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Don Donaldson

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Recently to try to lessen the rattle noise I believed to be my timing chain I dropped my oil pan to try to clean and flush my engine....



Well I found these plastic bits of something in my oil pan and to say the least I am a little freaked out.. >I do not believe it can be that bad since I have put about 30000 with it making noises but what do I do and where are they from?:(

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Looks like some ground up plastic silverware. Maybe been there since the oil pan was put on in the factory when a line worker dropped his lunch.



Guess that is why the oil filter is a filter, right?



TJR
 
Don D. About a year and a half ago I had my Trac in the shop for a loud rattle. It was real bad at start up and over time it would do it while driving. Turns out my cam adjuster and timing assy. was toast. Thank GOD I purchased an extended warranty when i bought the truck because it was a $3200.00 repair. At the same time my tranny went bad and they replaced the tranny. The total bill sent to the warranty company was about $6300.00. Unfortunately my truck is back in the shop for the same engine sounds and bad tranny again. Also my alternator went bad. At least I still have my warranty.:(
 
Don, I feel your pain. On the bright side those parts look too big to get flushed down through an oil galley from the top of the engine. Secondly they don't look like any part from the bottom end either. I assume that you would have seen some particulates when you previously changed your oil. If you don't change your own maybe they have been in there for a while. If someone had dropped the plastic in the oil cap it could not have made its way into the pan. The galleys are too small. My guess is that they were there from the factory. Just a guess.
 
Plastic = less hard than metal.

So do i just clean it up the best I can and leave it. I believe its a chain guide so will it jump timing... I have had it this way for probably at least 20,000 miles or so.
 
Maybe you could take the pieces to a Ford parts department. Some of those guys are pretty good and might be able to help identify the part. If they can do that, then you can check the part they think it might be.
 




Be careful. If it jumps timing it could throw a rod. I had a 2001 Lincoln LS with the 3.9L V8 that recently had a timing guide go bad, and it caused a bent rod.
 
The parts do like like a chain guide to me as well...



In many cases, the guide is used more for noise than the keep the chain in place. By that, the crank is turning, which turns the chain, which is linked to the cam. If the cam does not jump ahead for some reason, it could run forever without the guides. The guides do take up looseness which will help to keep things in order, but not critical for things to work prooperly...
 
I have this shaking that starts in my rear when I get above 60. You do not feel it in the steering wheel just the seats. IT is wearing down my left read tire evenly. No one seems to know what is causing this. Any ideas?
 
I am confirming what Fast Eddie said. Those are pieces of the guide tensioner. Question is which side did they come from. They will need to be replaced and that won't be easy or fun.



 
I guarantee that they are the chain guides. They do need to be replaced as they help guide the chain(obviously) and also help keep tension on the chain. Without these in place the chain is free to rattle around and cause whatever damage it sees fit. If one of these was the shoe that provides the main tension on the chain then it really is just a matter of time before all the little plastic pieces turn into little metal, or worse yet, big metal pieces.
 

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