? Can a BlackStone lab oil report tell exactly where this is coming from ? Gen1 5VZFE

You have no idea, really. There are a great many steel parts moving & rotating inside the engine.

It's also possible that even if the chips are from a critical part, say for example an oil-pump gear, that it's just a small chip at the edge of one of the pump gear teeth which has little or no long-term impact on operation or further wear.

 

I'll be interested to hear what @Dm93 might have to say about this issue & thread, and whether he agrees with me that an exponentially-decaying inspection interval for the magnetic oil drain plug is worth the time & effort.

Paging Doctor @Dm93

 

if i could easily take the oil pan off to take a peek i would... it has a small weep (very small) up in the front of the pan anyways
BUT this truck requires partial removal of the front diff from what i learned last month on TW

 

Nah forget about all that, it's a wild goose chase. Just drain the oil 50 miles from now, look for further wear particles on the oil drain plug magnet. If present, stop and assess further at that time.

If NOT present... replace the same oil.. drive another 50 miles.. repeat.. etc. at 100 miles, 200 miles, 400 miles, etc., up to 3200 miles. If it doesn't recur again in that interval I think it's safe to say it was a one-off event and doesn't merit much further concern. Assuming no other symptoms from the motor of course.

Idk about the wobbling transmission stick at certain speeds/gears, it's possible it's related in some way, but also possible it's completely unrelated.

 

At >300K miles and >20 years old (or much older), your resonating transmission shifter stick in a specific speed/gear combo might just be due worn bushings on the stick linkage mechanism.

 

for that exponential decaying process would you just need to pop the magnetic plug and quickly put the original plug in to stop the rest of the oil coming out
inspect, take not of debris, and clean the plug then exchange it with the other plug
i would lose less than 1 quart if i am quick enough at swapping plugs!
then just top it off with some fresh oil of course

sounds like a great idea to see if this continues

 

Yeah I was going to say that but it's a personal call.

If I was doing it I wouldn't bother trying to catch/stop the oil etc. just because of the likely mess involved. I'd just let it all drain out into a normal oil catch pan, then put it all back in later.

--> A complete drain would give a chance to inspect for finer non-ferrous metal shavings/sparklies in the total oil volume.

 

At 358K it could be anything but being most of the actual wear metals of an engine are non-ferrous and it's in chunks I would suspect it came from somewhere outside the engine or is just some bit's of hardened sludge deposits that broke loose.

If it isn't making any abnormal noises and oil pressure is good I'd say send it.

If your concerned about it pull the oil filter off, cut it open, and inspect it for debris and/or get an oil sample done, that will tell you alot more than a few specks of crud on a drain plug.

 

Would it be wise to switch oil brand to this new Valvoline restore and protect?
I have been using havoline 5w30 synthetic blend for the longest of time
Or is that Valvoline r+p all just hyped razzle dazzle

 

Don't believe the hype

 

I wouldn't worry about it to be honest. And forget about repair oil...just use the high mileage synthetic, it has the zinc these engines like.

 

this certainly is concerning...

https://youtu.be/ynolAwrRTmo?si=5XpSld2xoUPhLz37

 

It sounds like your only variable is the attempt to use an aftermarket plug that didn’t thread properly and leaked. Cross threading produces exactly the sort of particles you found. That’s likely the issue. I’d run it. Maybe pull the plug just like you did to swap in the new one after 50 miles… but probably not.

 

my bad! i was not very clear on what i had been doing... i am so sorry about that!

the 1st aftermarket plug did not finger screw in all the way and seat properly, it just stopped with a gap that leaked, i did not force it any further by wrench, swapped back in the OE plug and tightened it down
those specs are what came out in the oil from the attempted plug swap, less than 1/2 quart
the particles shown there were sitting in the bottom of the cleaned catch pan and i took that magnetic plug into that small amount of oil to see what it would pick up

 

So does that ^^^ mean the metal particles came out of your motor?

 

It would appear so
I am going to put a couple hundred miles on this weekend and drop the new mag plug that fits the pan to see what is there if anything

Where do you think it might be coming from?

 

Nobody knows, as of now, where those little magnetic flecks came from.

Your comment on the youtube post you made above, of the 3.4L 5VZ tear down, is off the mark. It was a catastrophic failure most-likely caused by some kind of hydro-locking event. Nothing to do with your situation.

The further evidence you are looking for lies in one of two places:

1) In the PRESENT, inside the folds of your oil filter. Pull & replace the oil filter. Carefully tear open the old one & spread out all the filter media and see what else may be there.

2) Possibly, maybe, in the FUTURE, i.e. at the 25 or 50 or 100 or 200 or 500+ mile mark, as further wear / damage may possibly accumulate, which can only be determined by periodic removal and re-inspection of the magnetic drain plug.

But it's also equally possible that these flecks amount to basically nothing, are of nearly zero consequence. As @Dm93 helpfully pointed out, at >350K miles they could just be incidental bits of long-term glaze/grit (from exhaust on the exhaust valves, or accumulated very-fine ferrous particulates that have made it through the engine air filter & then been captured in oil deposits, etc) that came loose from whatever surfaces they were stuck on, and went into circulation through the oiling system.

Suggest less fishing around for speculation, more pursuit of evidence. As outlined in 1) and 2) above.

 

Drag that oil pan plug across beach sand and see what happens

 

Ok?

 

progress update...

approximately 700 miles driven ... checked the mishimoto plug for particles
this is what it picked up








lost between 1/4 and 1/2 quart into the drain catch pan between plug swaps with the OEM plug

this is what was in the bottom of the pan, perhaps it got knocked off that mishimoto plug from the rush of oil that comes out at first