Shavings in oil pan

[bugman-74]

I seem to be having bad luck these days:

I happen to have the front diff out, so thought it might be a good time to go ahead and drop the drain pan and clean/re-seal while I'm there.

Recently bought the rig, this was first oil change. 140k'ish miles. Oil was dirty, but seemed "OK."

I found 3 non-ferrous and thin "shavings" in the lowest part of the pan. I'd say just a tad thicker than aluminum foil. They were in a low spot on the oil pan that would not have drained out easily during oil changes, and are also too big to make it thru the pickup screen.

I cut open the filter, and found no further chunks, shavings, etc. Other than the media being dirty looking, everything else including the oil looked normal. The engine has great compression and no noises.

Really have no idea where they came from - thinking piston skirt shavings or maybe a thrust bearing... Ideas?

Since I have no idea how many miles are on this oil/filter and do not seem to have any other issues, I plan to put it back together and do some oil/filter changes & inspections at short intervals to see if the problem persists.

 

[LittleCaesar]

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Maybe for peace of mind stick on of these on the oil filter and cut it open next oil change:
FilterMAG SS250, FilterMAG Oil/Fluid Filtration Magnets | FilterMAG

 

[BrianSD_42]

Yeah ....

Best case its not going to get any worse and your engine will last a long time.

Worse case it does get worse. I don't think there is anything you can do about it so just drive it.

 

[cashmoney]

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Maybe for peace of mind stick on of these on the oil filter and cut it open next oil change:
FilterMAG SS250, FilterMAG Oil/Fluid Filtration Magnets | FilterMAG

Would work on ferrous metal but his stuff is non ferrous.

 

[LittleCaesar]

Yep, hit Reply before really thinking about it.

 

[cashmoney]

Not saying it's a bad thing.

Looking at that pic again, it looks like the foil seal they put on oil bottles.

 

[bugman-74]

it looks like the foil seal they put on oil bottles

I considered that also - however these are a bit thicker and tougher than a foil seal. Definitely bearing material or shaving from something.

 

[jeremyc74]

I considered that also - however these are a bit thicker and tougher than a foil seal. Definitely bearing material or shaving from something.

Bearing material would be ferrous. What you likely have is chip that was left over from block machining. It's very likely been riding around in there since it was new.

 

[amalik]

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Maybe for peace of mind stick on of these on the oil filter and cut it open next oil change:
FilterMAG SS250, FilterMAG Oil/Fluid Filtration Magnets | FilterMAG

Looks like a cool thing to have even without this issue.

 

[kolelt]

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Maybe for peace of mind stick on of these on the oil filter and cut it open next oil change:
FilterMAG SS250, FilterMAG Oil/Fluid Filtration Magnets | FilterMAG

Umm, yea that's pretty bad ass not going to lie. $50 it can't hurt.

 

[bugman-74]

This was discovered in my drain pan, HOWEVER I'm not completely sure if it came from the engine or my grenaded front diff (used the same drain pan for both, and don't recall how well I cleaned it)...

Its ferrous. Almost looks like part of a ring.

I'm half tempted to pull the pan again and yank bearing caps for a little more inspection.