Metal shaving on drain plug!?!

[01sapphirebob]

So when I changed the oil on my RT/10 my buddy found a single metal shaving on the drain plug. I am new to the whole working on cars thing myself so my question is....how common is this? Should there never be ANY metal shavings on the drain plug? Or is one bound to turn up at some point. The car is a 2001 with 15K on it. Any help would be great.

 

[plumcrazy]

wait for a better answer from some of the smarter guys here but id think its gonna happen. did the single shaving go in with the oil maybe ?

im guessing there is hundreds of things or ways it could have happened.

if its one piece, it might be too small to get it sent to a lab for testing ?

 

[01sapphirebob]

Thanks. Keep the responses comming.

 

[kenmo]

I don't think it's anything to be alarmed about....the magnetic plug is doing it's job picking up any metal foreign objects. Pay attention to it the next time you change your oil. It's when that thing is covered to the point it looks "hairy" when you should be really concerned. A buddy of mine spun a bearing and there was all kinds of crap in there.

 

[dave6666]

When I bought my replacement water pump for my '01 it had two shavings about the size of a silver dollar inside the MOPAR pump. I still have them sitting on my desk (at the office hence no pic right now...). Granted that is the cooling system, but do you think the block/crank/heads/rockers/oil pump are immune? Or as plum said, a bazillion possible other sources. It appears to be magnetic though if it is stuck to the magnet, meaning crank/cam/rocker/oil pump kind of parts.

On my VW air cooled engines, which I run an OBerg filter screen, it will always show aluminum bits. I asked my machine shop about that and they said perfectly normal. Stuff falls off and that's why we use a filter.

 

[plumcrazy]

another thing to try which is always a good idea, cut open the oil filter if you still have it. if there is a lot more of the sample in there, then take a better look around and get it tested to see exactly what the material is...

 

[Joseph Dell]

An occasional shaving is nothing to worry about. A bunch of them (more specifically, what looks like bearing material) is bad. you can always drop the oil pan to check your bearings if you are worried about it (not _that_ difficult), but it is probably nothing.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Not to be funny, but if you change your oil every 5,000 miles and expect 150,000 miles engine life, that would be 30 shavings. Does that help or hurt?

 

[ViperGeorge]

I'm glad I don't change my own oil. It would give me way too many things to worry about. Ignorance is bliss.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Reminds me of Bonkers' signature: I drive too fast to worry about my cholesterol.

 

[ViperTuner]

The bearing material is non-ferrous unless the shaving is from the backing on the bearing then you are in trouble...but there would be alot of those shavings. If it's stuck to your magnet then it is a ferrous material so it can only come from a piece of the sleeve, ring, wristpin clip, a valvetrain component or was left in by the builder that day and was finally dislodged or it fell in when someone changed the oil...

As Plum above states...cut your oil filter and have it inspected.

Without a little research you won't know if your little piece of material can be nothing to worry about or a cause to make arrangements...

Howard

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

I had a roller lifter fail - the small ~3/8" diameter washer that keeps the needles in place at each end of the roller somehow failed. I found a moon shaped piece of it on the drain plug and had no clue what it was. Thousands of miles later enough needles fell out and it stopped rolling. So, is the shaving a shaving, or is it a failed part itself?

 

[01sapphirebob]

Thanks for the all the input guys!!! I will have to keep an eye on it. My cars are in storage for the winter now so at the start of next season would it be a good idea to run the car a couple hundred miles and then change the oil again?

 

[plumcrazy]

Not me....I'd change it out and THEN drive it. Cheap insurance

 

[dave6666]

Winter storage LOL

 

[dave6666]

Here are the metal turnings that were in my new Mopar water pump. One was in the bottom of the box, the other I dug out of the pump after further investigation.

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[Kevan]

Bob- you *want* that stuff on the tip of the drain plug!
If it's not there, that means it's running around your oil system somewhere, possibly causing damage.
You will also find it in your transmission and diff. fluid as well.

The little shavings are called SWARF (yes, that's a real word).
There are places that will analyze your swarf and get you a detailed report on the material it contains. I'm not quite that ********.

Like the others have said: keep an eye out for big chunks (larger than a fingernail clipping), but don't stress too much about it.

 

[Joseph Dell]

Are you sure those are metal? they look more like paper... or fiberglass. Like the kind on the body of the vehicle.

 

[01sapphirebob]

Thanks Kevan. I will have to check it out next season. I don't remember how long the shaving was. I want to say about the size of a thumb finger nail clipping.

Bob- you *want* that stuff on the tip of the drain plug!
If it's not there, that means it's running around your oil system somewhere, possibly causing damage.
You will also find it in your transmission and diff. fluid as well.

The little shavings are called SWARF (yes, that's a real word).
There are places that will analyze your swarf and get you a detailed report on the material it contains. I'm not quite that ********.

Like the others have said: keep an eye out for big chunks (larger than a fingernail clipping), but don't stress too much about it.

 

[Kevan]

Are you sure those are metal? they look more like paper... or fiberglass. Like the kind on the body of the vehicle.

I think that stuff on the edges might be lint from Dave's jeans.
Or hair from his palms.
Either way.....

Thanks Kevan. I will have to check it out next season. I don't remember how long the shaving was. I want to say about the size of a thumb finger nail clipping.

Cool.
If you can, leave the swarf on the plug and let it sit overnight to drain/dry.
Take a pic of it and post up here.

My first few oil changes had good amounts of swarf on them.
The last few....considerably less.

 

[dave6666]

Are you sure those are metal? they look more like paper... or fiberglass. Like the kind on the body of the vehicle.

They are cast aluminum. The fuzz is dust from having set on my desk for several years waiting for this moment to talk about them.

 

[Jerome Sparich]

Blackstone Labs

Find out just what is going on.

 

[Fast Viper Dan]

They are cast aluminum. The fuzz is dust from having set on my desk for several years waiting for this moment to talk about them.

Left over from machining the casting.

 

[red heat]

it is normal to see tiny metal shavings on the tip of the drain plug. the drain plug is magnetic which allows you to pull this out of the engine with oil changes. with new cars, you see more of this as the engine breaks in. a magnetic drain plug is a nice thing to have.

 

[01sapphirebob]

No update yet on this issue but since I just got a screaming deal on some Mobil 1 I might try another oil change and see in there is more shavings. I have run the '01 a couple of times now. Jsut let it run in the driveway. I will let everyone know.

 

[Phun70]

I would recommend sending the oil in for analysis. I just sent in a sample on my SRT-4, I should probably do the VIPER too! It's cheap, less than 40.00, and they can tell you right down to the gnats ass what is going on inside your engine. Also, the guys are right, I don't think I would start worrying until the magnet looked like Don King!

 

[Olddudesrule]

I would recommend sending the oil in for analysis. I just sent in a sample on my SRT-4, I should probably do the VIPER too! It's cheap, less than 40.00, and they can tell you right down to the gnats ass what is going on inside your engine. Also, the guys are right, I don't think I would start worrying until the magnet looked like Don King!

What Phun said! Good advise and it will tell you if you have an excessive amount of metal in your oil, as well as how well the oil is holding up.

 

[01sapphirebob]

*UPDATE*

Did the oil change tonight and nothing was on the plug. Fears were put to rest. Thanks to everyone for all the advice and time they took out of their day (Chuck ) to help. Now I just gotta get my PS2's on and all will be good.

 

[plumcrazy]

good news !