Bad news from oil plug?
02-16-2006, 05:52 PM
#1
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Bad news from oil plug? Changed the oil today and found this metal mud stuff on the magnet. It's always been there since I have owned the car ( bought it with 32,000 miles in 2002) and I have always just cleaned it off. But now it's bugging me. Is this a sign of internal damage? Sorry about the crappy and blurry pics, my camera sucks. There are no sizeable pieces of metal, it's like silver mud and you can't feel anything but oil when you rub it through your fingers. Thanks guys!
Kevin
1998 Z
Kevin
1998 Z
02-17-2006, 06:11 AM
#3
I am sure that it is normal if you have a problem. 
It is magnetic to pick up any kind of debris in the pan that has been ground off the bottom end. It could possibly mean internal damage. I would suggest cleaning it off and then tearing the motor down to find out where that metal is coming from.
Pieces of metal floating around in the engine is never a good sign nor normal.
It is magnetic to pick up any kind of debris in the pan that has been ground off the bottom end. It could possibly mean internal damage. I would suggest cleaning it off and then tearing the motor down to find out where that metal is coming from.
Pieces of metal floating around in the engine is never a good sign nor normal.
02-17-2006, 06:24 AM
#4
Just a note, the magnet does not always grab all metal obviously. My lifter took a crap and the roller chunks fell down to the bottom of the pan. The plug did not have very much metal stuck to it, but when I cleaned out the bottom of the oil pan there were huge chunks of metal stuck everywhere! 
02-17-2006, 02:33 PM
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Can you feel anything chunky in it??
If so I would be concerned.
If not don't worry about it. The magnet is there to catch fine debris. I get that sometimes too. It is silky not chunky though.
Good Luck!!
If so I would be concerned.
If not don't worry about it. The magnet is there to catch fine debris. I get that sometimes too. It is silky not chunky though.
Good Luck!!
02-17-2006, 05:30 PM
#7
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Well, I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night lol. The three vehicles that I have owned that had a mag drain plug always had some "fuzz" on them with regular oil changes. Only one of them was bought brand new. That one got free oil changes from the dealer for the first year. The first time I did it myself I was a bit worried, but there were no chunks or anything other than the fuzz you see but can't feel. It was like that for the next ten or so oil changes, 30,000 miles at least and never had a single engine problem. Hope this helps.
Doug
Doug
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02-17-2006, 07:23 PM
#11
You should do an oil analysis and have Terry Dyson look at it. Get a Blackstone kit and request a Dyson analysis for $40. Terry will tell you real quick if something bad is going on. He does mine every year. Or, contact him directly.
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02-17-2006, 09:09 PM
#15
I agree send it in, most good analysis can tell you what type of material it is and where it is coming from. Then you can decide what route to take, let it go or tear into it.
FWIW my 2001 with 43k dose not even have near that amount of material stuck to the plug. Some thing is starting to wear.
FWIW my 2001 with 43k dose not even have near that amount of material stuck to the plug. Some thing is starting to wear.
02-18-2006, 01:09 AM
#17
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The only time my plug has looked like the one in the pic was the few oil changes after my cam swap. First it was a fine little shavings like on your plug, then it turned to a sort of metallic paste. My oil drain plug was always pretty clean before the cam swap ... I don't recall any easily noticeable shavings on the plugs
02-18-2006, 06:11 PM
#19
I think I might know what could cause the powdery metal. I think it's something that I messed up on. When I did my spring swap I didn't rotate the motor over when I torqued the rockers down to 22 foot pounds.
Have you taken the rockers off and not put them back on properly? I guess you're not supposed to "just" torque them down to 22 foot pounds. There's a sequence.
Have you taken the rockers off and not put them back on properly? I guess you're not supposed to "just" torque them down to 22 foot pounds. There's a sequence.
