So I recently change my oil this weekend and found a couple of very small metal shavings on the drain plug After draining the oil out of the drip pan and filter i found some very small pieces there as well. The engine wasnt making any noises or knock, so I popped the valve covers to inspect. The rockers were all tight, no broken springs, and very clean. I added oil and will continue to run it and change the oil again next weekend. This is the first time this has happened. Any ideas?

 

what engine and how many miles are on it? but for the most part metal on the drain plug is just normal wear. if your oil drains out with metal sparkles in it then you have a problem.

 

^^^ greasemykey is right I have small shavings on the magnet of the drain plug everytime I change my oil when its mixed with oil is bad

 

The rollers can fall out of the lifters and or rocker trunions but they usually show as the parts of the rollers themselves, not shavings....

 

its a 5.3 with 82xxx. I didnt see any material coming out of the oil itself while it was draining. When i drained the oil out of the drip pan however, there were some more small particles that i could feel with my fingers. I was wanting to do heads soon so maybe i should go ahead and pull the trigger on a top end rebuild? heads, lifters, trays and oil pump? Dont you think if it was something on the bottom end or a bearing i would hear knock?

 

you would hear something. those shavings are a normal part of wear and tear. but it does sound like a good reason to bribe the other half into doing a top end and cam. also if you are worried i suggest dropping the pan and pulling caps one at a time and looking at what you have. it cant hurt.

 

Already have a decent size cam so I think it would wake up allot with the increase in flow and slight cr bump. I'll change the oil again in a couple days and check again just to be sure and schedule a top end build soon, thanks for the input

 

I am in the middle of repairing the same problem on my truck (found 1 metal flake on the drain plug magnet so I cut the filter open and there were more) I found 2 lobes wearing off the cam, I think I was lucky because I caught it before the metal ruined the bearings.

 

stock cam? how many miles?

 

all stock 115000 miles serviced very regularly, engine was extremely clean inside and still lost 2 lobes