Fancy oil in the old L226

dekeeb

dekeeb

Sharpest Tool
Aug 24, 2013
261
Minnesota
First Name
Kris
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1955
I've been running my recently reawakened L226 for extended periods in my 55 pickup, and have been dropping the oil and replacing with clean oil and and new filters. Prior to getting the engine running I dropped the oil pan and extensively cleaned it along with the oil filter cannister. Both had massive amounts of sludge accumulated at the bottom from the last time the engine had been run in the late 70's. I'm on my forth oil change and now that things are clearing up a bit I'm finding glitter mixed in with the oil. I've dragged a magnet through the waste oil and find nothing in the oil that is attracted to the magnet, but I'm a bit nervous about the extremely fine glitter that I can see when I shine a flashlight into the drain pan. Not being too familiar with these vintage engine is this something normal or is it a sign of failing engine or is it something not that unusual for such a long napping dinosaur?
 
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Visible metal in the oil is never a good sign. How much glitter are we talking about? In a 226, only the pistons and bearings are non-magnetic. I think you're on the right track with frequent oil changes. Hopefully the metal in the oil diminishes with time, otherwise the part that is wearing out will announce itself.
 
Herk said:
Visible metal in the oil is never a good sign. How much glitter are we talking about?
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I don't notice it in the initial bulk of oil draining out, but it becomes noticeable as the flow diminishes near the last of the oil draining out of the pan. The "glitter" is so fine it almost appears as a powder. After a few more run/change cycles I'm preparing to pull the engine to peek under the head and also take a look at the bottom ahead of frame work.
 
You could do an oil analysis, would not necessarily need the TBN numbers since it's brand new oil, that might save a few bucks at certain vendors.

I've gotten them 2 ways pre-paid or order the supplies and then paid when submitted.
 
Timing chain and lifter/cam lobe wear is magnetic. Probably too late to stop it. Lucas new engine additive would have helped. Again, probably too late now. Old engines were designed to have oil with a heavy additive package.
 
Grit in the oil will cut grooves in the soft material of the main and rod bearings. The material cut out of the bearings will show up as non-magnetic glitter in the oil.

It sounds like you’re doing the right things and about all you can do. Just keep driving and keep doing frequent oil changes.
 
Blindmelon said:
Timing chain and lifter/cam lobe wear is magnetic. Probably too late to stop it. Lucas new engine additive would have helped. Again, probably too late now. Old engines were designed to have oil with a heavy additive package.
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These engines were designed BEFORE most of the stuff the additive market tells us we need was invented. And no, oil wasn't somehow better then.
 
timd32 said:
You could do an oil analysis, would not necessarily need the TBN numbers since it's brand new oil, that might save a few bucks at certain vendors.

I've gotten them 2 ways pre-paid or order the supplies and then paid when submitted.
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Good idea, thanks.
Blindmelon said:
Timing chain and lifter/cam lobe wear is magnetic. Probably too late to stop it. Lucas new engine additive would have helped. Again, probably too late now. Old engines were designed to have oil with a heavy additive package.
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I've been running it with Rotella T 15W-40...I plan on pulling apart the oil filter cartridge to see what I can see there as well. It will be interesting to see what awaits me when I get it pulled and on the stand.
 
Are you pulling the engine just because of this issue, or was that the plan anyway? If it's because of this issue I would suggest doing some more diagnostics first. Maybe you cna keep enjoying it as-is and focus on other things while it's still drivable. One thing that might be helpful would be to add a (temporary?) tee to the electric oil sending unit and hook up a good mechanical gauge (with an easy to read small increments face) and compare readings over time. If you have bearing wear, and it gets more severe, it will show up as reduced oil pressure at idle when the engine is at operating temps and the mechanical gauge will usually be easier to read and see slight differences over time. The oil analysis would also be a great tool, but we already know it's not magnetic, so it's already narrowed down somewhat. Another possibility is that the new detergant oil is cleaning up the motor from deposits that were there before you owned it. Maybe the wear occured prior to previous repair and you're chasing a problem taht no longer exists. There are "pools" in the block (tappet chamber can hold stuff) where sediment can gather and rest and not be removed easily that may be "self-cleaning" now with the modern oil. I hope to be doing the exact thing soon, getting my wagon moving under its own power (ran when parked, by me) after a 30 year rest, and expect to be finding similar issues, so this topic is timely for me.
 
Pulling the engine was part of the larger plan on a frame replacement and/or repair. I had the same thought as well that running it with modern oil would go a long way of cleaning out the decades of deposits that were left behind with poorer oils. When I purchased my vehicle it was pretty much a time capsule from the 70's. I found a cardboard can of Skelly Fortified Tagolene HD Motor oil under the seat I presume it was running in it when parked....not sure what it was "fortified" with, but clearly it left mountains of sludge behind. The way the engine runs so smoothly and without any alarming sounds makes me want to believe I may just be cleaning up old bad habits, but I don't want to be lying to myself either and ignoring something that could lead to a catastrophic failure that could have been remedied before it happened. Someone earlier had warned me about mission creep, but I'm as much about learning on this journey as I am about driving.
 
