BigSaveDave

Hi-

I did an oil change this morning and I have a couple of concerns I'm hoping some of you can address and talk me off this ledge:

1. I had some serious fragments come out with the the old oil. You can see in this picture https://imgur.com/xkPNvfw they are circular fragments. I counted 3 or 4. There were also quite a bit of metal shavings in the oil.
2. To further complicate this.. less than a gallon of Oil came out when I drained it. I had probably 3 or 4 inches of space at the top of a gallon milk jug. I have no doubt the lack of oil contributed to the shavings and the fragments.
3. I think my oil bolt is cross threaded in the oil pan. I can only hand screw it in for about 5 half spins before it gets too tight where it needs the wrench. I tightened it all of the way down, but at the end the bolt and crush washer just kept slipping when I applied significant force.
4. I also very apparently have an oil leak somewhere - it's not huge, but it is dripping steadily.

How bad is this situation?

thoiboi

You sure those metal shavings aren't just from the crossthreaded oil pan


Get a new oil pan and drain bolt first and foremost.

BigSaveDave

Thanks for the advice. I did the oil change last time and I'm certain I didn't cross thread it. Although, I did change the Oil filter too (this was all last month) and I'm wondering why the shavings wouldn't have been caught in the filter if they were actually in the oil supply. This does make me think that they were indeed on the plug or caught in the thread somehow and came out when I changed the oil.

I just saw a video from Eric the Car Guy about using a longer bolt to catch threads deeper into the drain hole as they may not be cross threaded. I just need to figure out how deep the threads in the drain go. I may try this first to see if the leak stops. Replacing the Oil Pan seems like an entire weekend for my novice hands.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Cross threaded drain plug gets my vote.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

the spirals give it away

BigSaveDave

Spirals being the circular pieces of metal in the drip pan?

Arkady

Sometimes I'll read the comments of the more senior members here and it amazes me how many small little things they can use to figure out issues. Like the spirals, that makes total sense and I'd have never thought of that. I guess it comes with experience.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

years and years of fuck up's lend experiences.

if you ever stripped a screw with a softer metal threads, like aluminium...you'll find these circular patterns. the softer metal will "thread" its way around the screw and peel off.

and what we think happened here, as you can see the circular pattern.
engine debris would be in the form of finer shavings, like dust.
catastrophic engine damage would result in BIG chunks of metal without any rhyme or reason in pattern

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Experience often comes from bad judgment; bad judgment often comes from lack of experience. The only rule one of my mentors had long ago was, "Go ahead, screw up, screw up BIG; just don't screw up in the same way twice."

thoiboi

I live by this

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

measure twice, cut once

Iggy

Measure with a micrometer, mark with a crayon, cut with an axe

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

i hate working with wood. For some reason, I always forget to account for the blade's width when cutting.
millimeter short? Good enough!

Arkady

Luckily for my attempts at carpentry, wood tends to be flexible so my lack of accounting for the blade width has been solvable with a bit of bending :P

SuperGreg

Why are you changing the oil if you just did it last month? Or am I reading that wrong...

I have not changed the oil pan but it does not look like an easy job to me. Hopefully that's not needed.

I have a perfect spiral of metal that looks like a spring in my shop from stripping out my brake caliper bracket. That was fun! I keep it as a reminder to stop and think when something doesn't seem right