Is this trouble or is this normal?

[67CudaBob]

Bought a 1999 5.9 with 102k miles.

Just drained the oil and dropped the pan. Oil was relatively clean, little bit of sludge/film on the bottom of the pan, but also these little nuggets in the film - and many more smaller.

The ones on the right would not react to a magnet and might be pebbles. The ones on the left jumped onto the magnet.

The 4 pictured are the largest 4 fragments I found.

I have never taken a motor down before - is this bad news or is this normal for a 100k mile engine?

The top end looks very clean, and the lower end looks very clean.

Thoughts?

View attachment pebbles in oil.jpg

 

[skizzo]

I'd be dropping my pan. The "stones" could be pebbles/debris from someone doing a few years worth of tossing the dipstick on the ground.
Those pieces are too big to get sucked through the p/u, it's the little ones that got through that bite you. But it's kinda what filters are for, or so I'm told. I wouldn't sweat it much if you clean the pan and p/u out, it'll let ya know when it's got a problem lol.
Edit: I see you did drop the pan, if the pump p/u was clear, it's not making terrible noises, and you've got pressure I'd rock it

 

[JBurch]

The pieces look to be irregular in shape, and being magnetic, I'm guessing it's casting flash that broke off/fell out of where it was stuck. Not common, though not totally out of the ordinary.

Are you taking this apart to rebuild? If so there is no such thing as "too clean", poke at the nooks and crannies to remove any more casting flash.

Keep us posted.

 

[midnight340]

I've see scary chunks of unknown origin in the pan of engines that continued to perform well and run many more miles. The hard part is to not worry. Pat your baby on the dash and tell it that it'll be fine. If it's really serious you'll know soon enough. Till then just drive and enjoy.

 

[toolmanmike]

I've see scary chunks of unknown origin in the pan of engines that continued to perform well and run many more miles. The hard part is to not worry. Pat your baby on the dash and tell it that it'll be fine. If it's really serious you'll know soon enough. Till then just drive and enjoy.

Agreed. Those pieces are large enough they probably won't get through the pick up screen. There are lots of places where little pieces of ferrous metal could come from and when rebuilding an engine it's very hard to get each and every little crumb out. Rock and roll!

 

[67CudaBob]

thanks guys - my beer tastes a little better now.

the plan is not a complete rebuild as of now - but will definitely be cleaning everything up. I have a car pan and new pickup so I should be good and will just keep an eye on it.

 

[Woods74]

Nothing says you can't pop a couple main and rod bearings caps off and check them out... I'd also check the thrust bearing for good measure, if any changes need to be made, plasti-gauge it back in. Use a beam-style torque wrench!