I posted about this on one of the fb pages once and somebody suggested that a bad cam bearing somehow caused this. If so, how? Also what are some other symptoms of a bad cam bearing? This is on a bone stock 2011 base, to my knowledge it’s never had any motor work done. What’s concerning is that I’ve cut my oil filter open several times and always found some non-magnetic metal flakes in there each time. Nothing huge but more than I would expect to see. So what else could cause this? My oil pressure is normal and consistent, never had any misfires or power issues… I do get some intermittent ticking noises but then again it is an LS motor. I had the factory lifters replaced awhile back and they all looked normal. Any other explanations?

 

We’re the lifters still in place? Looks like it launched one

 

yes lifters were fine

 

A die grinder at the foundry caused that.

 

well if so then somebody was either not very good with one or they did mine on a Friday evening at quitting time.

 

No they drunk at the bar went back to shop and bet who can do it faster.

 

haha that crossed my mind also. Somebody def went at it with an idgaf mentality

 

Awhile ago someone else posted a photo that looked a lot like that.

I just don't remember what the final outcome of it was .. but it sure did look like a die grinder was used in pretty much the same location on the block.

 

Someone else? I don't think so. See this thread from bwill03z from back in December 2021. Have a look at post #11 there.

 

Yea I remember posting it on a fb page put couldn’t remember if I posted on here too. Never really came back to a conclusion on what happened here cause answers were all over the place. It’s still bugging me so I was looking for more opinions. Somebody mentioned a cam bearing may have cause that but I don’t see how the heck that’s possible. If a piece of debri was flying around in there to cause that surely it would have led to bigger issues by now…. But I’m no expert, that’s why I’m posting.

 

bwill03z ...

Ok, that was you that posted those same photos awhile ago.

I guess we will never really know how this happened and why they used what looks like a die grinder on the block.

 

yep. Ahh yea no way to really ever know for sure but I thought maybe some people that’s done engine work had seen the same thing before. I have a suspicion that this could be related to why when I cut my oil filter open I see flakes of metal in there. Maybe, maybe not. I was going to have my motor pulled And rebuilt but that fell through. I have the worst luck with cars

 

And you have no idea as to who owned this car before you bought it used ?

 

I bought it off of a private seller, middle aged guy who was selling to buy a C8. It had 3 previous owners before he bought it but only had 20k miles when he purchased it… 40k when I bought it from him. He daily drove it to work but babied it. It was as stock as it gets the entire time he owned it and that’s about all I know. Shortly after I bought it I had it out on a cold night and noticed some pronounced ticking from the motor and believed it to be lifter noise so I had the factory lifters replaced as well as the rocker trunnions. The stock lifters looked fine when they came out but on each oil change I cut open the oil filters anyway to check and sure enough there is non-magnetic flakes of metal in there each time and a lot more than I think you should see. This got me worried so I pulled the valve covers and there was very fine magnetic metal debris in the heads. I took a magnet and cleaned it all out and it has not returned so I’m not exactly sure what that was or where it came from but that seems to have cleared up. But I still get the non-magnetic debris in my oil. So something is up and I’m just trying to solve the mystery but of course without going into the motor I’ll never probably know unfortunately. The good news is I have sent in two oil samples to Blackstone for an analysis and both have come back okay.

 

Bro, dont take this the wrong way but the work was done. Going to pull the engine again??? I dont know about that blackstone. What if u take some oil that's in the engine and get a magnify glass and see what's up IDK.

I see ur digging for resolution. Please till me u r sleeping good.

 

lol ur right man I’m desperate at this point and digging for answers… nope still not sleeping good because the work never got done on my motor. I took it to a shop and it was going to be months before they could even start on it so that fell through. I’m about ready to go trade this thing in on a truck and be done with it tbh.

 

Ugh i feel ur frustration I forget didnt u say u bought the car and started having problem right of the bat??

 

Yep, didn’t even notice the lifter noise until right after i bought it. Good news is it has always ran great and not thrown any codes, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time until sh** hits the fan.