I changed my oil the other night, making the switch to synthetic. Noticed a small copper colored piece of metal on the drain plug. This disturbed me some, so I cut open the oil filter.Copper colored shavings were all though the filter I pulled the oil pan and found even more shavings in it. So far I have pulled all the rod caps and it is not a rod bearing. This week I hope to pull the main caps and check. It's so nice to have a 1400 mile engine come apart on you.

 

Damn man, If it wasn't for bad luck you'd have no luck at all.

 

damn randy. sorry to hear about that. i hope its nothing major for your sake.

 

did you check your crank end play?

 

Umm, help me out here....how do you check that?

 

I think the cam bearings are made of copper. This sucks dood.

 

If it's any consolation, I just got my oil analysis back on my 8000 mile 6.0l and I have a high amount of Copper along with lead and silicon, which they say is normal. To quote them:

"High wear and silicon are both common finds in oil samples from new engines such as this one.The wear is high due to the break-in of new parts, while silicon is from sealers and sand-casted parts. Copper tends to be exceptionaly high in new GM v-8 engines, so don't be alarmed by this. It may stay high until you get 30k or 40k miles on the engine."

Wish I could edit this .pdf file so I could upload it for all to see.

There was a fair amount of fine metal on the drain plug, but it was grayish in color.

 

INTERESTING! I have a GM "CC" crate engine in my 88 Fbird and since it was new (about 15,000 miles ago) I have always found a grey metallic looking substance on the drain plug . Great oil pressure and no knocks/noises, oil and filter are changed every 3,000 miles, or twice a year, depending on usage.

 

Sounds to me like it could be a thrust washer allowing the the crank to walk on you.Be sure to check the end play on the crank when you change the main bearings.If the crank looks good you can probably just change the bearings and thrust warshers and clean the metal out of the oiling system.You can check the end play with a big screwdriver and a feeler gauge.

 

What are the thrust bearings made of? I think you can check end play by pushing or pulling on the crank pulley. It should not go in or out. If it does you will need to replace the thrust bearings. I hear that this is not an uncommon problem but only know about it from another post that I read. If you can pry the crank back and forth this is not good. Since you have the pan off you should be able to do a visual inspection of the thrust bearings.