I have a nova 353 '09 which i bought recently. i have run this engine in as per book + extra special treatment after i heard that the bearings in these engines are faulty.

i ran tornado 16% with an added 3% castor oil (total of 11.6%) i also ran the engine with Runnertime 16% once it was broken in. i always ran an oiled air filter, always after runed with the same after run i have used for the last 5 years (auto transmission fluid). I also inspected the engine every so often.

it's fair to say, nothing was spared, unfortunately the bearing in my engine died after about maybe 3.5 to 4 litres of fuel.

there is definately an isse with the current 353 09 bearings. all users of this engine at my track (that i know of) have suffered this issue.

what is the deal? i've had metal sheilded bearing engines in the past without this problem...so why now? (from memory the RB C12 had a metal sheild, same as some of the older novas back in the days)

is it because the balls are facing outwards? the nova based MAX engines from the SL3 series had the bearings facing towards the inside, and also had a rubber seal, yet the 353 '09 has the balls towards the outside and a metal sheild, is this the cause of the problem? or is it a dodgy batch of bearings?

what is the deal with this? i know it doesn't cost much to buy a good bearing rubber sealed, but that's not the point. If you buy a ferrari, do you expect that you will have to change a major engine part after only 1000km of use?

i was lucky to suffer no damage. the engine did run rich on the low end with the original bearing, yet when they new one was installed with the same tune and a new conrod it ran noticably leaner, just a weird thing i noticed. i run on a clean track by the way with a grass infeild, i don't hit the grass any more or less than your average joe (meaning i do go off, but i don't live on the grass either)