Yeah,It sounds to me like when he drained the oil an old brittle piece of oil drain plug gasket was either stuck to the pan or became lodged in the drain hole.If your vehicle is still running like a top,then you are in good shape.Drive on :judge:

You have me a bit confused here.I believe the only lubrication the valve train receives is from the small holes in the push-rods.Maybe you can explain to me,if you know something that I dont.

did you ever figure it out?

You should take that quarter, drill a hole in it and use it as another seat. Looks close enough :)

My first thought was retainer, my second was seat, my third is back to retainer. Look at the middle, where the hole would be. It looks like it's torn metal. What if a retainer is coming apart, but left the middle lip section in place. There may be a valve spring still held together by just a little part of what's left.
If you pull the valve covers off and the retainers are good, I'd say seat. I wouldn't keep driving it like some suggest. Take care of a possible problem when it comes to the inside of the motor. Hope it helps.

There's no way you could lose that much of a retainer and have the locks still be holding the spring down. He said there was even an additional piece thats not in the picture. That would also be making a shitload of noise.

I personally think someone accidently dropped whatever that was in an intake port when the intake was off for the cam, or some other way when he had the cam installed. I just think something out of the valvetrain that size would be very noticable when the car was running. How many oil changes ago was the cam put in?

[QUOTE=jermzz]There's no way you could lose that much of a retainer and have the locks still be holding the spring down. He said there was even an additional piece thats not in the picture. That would also be making a shitload of noise.QUOTE]

I wouldn't say there is no way, I've seen valvetrains come apart. I've seen needle bearings, spring pieces all make it to the oil pan. I think with the pressure of a rocker the spring could still be retained by part of the retainer if the center section is intact. It won't last long, but it could still be retained. A retainer could have had a fracture from the factory and he never seen it.

The problem is, you just don't know until you explore. You know something is wrong, and I just don't see why some on here say drive it. You need to find the damaged area and fix it. The valve covers are an easy start, and work down from there. Simple fact is, it resembles a piece of valvetrain.

Just my 2 cents.

holy shit thats scary!

I found the EXACT same shit on my drain plug the last time i changed my oil!!! :cry: I have yet to figure out what it is. I thought it was a valve seat too at first but i have Patriot Gold Duals and when i looked at one of those seats they didnt look the same (to me atleast). So i really dont know what the hell to think! I REALLY dont want to redo the valve springs a THIRD time! that shit gets old! But i'll keep checking in on this thread and see what comes of it.

Brent

I still seriously doubt something that large is going to make its way from the valve train all the way to the oil pan and not cause any engine damage(lol).

I agree. I had a small screw of some sort fall into my intake port when I did an intake swap. No bagger then a normal size wood screw without a head. Demolished a piston, wrecked a sleeve and tore up a valve / chamber in my head.

not pretty. I think whatever that was got there some other way.

Well, how do you think the oil gets down to the pan when you fill it up through the valve cover. When the spring or whatever snapped, it drained down into the pan and stuck to the magnet.

It doesnt go back down into the pan, it goes into the intake, duh! :jest:

Maybe on yours....but, I have a catch can. :P

That's what I'm thinking pull the valve covers and check.

That's in the induction, it has no where else to go but to the chambers. That is apples to oranges.
You have people here saying they have seen things like this happen, but yet tell this guy it can't happen. Great advice here.

What are you talking about, the PCV system? The PCV system is for crankcase gasses to vent. Not oil to be transferred into the intake. The oil drains back down into the motor. That's what the oil passages are for.
If you were joking, ignore.

Unless your catch can has a breather, pull your intake and see what you find. You'll be suprized.

Mine has a catch can with a breather, no more oil.

:rolleyes:

You honestly thought that I could have been serious..... with the :jest: and everything?

:gtfo: you need to get out more.