JUIC3D

So doing my oil change a few days ago I stumbled on this little gem sitting at the drain hole. It's too big to fit out of the hole as moving it around with the magnet tells me its about 1" x 1/2" or so. It's flat, metallic, and magnetic.

I checked the valve stem seals last night and they appear to be ok but I couldn't see all of them as some of the valve springs were compressed. The car does not smoke or burn oil. If I didn't know better, I would swear everything is ok. I'll be pulling the pan to get it out and figure out what it is but until then, does anyone have a thought of what it might be?





***Update, item identified***

Big thanks to Glen for recognizing the piece. I have no idea how long its been like this, but my timing chain tensioner is all but an orange nub. The spring ended up in the oil pan and the only thing left is the pivot point on the tensioner bracket. There was a good amount of plastic fallout, presumably the remains of the tensioner arm.

I have the dampener ready to install but I don't know when I'll feel like doing it. The timing chain is tight, much tighter than the factory one(I put in the C5R chain) so I'm not overly concerned with it. To put in the dampener, I'll have to pull the entire front of the motor again to include the water pump and steering rack..ugh.

Here are the pics..enjoy






Updated again 8/1/2012

As requested, here are some pics of the damage and also a video to show what was left when I pulled the front cover.




All fixed

Justasheet

Maybe Joe will know Justin.

Jeff

Olddudesrule

Part of the baffling? Not sure what type of baffles or windage tray our pans have, but I can't imagine what else that shape could be in there. It obviously didn't get there through the oil passages.....

AirBusPilot

Could be one of the brackets for the oil pickup.

Kenny94945

Edit: Second look. There is an item visible looking through the drain plug hole into the pan.

madmax4499

almost looks to be the shape of a feeler gauge?

JUIC3D

I really have no clue what it is or how long is has been there. The motor runs strong, no smoke, no issues-whatever it is doesn't seem to be causing an issue. I'll have to pull the pan to get to it though.

I don't think it's a feeler gauge as I've never used one on the car and I doubt the previous owner did as well.

I did ask Joe but he didn't know either. It's a damn mystery

LSOHOLIC

Damn that sucks......they make some "cheap" style bore-scopes......drag the object away from the drain hole with a magnet and send the scope in and look at it.
Barrow one, rent one...what ever....but I would want to know.

http://www.harborfreight.com/digital...source=linking

Keep your receipt...LOL

Good luck...

JUIC3D

I've thought about using a boroscope but I'll just pull the pan to remove it any way. I'm really curious more than anything as the car runs strong and shows no signs of anything afoot.

carpe dm

Please post a follow-up to this; I like to see mysteries solved.

JUIC3D

You and me both

Quil

That has to be part of the windage tray assembly....

VET4LES

It looks like a magnet broken off a drain plug. That's why GM stopped using them. Pull it out and forget about it.

JCtx

I don't think so man. If that was the case, the magnet would fit through the hole .

HOXXOH

There are multiple entry points for objects to get into the pan. I'm guessing it's a foreign object. i.e. not an internal engine part.

Anytime you pull valve covers, the valley cover, the back plate, timing cover, or even the balancer, there are openings larger than the oil pan drain plug hole for objects to fall through.

Don't be surprised if you find the washer from the power steering pump mount that came up missing during the cam change.

taken19

back me up here, but I don't think the PS mount has washers, only a couple 15mm bolts that go into the driver side head. If you're speaking of the rack mount, that's one heck of a big piece to find its way into the pan!

VET4LES

Your right man.

JUIC3D

I don't remember ever losing a power steering pump washer during my cam swap. Are you thinking of someone else Tom?

I don't think it's part of the motor either. I mean, it could be my ignorance, but I feel like if it was an important part, the car wouldn't run as well as it does. I know I'll need to pull the pan to remove it, but for now, I don't think it's hurting anything.

I'm thinking it might be part of the oil tank/oil pick up tube baffling or connecting pieces. I have this unusual 1* of knock that only happens right around the 6100rpm mark. It's well past peak torque and is very feint but it does show up regularly. Perhaps some piece of the pickup tube let go and it's causing a slight resonance or vibration at high rpms which is triggering the knock sensor.

Who knows though.

HOXXOH

I was just using the washer as an example of how easy it is to have something drop inside the engine when you have it opened. I obviously wasn't there during your cam install.

JUIC3D

Oh alright. I was thinking maybe you read up on someone mentioning something about that. My mistake