[Grady Clay]

Doug,

“Would either the crank oil plugs / piston squirters come out of the crank case with an oil change?”

I suppose that depends on how your pump screen is situated. Does anything have to go through the screen to exit the drain or not. Even if it can come out, doesn’t mean it has. It very well can be setting on the bottom of the case.

Even with these symptoms and feedback, there is some chance you won’t find anything definitive. Discuss this with all the parties. Have a plan.


“In your estimation should the motor come out immediately and be disassembled looking for various issues you pointed out - is this your advice?”

Given these symptoms, yes. Even if there were only a 5% chance this might be the problem, I would still investigate. The reason is the potential consequences are so severe. It might be that everything works great until some event and a bearing fails, a rod breaks, the case, crank, some P&Cs and more are destroyed. Not a desirable possibility.

The cost to find out is minimal in comparison. Even if you don’t find a problem, the peace of mind is worth the effort.


This illustrates the need for some definitive oil pressure vs. rpm data at different temperatures, types of oil, engine configurations and degrees of wear. Using your calibrated gauges, make a graph of your pressure vs. rpm and note the conditions. It will be instructive to see the difference.

Best,
Grady