Metal Particles in oil??? *Now with Pictures*

[19sho90]

I searched and everyone had larger particles I have thousands of tiny ones.????? Rod bearing maybe? No knocking?? Thanks.
The spark plugs have around 3,000Miles on them The Middle ones on the Front and Back both had oil on them.

HEre is the best picture i could get of the Metal in the oil

The Plastic looked really good

Here are some randoms, Everything looked really nice up top. Now for the bottom.



ANd this
The Front

 

[rubydist]

got a pic?

nearly always, metal in the oil is from bearings. any of which are bad to have in the oil, since they are meant to be keeping other metal parts away from each other.....

 

[SHOtime2511]

Stop driving it and pull the oil pan.
Have replacement rod bearings handy.

 

[19sho90]

Stop driving it and pull the oil pan.
Have replacement rod bearings handy.

Anywhere i can get factory replacement ones? Without having to re-size my crank?

 

[the bone]

I bet it is cam bearings not rod bearings. when rod bearings go things tend to do boom shortly after

 

[Bob Gervais]

Crank cancer.

 

[Off Road SHO]

Bob, you funny guy, go make someone a sammich.

To the original poster; don't guess about the particles, send a sample to be analyzed and know for sure. Lots of sparklies that are not cleaned out by the filter means that they are being generated all the time ( either that or your engine spends most of its time above 3000 rpms where the oil filter is bypassing a lot of oil).

Tom

 

[Bob Gervais]

Gotta agree with Tom. Get the oil analyzed and see what happens.

FYI, these engines don't have cam bearings, which led to my smartazz crank cancer reply. Well, that, and I hadn't used it in a while.

Anywhere i can get factory replacement ones? Without having to re-size my crank?

Yes, if that's what the problem ends up being. I know for a fact that Kirk at NESHO has at least a few sets.

 

[sdpatt]

Crank cancer.

For those unfamiliar, crank cancer is caused by a loose crankshaft damper eroding the damper/crankshaft interface and shows up as orange dust inside the timing belt covers, not shiny flakes in the oil pan.

 

[SHOtimer]

Anywhere i can get factory replacement ones? Without having to re-size my crank?

www.rockauto.com

www.shosource.com

www.rcmautomotive.com

Doug

 

[Bob Gervais]

For those unfamiliar, crank cancer is caused by a loose crankshaft damper eroding the damper/crankshaft interface and shows up as orange dust inside the timing belt covers, not shiny flakes in the oil pan.

For those unfamiliar:

hu·mor/ˈ(h)yo͞omər/

Noun:
The quality of being amusing or comic, esp. as expressed in literature or speech.

Verb:
Comply with the wishes of (someone) in order to keep them content, however unreasonable such wishes might be.

Synonyms:
noun. humour - mood - temper - spirit
verb. humour - indulge

 

[hawkeye18]

For those unfamiliar:

hu·mor/ˈ(h)yo͞omər/

Noun:
The quality of being amusing or comic, esp. as expressed in literature or speech.

Verb:
Comply with the wishes of (someone) in order to keep them content, however unreasonable such wishes might be.

Synonyms:
noun. humour - mood - temper - spirit
verb. humour - indulge

Scott lost his sense of humor in The Great War. Scott is going to get insulted by this reference, then he's going to be mortified that he correctly understood the reference to WW1, because only old people know that WW1 was called The Great War.

Because he's old.

And grumpy.

 

[SHOtime2511]

If the motor has never had rod bearings replaced it is probably due anyway.
Once you drop the oil pan and take a look at the old bearings you should be able to tell what the issue is.
If none of the bearings have spun you should be able to use factory size bearings without touching the crank.

 

[pjtoledo]

first off, go get a magnet and see if its iron based. my guess is no it isn't.
try pouring some sparkly oil on a paper towel, then use some solvent to wash away the oil. have a good magnifying glass?

Perry

 

[19sho90]

first off, go get a magnet and see if its iron based. my guess is no it isn't.
try pouring some sparkly oil on a paper towel, then use some solvent to wash away the oil. have a good magnifying glass?

Perry

Well i had changed the oil at work so i no longer have the oil. SO i will Start the car let it run for 30min or so and pull the dipstick and see if i can see any on there. If so i'll do my best to get a picture of it. Ive never sent any oil in for analyzing. How and what does it tell you?

 

[itwonder]

In addition to the other recommendations, pull the valve covers. Check timing chain tensioners, cam lobes. Blackstone labs can analyze an oil sample with the metal particles in it.

 

[the bone]

It could also be timing gear material. I forgot about that. How many miles you got in the car? Cars used to come with nylon timing gears. Not familiar with you're year of car. Just throwing suggestions out there. Could be many things

 

[Bob Gervais]

It could also be timing gear material. I forgot about that. How many miles you got in the car? Cars used to come with nylon timing gears. Not familiar with you're year of car. Just throwing suggestions out there. Could be many things

As Bob pointed out in post #16, bad cam chain tensioners (which are mounted onto the head) can cause the chains to hit the inside of the valve cover, and grind away at the aluminum. Ejected or displaced valve shims can cause cam lobe wear... Lots of stuff to see under there.

The V6 SHO engine uses steel timing gears and a timing belt, all on the exterior of the engine. On the inside, under the valve covers, are steel chains and sprockets that drive the cams.

 

[sdpatt]

For those unfamiliar:

hu·mor/ˈ(h)yo͞omər/

I knew Bob was kidding. I just wanted to make sure someone didn't think he meant it. You know, those unfamiliar.

Scott

 

[19sho90]

Sweet thanks guys. My Sho is coverd in about 2 feet of snow right now so i'll just drive the blazer. The car only has 87,*** miles on her. But ill pull the valve covers first soo i can see whats up in there. (give me the chance to fix a broken VC bolt also.) If i see nothing, ill then pull the Pan. (and even if the rod bearings aren't bad ill replace them. Right now is a time where i wish i had a garage to work in.