So today I was doing an oil change on my truck (LQ4 engine) and these little gems were stuck to the drain plug. Can anyone guess what they are? They almost have the thickness of a piston ring. I took the best pictures I could for now with my oily hands. Tell me what you guys think the pieces are. I circled around the pieces on paper that are magnetic. Dont' mind the oil smudges on the white paper. The truck still seems to run fine along with the fact it seems as though I've had a little lifter noise when I'd let the truck sit for more than a few days at a time. My internal mod list is as follows:

• Stock LQ4 shortblock
• LS7 lifters
• Flowtech Induction cam from Ed Curtis (ground by comp)
• Flowtech 7.350 pushrods
• 243 heads with Patriot Dual Valve springs

 

are they steel or a cast iron?

 

How can I tell? They appear to be steel since they're shiny? All the pieces are magnetic

 

Ok guys, sorry to be a picture ***** on this BUT I just thought of something. After I have managed to calm my self down a bit I got to thinking. I remember about a year and a half ago when I did my last cam swap, I also replaced the timing chain/sprockets. When I installed the new crank sprocket, I used my old one to knock the new crank sprocket into place with my big hammer. While doing this, the hammer slipped and struck the teeth on the old sprocket causing it to shatter. I never did find the pieces after that happened. I can't remember if I had rags jammed in the pan or not while doing this. I did however save the sprocket for whatever reason and pulled it out for comparison. Do the metal bits I found, look like they would be from the sprocket that cracked? The oil looks clean that came out of the truck and doesn't have any glitter or sheen to it. Also, I have a hard time believing the truck would run as good as it does if I had a cracked piston where it lost a piece of ring material. Here's my old sprocket that broke compared to the pieces I found. Do you guys think this is where the pieces came from?

 

I don't. The chunks look like part of a lifter to me. But since that's what ruined my engine, that's what everything looks like to me.

 

Do you have pictures of your broken lifter? Can I see where it broke? This could be another possibility since like I've said, I've noticed MORE clacking from the lifters on a cold start than they used to make. Please share anything you have on this. Thanks!

 

The first peice your holding sure looks like the top of a lifter and the thin peice might be the clip that holds the plunger in. Unless you only change your oil every year and half I think if the broken teeth went in the pan they would have been on the plug on the first oil change.

 

My lifter didn't break, the roller pitted and took out the cam, and the debris did the rest.
I just think lifters first because I have been traumatized.

 

Can't be part of a piston if it's metallic. The 3rd pic in the first post shows a piece that should be clearly identifiable. I just don't know what it is.

 

Part of a valve spring lock?