LOOK Here: Question regarding Oil Pan, Timing case, etc. Pics Inside, 56k zzzzzz....

[stevohill]

Well first lets start off with a little background. My car just passed 166K and about a month ago it started making the diesel, chain tensioner's gone noise. So I replaced the tensioner, and the noise went away thankfully.  But just recently, it would occasionally make the "low oil" noise, but would soon go away. I started fearing the worst after reading all the horror stories about the loose upper pan bolts and timing case destruction so as soon as I could I dropped my lower oil pan. Luckily there were no bolts in my pan, although quite a few were finger tight :eek: But my assumption about something blocking the oil pickup was correct. I'm not sure what it is, and thats why I'm asking. I'm just concerned that this is something bad, and I want to know what the next steps I should take are. I finished the job and cleaned everything out, and the car is running great for now, but I'm worried that this could cause further problems down the road. Sorry for the essay...but here are the pics of what I found. This was the largest chunk, but there were quite a few smaller shards in the pan.



Sorry for the overexposure, I was trying to capture detail. Its something that is half metal, half plastic. Is this a part of my chain guide?

And the other side



My next plan of attack is to remove my valve cover, and timing case cover and visually inspect everything and go from there....

[D. Clay]

http://www.m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1096&highlight=timing+chain
Scroll down through thread.

[stevohill]

http://www.m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1096&highlight=timing+chain
Scroll down through thread.

Yeah I've seen that thread and it scares me, I was just asking what piece it could be because it seems thinner than the rail guides pictured, but it does have a similar appearance. Well looks like it's time to replace the timing case components.

[Alpine003]

You and I must have the same fate because I have 168k miles and just took apart my lower oil pan last weekend and found exactly the same thing. Several of those pieces that you have posted plus a couple bonus pieces. It doesn't look good. My engine must've suffered horribly from all the lack of oil from the pieces that blocked the oil pickup area.

[stevohill]

You and I must have the same fate because I have 168k miles and just took apart my lower oil pan last weekend and found exactly the same thing. Several of those pieces that you have posted plus a couple bonus pieces. It doesn't look good. My engine must've suffered horribly from all the lack of oil from the pieces that blocked the oil pickup area.

So if I understand correctly, these pieces are from the rail guide? Because luckily mine was just that chunk and then a few miniscule pieces, I don't think any substantial damage to the engine was caused though because it only made the dieseling noise once and I shut it down immediately.

[Alpine003]

So if I understand correctly, these pieces are from the rail guide? Because luckily mine was just that chunk and then a few miniscule pieces, I don't think any substantial damage to the engine was caused though because it only made the dieseling noise once and I shut it down immediately.

I'm assuming it's from the rail guide since most of the pieces were plastic but there were a couple metal pieces that I have yet to identify.

Mine was dieseling ever since I got it. Put a new tensioner in and didn't help. Finally broke an intake cam and found the po didn't torque the cam caps correctly. I suspect the chain might've been wobbling while the cam broke and started to tear up the chain guide(s) from there. I suspect this only happened after my cam broke since that is when my oil light would stay on longer when first started, indicating a clogged oil pickup.

Either way, my motor is a ticking time bomb at this point. I'll just drive it til it dies and address it at that time with either a custom build or a swap.