Found 2 Metal Shavings in oil. What now?

[jmillsUT28]

Changed the oil this weekend and found 2 small shinny pieces of metal or some kind of material in my oil. Found them on the drain plug. Very thin and shinny. Rubbed them between my fingers to see if they were hard and they rolled up into a ball. What does this sound like?

Then engine sounds fine with no knocking. Drove the car today with new oil and plan on changing the oil again tonight to see if I find anymore.

Should I take the oil pan off and check the bearings? I bought this car already built and don't know what was installed in it. All I know is Underground Racing built it and it was their best package available at that time. So, that's all of the info I have on the engine.

What should I do next?

Edit:
Turns out it is the crank...

Update:
Found piston number 9 with a chunk missing from it.

 

[plumcrazy]

blackstone test labs. id send them the sample of oil.

looking at the bearings is not a bad idea though. snap some good pics too.

 

[jmillsUT28]

Got one coming my way Phil. Wish all of this would have happened before winter so I could (if there is a problem) have it fixed for spring. Not my luck.

 

[plumcrazy]

i hear ya, been there done that....

 

[dave6666]

If it was stuck to the drain plug that tells you it's not aluminum and it is magnetic. Not breaking news but it is a clue.

Is this the first oil change since the build? Engines can/do puke little bits every now and then inside the crankcase so it may be nothing. I mean, is the oil filter and magnetic drain plug to deal with the bugs and dirt that the air filter catches? No, they are there to deal with internal dirt that can come from castings, normal wear, and so on.

Sending your oil out for analysis is an excellent idea. I started collecting fluid samples of every fluid in my car from the day I bought it and started flushing/changing stuff. I can go back 4 years 25K miles if I need to. Checking yesterday's oil may solve your questions though.

 

[Russ M]

Could be many things, did you take any pictures?

 

[jmillsUT28]

Did not take any pictures but of I find anything in the oil tonight I will before rubbing my damn fingers together making it into a dirty little ball! ha

Yes the pieces were magnetic. The build was done years ago. Not really sure how many year but at least 3 years. Say the build as 10K miles on it.

 

[plumcrazy]

cut the filter open ?

 

[Doug Supercharged Vipers]

Hi Jon,

It may also be from the top end as well. I wouldn't get too overly concerned as of yet. Since bearings are not magnetic they won't adhere to the drain plug. But you can check to see if you have any excessive bearing wear by cutting open the oil filter.

Good luck!!

 

[Doug Supercharged Vipers]

cut the filter open ?

You are SO smart!!

 

[jmillsUT28]

Did you teach him that Doug? lol

What do you use to cut it open so you do not get pieces of the oil filter housing all over the place? I tried a box knife last night and was not strong enough.

 

[dave6666]

I used a Metabo 1/32" thick metal cutting blade on my 4-1/2" rt angle grinder to do a M1-204 recently. Worked very well and got no debris in the can. Made the cut right under the crimped top lip. Very thin sheet metal there. Just be prepared for oil everywhere when you pop it open. I was not LOL.

 

[plumcrazy]

i have used a wiss snip to do it. puncture a hole and then use the snips.

i taught doug everything he knows

 

[Greg Good Cylinder Heads]

It could easily be from the heads. Valve springs wear agaisnt the retainers quite a bit.

I would hold off on checking the bearings. When a bearing goes it lets you know in a big way, there will be a lot of metal.

 

[DrumrBoy]

I'm curious about what ferrous material inside an engine would be malleable enough to roll into a ball with your fingers. "Pieces" I've found over the years have been pretty hard. Are the alloys used in stuff like valveguides soft and magnetic?

 

[dave6666]

As a shaving it might not be the malleable factor but the thinness factor. Well, couple that with the fact that Jon is a man's man and can crush an engine block just by staring at it. Chuck Norris won't even come to his parties

 

[DrumrBoy]

That's fair, I didn't consider the thin factor.

 

[DrumrBoy]

....or the Chuck Norris factor!

 

[jmillsUT28]

Chuck Norris has nothing on me!

Ok here are some pics of the shavings. Think my engine might be in trouble. These were the best pictures I could get. The pieces that are rolled up did look like the shavings before I messed with them.

 

[dave6666]

Now that they are clean try a magnet again to verify.

 

[jmillsUT28]

Each piece jumped right onto the magnet.

 

[Greg Good Cylinder Heads]

Need to cut the filter open.

I'd also pull the valve covers off and look for a seal that has come off and is getting hammered by the retainer.

*OR*...it could be the set of valve springs on there are rubbing on the stock seals.

I've taken apart quite a few sets of heads that had small diameter dual springs on them, and the inner spring rubbed the factory seal and put a good bit of metal in the oil.


You could also have a broken inner valve spring. There are a lot of possibilities.

 

[plumcrazy]

lets hope its in the head

 

[jmillsUT28]

Thanks for the info guys. So should I start with taking the valve covers off first or the oil pan?

 

[plumcrazy]

VC's are easier....

 

[Greg Good Cylinder Heads]

I think you'll find some of that metal in the bottom of the pan. I'd take it off first, then take off the valve covers and do a good inspection with a bright flashlight.

 

[jmillsUT28]

Ok might as well do it all and be safe. The journey starts tonight! Will have lots of questions I am sure so thanks to everyone that is helping out.

Greg are you saying I should check the bearings first then go to the valve covers or just get the metal out of the pan first?

 

[Greg Good Cylinder Heads]

I would not check any bearings until you have ruled out everything else first. It's not as simple as loosening the rod bolts, inspecting, then re-torquing them. If your engine came from Underground then the rod bolts were torqued using a stretch gauge to measure rod bolt stretch.

The only way you could get the rod bolt stretch back where it was when it was built would be to call Underground and get the spec, and buy a stretch gauge so you can do it yourself.

My bet is that they would prefer you look at everything else first then look at the bearings last.

 

[jmillsUT28]

Thanks Greg. Let's hope I do not have to call Underground. Kind of hard to get ahold of them when you are needing information... Will drop the pan and pop the valve covers tonight. Will post what I find.

 

[plumcrazy]

if it would help, we probably have/had the same build. mine was done at proline (UGR engine guy) about 3-4 years ago. i can send you the build sheet from then but its obviously not 100% same ?