"Crunchy, yummy and made with whole grain, Skelly Fortified Tagolene HD Motor oil is fortified with 5 vitamins and 2 minerals, including riboflavin, niacin, B6, folic acid, pantothenic acid, iron, calcium and, sometimes, vitamin D."

obviously sarcasm, but the oils of new and old always had an angle.
 
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dekeeb said:
Pulling the engine was part of the larger plan on a frame replacement and/or repair. I had the same thought as well that running it with modern oil would go a long way of cleaning out the decades of deposits that were left behind with poorer oils. When I purchased my vehicle it was pretty much a time capsule from the 70's. I found a cardboard can of Skelly Fortified Tagolene HD Motor oil under the seat I presume it was running in it when parked....not sure what it was "fortified" with, but clearly it left mountains of sludge behind. The way the engine runs so smoothly and without any alarming sounds makes me want to believe I may just be cleaning up old bad habits, but I don't want to be lying to myself either and ignoring something that could lead to a catastrophic failure that could have been remedied before it happened. Someone earlier had warned me about mission creep, but I'm as much about learning on this journey as I am about driving.
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These engines came from the factory without oil filters. It was better for them if the oil of the day allowed debris to sink and settle in nooks and crannies rather than circulate.

Detergent oil is a product for engines with full-flow filters.

The addition of bypass filters to these engines means most circulating debris will be removed, eventually.
 
We now know the reason for the fancy oil in my L226….and it isn’t pretty. I pulled the head off once I got it on the stand, and you’ll see from the photo the Super Hurricane was hit by an aluminum tornado. Considering the amount of chaos going on in cylinder #4, it’s amazing how well the engine ran before it was pulled. Certainly, the notion that the L226 is rather bullet proof seems to be proved out in this particular case. I’m not sure where the old girl found her aluminum diet, I’m guessing somewhere between 1978 and 2013 something got tossed down the carb and got pulled in to #4. There is a rather deep gouge on the manifold side of the cylinder so it looks like a total rebuild is in order. I’m interested in your opinions on what the best course of action is to keep this old truck breathing. You’ll note from the stamping on the piston heads this isn’t her first rodeo.
 

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dekeeb said:
We now know the reason for the fancy oil in my L226….and it isn’t pretty. I pulled the head off once I got it on the stand, and you’ll see from the photo the Super Hurricane was hit by an aluminum tornado. Considering the amount of chaos going on in cylinder #4, it’s amazing how well the engine ran before it was pulled. Certainly, the notion that the L226 is rather bullet proof seems to be proved out in this particular case. I’m not sure where the old girl found her aluminum diet, I’m guessing somewhere between 1978 and 2013 something got tossed down the carb and got pulled in to #4. There is a rather deep gouge on the manifold side of the cylinder so it looks like a total rebuild is in order. I’m interested in your opinions on what the best course of action is to keep this old truck breathing. You’ll note from the stamping on the piston heads this isn’t her first rodeo.
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Looks like a piece of hardware went down the intake port.
 
Or the top ring broke and a piece ended up on top of the piston, judging from the damage to the top ring land.
 
Since this engine has already been bored 30 over how much more room is there left in a 226 before you start flirting with the water jacket? I'm new to all of this so I'm trying to get an idea what my best options are for a good rebuild. I've checked the block over as good as I can visually, and see no evidence of cracks anywhere.
 
I've heard of 0.060" on these, but lately I've only seen 0.040" available, but I guess the availability of pistons and rings is a factor. Apparently they aren't as common as we would like. NAPA has sleeves though. Another problem, depending on where you live, will be finding a competent machine shop to do the work. They are getting rare. The shop that sleeved my GPA block (same as GPW, Willys 134) last month told me that they were the last automotive machine shop in the greater Milwaukee area and that my block was the last flat head they will ever do. The next closest machine shop (that comes highly recommended) is over 5 hours away in Davenport, Iowa https://www.abrahamsmachineserviceincia.hibuwebsites.com/ I also heard of another in Ohio, about 8 hours away from me, but Davenport is closer for both of us.

On my 226 I have several cracks from head bolt holes to the closest water jacket. Look very closely in those areas as I understand that's fairly common on these. I'm hoping that out of the four engines I have I can get the two good blocks I need.

dekeeb said:
Considering the amount of chaos going on in cylinder #4, it’s amazing how well the engine ran before it was pulled.
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And what's with issues on cylinder #4 on these? I have a worn piston in cylinder #4 that's just flopping around in the worn over-sized hole. It's so worn that it doesn't even make noise. I only use it to plow the driveway right now so I keep it running like that until I can get my GPW done, then I can move on to this project. They're pretty tough if you go slow.
 
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