This point is forever being repeated but is contrary to my observations:
>Over a night or a few days, there is still a thin layer of oil on the
>bearings,
>but when you're talking months, there will be very little oil left.
>Dave Williamson (silikal@aol.com)
The problem I have with such statements is that I have never seen an engine
with dry bearings. I recently disassembled a TC engine that had not been
run for 9 YEARS. The water pump had time to corrode into one soild mass
but the bearings were swimming in oil, as if the engine had just been run.
It's not a question of waiting long enough - a liquid just can't run out of
a thin gap. Surface tension would, in fact, draw oil *into* an initially
dry bearing.
Cylinder walls lack the benifit of a thin gap, but even here some oil will
cling. Has anyone ever known an oily surface to clean itself? When I
finished rebuilding the TC engine, I coated the newly-resurfaced flywheel
with oil to prevent rusting until I finished resurrecting the body. It's
been three years (and counting) and the surface is still oily to the touch.
What gives? Is this one of those myths that lives long enough to become
"fact" or am I missing something? What does our oil expert say on this?
Russ Wilson
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