These are pics of the front oil pan. There has never been any fluids beneath my car in the driveway. Also I do remember having to add at least 2 quarts extra during my last oil interval. I was running Amsoil 5w-30.



This was on my drain plug. Not sure if this is anything but thought I'd ask more knowledgable people.

 

I'd say that your biggest concern right now should be the chunks of metal that you found on your drain plug's magnet. They might be from the rocker-arm bearings.

 

ut oh... i see nothing good from this! and ya bearings it prob is! no good...

 

So what should I do? Why would it be from rocker arm bearings? What would cause this?

 

First of all don't start assuming the worst. IMHO of the needle bearings from the rockers were coming apart you'd see whole needles, not parts.

Is the engine making noise, other than the oil leak do you have any reason to believe something is wrong?

The oil may be coming from the pulley seal and that's an easy replace.

Start with the basics - clean up all of the oil, check around the front of the engine to find the source.

Tell us about the car - how many miles since the mods, when did you get it, how many miles?

 

1. Aside from the pieces there were just the normal metal shavings. Not much at all. Engine doesn't make any abnormal noise that I can hear. Car does seem to need more oil during the interval but that's it but other then that it runs strong.

2. Car has 40,5xx miles. I've had it since Feb. 03 and the last mod was the cam which was last October.

 

There should not be "normal" metal shavings when you change oil.

 

I'd scrub the hell out of everything, and then drive it around a little bit and check again to get a better idea of where it's coming from.

 

I've always gotten a small amount of metal shavings since i've owned the car. Not even enough to cover the magnet.

 

You need to gunk that thing to find the source of the leak and then fix it.
Metal shavings: BAD
No Metal shavings: GOOD
The trash you see on you pan and front cover is road debris which you're going to get rid of when you do the gunk job and change the def. gasket or seal, right? If you have metal shavings floating around on the INSIDE of you motor the old cliche applies: Pay me now or pay me later.
Pay now: GOOD
Pay later: BAD

 

Those don't look like needle bearing from the rocker arms to me, key word being "needle". You'll have to track that down or maybe someone here knows where those pieces came from. I agree that the best bet regarding your oil leak is probably due to a worn out front main seal (goes around the crank pulley snout). Keep us updated on what you find.

 

Yup, i've had a rocker blow on me and the needle bearings are cylindrical in shape. Since the heads are one of the last places the oil reaches before the pan almost everyone gets the bearing intact.

 

that was what i was thinking, lol

 

Can you post pics that show those pieces alittle better. I think I have an idea (front steel spring in the front main seal which would explain the oil leak) where they came from but I'm not 100% sure. Picture doesn't show enough.

 

Honestly man get your engine checked out as your engine shouldnt be consuming any oil or have any metal shavings in your oil. I had a bigger cam than you and never had any oil consumption or metal shavings in my oil. Not trying to scare you but as others have said metal in the oil is not a good sign.

 

another thing you also need to take into consideration is the fact that engine parts wear over time. the first day off the assembly line, your car was filled with 5w-30. with parts wearing, this creates larger clearances between parts, which necessitates a thicker oil. most cars wouldnt need to step up to a heavier grade of oil until 50-60k miles, but if you drive your car hard like most of us, it would be better so go to something like a 10w-40 or possibly even 20w-50 for a heavily worn engine......

 

piston skirt? ouch. probably not that. how malleable is the metal? does it smash flat with a hammer on cnocrete or is it hardened metal that is like a chisel to the concrete...?

sloppy oil pouring? leaknig oring seal on the filler neck? weeping valve covers?

FREE UNDERCOATING - well not free but you are going to throw it away anyhow...

I think a leaking front seal would be blowing alot of oil, 2 quarts per 1000 miles - and it gets worse the longer it goes until it blows. watch that oil pressure gauge. Another point -- does it appear to be leaking under pressure OR while parked/off? If mainly when it's off then maybe it's synthetic weeping -- might try the oil "cleaner" stuff -- see other synth threads. if mainly when driving then look at front seals and the like. Did you re-use the front seal when you changed the cam? did the seal lip get sucked backwards or damaged when putting the cover back on? it could take a few months to wipe out a front seal installed improperly (or maybe it just failed). Those could be parts of the inner spring for the seal? is the cam "walking" to the front and back -- should have been a shim on that one. did you install a new chain set with the cam -- is it grinding the case (malleable aluminum pot metal chards)? Think about that cam install and how easily it all went back together. I admit I've pulled more than one back apart to fix botched seal job. The hardest one to figure was when we used the tacky-gasket junk on the front case cover and the gasket shifted/rolled during installation. When running the engine sprayed a minute stream of oil out the cover edge. The strange thing that it appeared that the fenders were leaking oil when parked, but not all the time. Put cardboard under it for first 20 minutes after running and it cooling down. then switch it and see how much more oil leaks -- is it constant?

 

I didn't do the cam swap. I had a local shop by the name of Fastech do the work. I couldn't tell you how long it has been leaking or whatever. A lot of the other questions can't be answered yet either since I found this out yesterday and finished up what I started. I'll check it out later today.

 

I am assuming these were stuck to the magnet in the drain plug, that leaves out pistons or any other non-ferrous part. I agree though, you need to clean it up and then see where it is coming from, likely either the front cover or the front seal. You may want to take it back to the guys who did the work, especially if it was fairly recent.

 

Yes, they were stuck on the magnet. Also it looks like the oil seapage is from the front of the oil pan. I am also doing a oil analysis on the oil. Anyone know if that will show anything if I do have a problem?