Hey Guys,

My 08 Z06 was making an awful noise a few weeks ago so I dropped the oil and found a horrorshow of metal. I've come to accept that a full rebuild is in my future, but here's an interesting twist (watch out for that pun):

There is a spring in my oil! It looks like a seal spring of some kind. A friend suggested piston ring/ oil scraper but it doesn't look the part to me. Any ideas?

Apart inevitably making me broke as hell, the diagnosis here is fun.

 

They are from the valve seals. Did you have a cam done recently?

 

Cam was done years ago, heads 3 years ago, and timing chain/valvesprings this time last year but I've changed the oil twice since then (I change it after every third track day).

 

That sure isn't part of an oil ring....

While I would agree that a rebuild is probably in your future - it's POSSIBLE that you could get lucky... As double06 said - it's highly likely that the metal you found came from a valve stem oil seal. The good news is that is most likely to large to fit through the screen in your oil pump pickup.

So - was the oil pressure "normal" when you heard this - or was the pressure starting to drop (indicating the oil pump bit the dust - or that metal got through the pump and is now "clearancing" one or more of your engine bearings) ??? If pressure was going down - you can stop reading now - and start searching for short blocks (or long blocks if you prefer). BUT - if the oil pressure was OK - pull the oil filter, and get a tool to cut it open (don't use a hacksaw)- do you see any metal in your oil filter ??? If no metal in the oil filter and no loss of oil pressure - you MAY be "OK". Personally I'd pull the oil pan and clean out any additional metal (also look carefully at the oil pump pickup for signs that it ingested metals) - but if you find none - you could try putting it back together with fresh oil & filter and seeing if the gods are with you. Obviously you'll need to pull the valve covers and replace the offending stem seal - but what I just mentioned is a few hours work and less than $100 in parts. It's possible that the noise was the unsupported valve stem seal being caught up in the spring and making the horrible racket.

Truthfully - it's more likely that the spring in the seal got into other moving parts and there is other damage - but I don't think you're going to hurt anything too much more by pulling the oil pan / replacing the stem seal(s) and refilling with oil and starting it up... Honestly it's about risk and reward - and I'd say that the risk of doing more damage is low compared to the potential reward of finding that the engine doesn't have to be rebuilt.....

GOOD LUCK !!!

 

Thanks for the informative reply Purple92!

To answer a few of your questions; the oil pressure was normal before this, mid 40's psi at idle and rising with RPMs. Here's a video of the noise:
I cut open the filter and while I had some trouble with the dull tin snips (thus the blue flakes), most of this glitter was already there. I still think I'm hosed based on the glitter and the other large chunks of metal on the drainplugs.

Curious question: why do you say I need to look at shortblocks/longblocks? If metal pieces like these did cruise around the entire engine, is a rebuild with the current block/crank/rods/new bearings typically out of the question?

Thanks for the help!

 

Sorry to see those pics - no question that some of that metal you found on your magnetic drain plug got into the oil pump, and some probably went through the filter.

The reason I said that it's time to start looking at short blocks or long blocks is not that your current motor is not rebuildable - it almost certainly IS rebuildable, but if you've already done cam and head work - my bet would be that at least a few of the components that go back into the motor are going to be a bit better than what you're taking out... So - (speaking as someone who has purchased more than one forged rotating assembly in the last "few" years) I'm going to bet you'll be spending some time looking at aftermarket pistons, possibly rods (different opinions exist on if the rods in the LS7 are superior to good old forged 4340 H Beam rods or not), and maybe even cranks. At that point - you'll probably also look at forged rotating assemblies - which you can get already balanced.

Then I'm guessing that you'll also look at places that offer assembled short blocks (with all the good stuff) and compare the costs for all your options. Remember to include the costs for a shop to clean up the block - and to re-assemble everything (unless you normally do that kind of stuff yourself). While I have assembled some bottom ends (quite a number of years ago), I now think it's more advantageous to pay people who do this every day do that kind of work for me. The engine builder I've used in the past put it this way - the value he brings to the process is not in screwing stuff together and taking measurements, it's knowing what to do when those measurements are not what you want them to be.

If you spend some time reading threads on this forum - you'll see that there are certainly a few engine builders/ engine suppliers that seem to enjoy a pretty good reputation - all of whom offer mail order short blocks and rotating assemblies. Getting a short block from one of them may be a very cost effective option to buying the parts and having them assembled, but before you pull out the credit card - you should look at ALL your options !!!! That's what I meant by looking for short blocks or long blocks...

Hang in there and realize that there was nothing you could have done to prevent this failure.

 

Sounds to me like you have a lifter with a bad bearing/wheel. I had the same issue. One lifter had a failed bearing, and the wheel was skidding. Found the filter just like yours. I didn't have those oil seal springs in my oil though. Found NO damage to any bearings or pistons. Oil pump was trashed though. Luckily, the oil filter stopped it all. Ended up rebuilding the motor anyway, since it was all apart.

At a minimum, you'll have to clean out the entire oil system...cooler, tank, lines, check the pump, and replace the cam/lifters. I knew I was looking at the same thing, but didn't want to always worry about it, so I pulled the motor out, and had it gone through.

Just curious, what cam/lifters/heads do you have?

 

That spring looks a little long to be a valve seal spring.

Looks more like a crank-seal spring

Either Way, It looks like a total teardown is in your future.

Sorry for your misfortune, keep us posted on what you find.

 

Thanks for the help guys!

I don't know what the cam is, it's a custom grind that the previous owner had spec'ed by a shop in NJ that was secretive about the dimensions. Lifters are stock, heads are stock ported with SS valves/bronze guides.

I'll be slowly pulling it apart and savings to either put it back together or get a shortblock/longblock - thanks for the explanation Purple92

I'll update everyone once I figure out what the eff these springs are from...

 

This same thing just happened to me. It's your valve seal sprigs. I found out about mine the same exact way you found out about yours. By changing the oil. Everybody on here was so helpful and they pointed it out. I took the car in and it was the valve seal springs. I had my heads refreshed with new valves, springs, guides and a 5 angle valve job. $2800 bucks!!!! ������������ I have a cam in mine as well and this was more than likely what caused it.

 

same thing happened to me. it was valve seals. my drain plug looked identical to yours. with the springs and shrapnel
mine were brand new and improperly installed by machine shop (not fully seated).
replaced them all and been trouble free, and clean drain plug since.