Friday, Jul 21, 2006 at 08:26
Yeah
That does sort of cruel my theory doesn't it? Interesting comment about the bearing material, Dieselup. Obviously a concern when you see that sort of thing, but not necessarily a precursor to a holed, grabbed or melted piston (if that is the normal failure result).
I remember supplying a customer a specialty engine oil (much beefier, better antiwear etc) for a 6V92 Detroit about 20 something years ago. All went well, reduced oil burning etc. Their mechanic kept a close eye on things, and noted metal flakes in the oil filter. He claimed the oil had caused bearing wear. Flakes of bearing material had been removed leaving cavities in the bearing face. It didn't look like an oil related problem (ie abrasive wear, or adhesive wear) to me.
I took the bearings to a Detroit specialist, who said that was normal for a 6V92, showed me the bearing condition photos in the manual, which described it as cavitation erosion. Apparently, something like 30% of the surface area of the bearing can be removed, and it is still normal, and doesn't cause proplems.
To me, that shouldn't happen, and there must be a design issue causing it, but the fact remains, it was not a problem in the 6V92's. There may be other engines that do this too. I had noted a few isolated specks of non-magnetic metal in the 3L GU I had as well, and that made me recall my 6V92 experience. I guess if you had a lot of bearing material in the filter, I would do exactly what you did.
Regards
Brid
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