranoid you could fill it slap full of oil, up to the fill hole, once it's all back together, then drain it to proper level.

 

[Cujet]

Pre-oiling an engine once assembled is really easy!

purchase a $8 gear oil pump and Tiewrap a 1/4 inch tube on it. And put in on of a quart of oil.

https://www.amazon.com/Plews-55001-Lubrimatic-Standard-Bottles/dp/B000BQW5LK/ref=sr_1_20?dchild=1&keywords=gear+oil+pump&qid=1607790967&sr=8-20

put a hose barb in place of the oil pressure sender.

pump in a quart. Th little hand pump will easily make 30psi and will fill all the oil passages, and pump plenty of oil to the main bearings.

install the oil pressure sender and crank it up.