Junk in the oil pan.

[gvr4ever]

I got my pan off, but I was surprised to find junk in the bottom of it. It looked to be aluminum shards or something. Nothing is sticking to the magnetic tipped drain plug I got.

Car seems to be fine and the last compression test was fine. It was just scary looking.

Should I be worried, or is this normal?

 

[CarRacer]

That's absolutely not normal. Can you upload a picture of the material that was in the pan?

Are the balance shafts still in the car? There must have been a reason to pull the pan, what caused that?

 

[gvr4ever]

I pulled the pan because the original gasket started to leak. I was just doing a simple reseal. Balance shafts are still in at 122k miles. I threw the stuff away in the trash.

Nothing in the bottom end is aluminum (not sure about the balance shafts) so I couldn't figure out what it could be.

 

Junk in the trunk is fine. Not in the oil pan though.

 

[Wizardawd]

Bearings are aluminum, and my guess is just like the others...your BS are on their way out if not gone already.

Wiz

 

[Launch]

rod bearings are tri metal, mains are alum. so is BS system, pistons, head etc. Id start by buying 10qts and a few filters or so of cheap oil to flush.

How did the oil pump strainer look?

 

[fivestardsm]

I agree with the balance shaft bearings. I have seen this quite often. The bearings will get ripped right apart. Also, make sure you check at the oil pump where the balance shaft goes into it. They will usually get destroyed when the rear shaft bearings go bad.

 

[gvr4ever]

Quoting Launch:
rod bearings are tri metal, mains are alum. so is BS system, pistons, head etc. Id start by buying 10qts and a few filters or so of cheap oil to flush.

How did the oil pump strainer look?



The oil pump strainer had a little stuff on it. I was able to whip it off. I knew I should have done the BS eliminator last summer. I had too much stuff going on. Now the GVR4 is my only car. Eeek.

I took a look around with a flashlight. Everything looked really clean. I got a look at the bottom of one cyl wall and it was smoooooth. I know what a failed crank bearing sounds like and I don't have that. Overall, I think the engine is healthy, but at 12xK miles, the last two years of extra mods must have worn the BS system. I know they fail, but I had a Talon with near 200K miles and it's BS didn't seize up. I guess it's just a toss of the dice.

 

[gvr4ever]

So, should I not even drive the car till I do a BS removal? Can I just turn the boost down and drive like a puss for a few months till I save up some cash?

 

[G]

Uhm last time I checked aluminum is not magnetic.

 

[turbowop]

I'd do the balance shaft removal now. Just do it the easy way and leave the front shaft in without a belt. Replace the rear shaft with the stub shaft.

When I did mine six years ago, little pieces of BS bearing were in my pan as well. My car is still healthy. Srsly, do it now.

 

[gvr4ever]

Quoting G:
Uhm last time I checked aluminum is not magnetic.



Ya, that's why I figured it was aluminum based, because it wasn't sticking to the magnet. The magnet plug can help detecting problems if you change the oil and see bits of metal stuck to it. In theory anyway.