Change my oil and this came out the drain plug.

[mobileauto2000]

Changed my oil today and felt something hard go by my fingers as I pulled the drain plug.
I fished these pieces out of the drain pan. They came out of the front sump.
I am going on a 400 mile round trip in two weeks and am a little concerned.
Two of the pieces are flatten like the end of a spring.
A little yellow paint was showing on the inside radius of one piece.
Truck runs good and is making no strange noises and is still driven every day.
Any thoughts on what it might be?

 

[Diecorpse]

Nothing in your oil filters? No shavings in the oil? Almost looks like a retainer of some sort. I would drop the oil pan and see what else is in there before you go on a long trip.

 

[1toolboy]

Yep better drop the pan, I had a noise in mine, pulled the drain plugs and nothing but the engine was making a **** of a knock. Bottom of pan was full of cylinder liner and some small spring and tube pieces which was the bottom oiler for the cylinder. Better safe than sorry

 

[gimpyrobb]

I had stuff fall out of my front sump and it was parts from the oil pump bearing. Yours looks different, time to investigate.

 

[brianp454]

Sorry I can't help more. It kinda looks like some .060-.080 inch diameter rod or wire material. Can you measure it? Maybe someone on here can speak to where that diameter rod would come from. Perhaps a spring from an oil pressure regulator or retainer for an oiler (pure speculation)? It also looks like some have been smashed as if pinched someplace it shouldn't have been. Is it hard steel? Magnetic? Perhaps pieces of a thread or heli-coil used to repair a thread?

I think pulling the pan is a good idea, especially if someone can't ID a potential source for that crud.

I'm in Portland and hope your 400 mile trip is going N to WA in a couple weeks. If so, you've got friends!

 

[rtk]

Time to cut open your oil filter and lay it out , look for metal in the filter , use a magnet . This is the first thing I do in diagnosing a engine problem . I would be leery of a trip until I nailed this down . As they say pay me now ,pay me later . good luck

 

[Bill W]

It kinda looks like safty wire which is used to lock down the bolts on the oil pump high pressure pipe (barely see in top of pic ) but your not gonna know until you drop the pan.

 

[Scar59]

Looks like the remains of a helicoil insert. Might explain the flat condition/shape, is it ferris? Could be the remains of a sloppy helicoil replacement. Cut the filter open and check for other debris ,let us know what you find.
JC

 

[mobileauto2000]

It.s .080 wire and is hardened.
The one piece that is ground flat on the bottom looks like it would have been about 3/8" in diameter.
It looks like the remains of a very heavy spring.
It dose not have the square shape of a helicoil.
It is magnetic.

 

[DieselBob]

You said it still seems to run fine and I would think from that you also have oil pressure but there is a bypass spring in the oil pump. Maybe that's were it came from.

 

[mobileauto2000]

Yes still have good oil pressure. went through the tm and looked at all the drawings for springs about this size. That was the only one I saw that could make it into the pan.

 

[brianp454]

I'm concerned about where it came from, what's missing as a result, what broke it up, etc. Usually things just lay at the bottom of the sump and don't cause problems. If it made it past the pickup screen and up into the oil pump it can wreck it. That makes me question the value of poking around in the oil filters. You don't have any reason to think it came from there and if it did get there through the system you have it all over and likely damaged other things on the way. I do think it is a good idea to check everyplace for this debris to be safe.

Fortunately the main oil gallery pressure valve is between the turbo and oil pan rail - fairly easy to get to. Also the oil cooler and filter bypass valves seems to be relatively easy to get to. At least easier than pulling the pan. I personally wouldn't trust this engine without pulling all of the above and sorting it out. I'm afraid it got in to the pump and other spots and damaged them. There are some guys in OR that have spare or parts engines; you should be able to get parts fairly quick here or on craigslist. I think the guy in Independence recently swapped an engine with a blown head gasket, he may have or know if someone in your area with parts very handy.

Even better, we have warm, but not too hot weather coming with no rain. You couldn't pick a better time of year to sort this out.

 

[rtk]

The reason to look at the oil filter medium in NOT for a LOST part , but to see what type of other metal particles might be in there , piston material , liner , etc. It is amazing what gets caught in the filter and it only takes a few minutes to do it . I was taught that at Cummings school , basic 101 engine diagnostic stuff .

 

[73m819]

It looks/sounds like a chewed up SPRING

 

[mobileauto2000]

It looks/sounds like a chewed up SPRING

After looking at it with a magnifying glass I can tell for sure its a spring, but from where?
Tomorrow I will cut apart the filters, But i did stick my finger in the drain hole and the bottom of the pan is clean. None of the silver sediment you get with sever damage. and no small particles just the big pieces that came out.

 

[glcaines]

The chance that 100% of any metal in the pan has already come out of the pan is small in my opinion. You can only feel a small area with your finger in the hole. I would recommend both cutting open the oil filters and dropping the pan. This is easy to do and could save you some real grief, especially if you're getting ready to take off on a long trip. I wouldn't even start the engine again until the filters and pan are examined.

 

[Diecorpse]

I have been overhaulin my engine since I blew my head gasket and melted a piston. Nothing came out when I drained the oil, but when I popped the pan off there were some chunks in there. I would inspect everything to be safe.

 

[dutchguy]

Any chance it came from up in the cylinder head? Don't know how big the return passages are......

 

[mobileauto2000]

Any chance it came from up in the cylinder head? Don't know how big the return passages are......

That is a thought. Any one know the diameter of the inner valve spring? But I can"t see how it would escape the outer valve spring.

Also thanks for all the helpful tips. But I'm more after where a spring could be missing from and not affect the operation of the engine.
Cutting open oil filters and pulling the pan are great ideas and need to be done. But when the pan is off where do I look for a missing spring?
Hope to have the pan off today. I will cut open the filters now that they have had a chance to drain and let you know what I find.

What I really need is someone that has had one of these engines apart to list everywhere a spring about 5/8 in diameter is used that could make it into the pan.

Thanks

 

[doghead]

Looking at a TM, small wire springs that could end up in the oil pan(oil circuit),

1 in oil pump
2 in oil pressure regulator(on side of motor)
2 in oil cooler bypass valve(other side of motor)
2 in oil filter cans