There's something in my oil pan !!!
 

Hello everyone,well today i was changing the oil on my 06 with the 5.4 3v,and i noticed something was blocking the oil from coming out so i put my pinky in the drain hole and sure enough i felt something in there.When all the oil drained out i saw a piece of black plastic and i believe it had grooves on it but i could be wrong.I tryd to get it out but i could'nt,does anybody know what this could be perhaps a piece of a guide or tensioner from the timing chain?Also is it safe to run like this?I'd appreciate any help from anyone. Thanks everyone.....

About the only plastic internals that could make it to the pan would be the guides. What year/engine?

2006 5.4 3v

This is highly likely a piece of the timing chain tensioner guides. They will start to break up and the plastic bits will end up in the oil pan. There are many post on here about this and I have personally had this happen on my 05. Your lucky you found it before it blocked up your oil pickup in the pan and did serious damage.

You need to get the front timing cover off and inspect and replace the tensioners and guides. Once the plastic guides fall apart you will ultimately jump timing and the truck will run terrible and throw codes for one of both banks. With this being and 06 you might as well replace the phasers and clean the VCT valve bodies at the same time since you will have the front cover and valve covers off.

Because it seems the tensioner is already coming apart you should inspect the inside of the timing cover closely. When the tensioner fails the chains will rub the inside of the front cover and dump metal shavings into the oil that will end up on the rod and main bearings( I know from personal experience on this one ).

Good luck and update us on what you find to be the root cause of the plastic.

If you really want to know what it is......pull the oil pan....

x2...i imagine this being easier than pullin everything apart to check the timing components

Any idea as to the cost of a dealer doing all of this? Rough estimate? Just wondering in case it ever happens to my 05 with the same engine.

yea im thinking it must be a guide,but reguardless im gonna have to remove the pan(anybody have any tips or advise)to see how much junk is down there.The truck seems to be as smooth as ever and runs great,except for a cam sensor code and some rattling above 3000 rpm's.Thanks guys for all the advise,really appreciate it..

Are you 2wd or 4x4? Some vehicles require you to pull the engine to get the pan off....

4x4... looks like i'm gonna have to pickup the motor,do i have to disconnect the exhaust?

Don't panic yet. It may be a large piece of black RTV that is used during installation of the cam covers and front cover. Used to find it in the oil pans all the time. Could be other things as well which are not pieces of failed components. Try using a shop vac to vacum it through the drain hole.If that dosen't work then try just lowering the oil pan enough to get a hose attached to your shop vac into the pan and vac it out.. You could also remove a cam cover and get a hose down the front of the engine to vac the pan out. You have options just be a little creative.Once you identify the debris then go from there with your repair plan if needed. Good luck

Great idea dynotech,i already put the camera in there thru the oil sensor hole on the side of the pan,and it is a piece of hard plastic but its slightly bigger than the oil drain hole.I'm already half way to taking the front cover off,i was already planning on changing the phasers and i'm pretty sure its a piece of guide down there,so might aswell change the guides and tensioners while im there.... any idea where to get phasers and timing kit?also any advise or things i should avoid doing would be greatly appreciated

update: The timing chain guide is broken,just a small piece missing.What a pain to remove that pass.side cam cover,alot of wiggling and tugging i even had the wife helping me lol.I didnt remove any a/c hoses just loosend them up and the 2 bottom screws on the back of the cam cover were a pain too but i got to them from under the truck.oh and i had to remove the fuel rail aswell.

Did you get the oil pan off?? might be good , not only, to get the chunk of plastic...but to check the oil pump pick up screen & make sure it is clear of other "stuff" and not restricting oil flow

i havnt removed the pan just yet,i was debating on that cuz it is only a piece that broke off,thinking of just taking the plastic out of the pan thru the front cover.But on the other hand it is not worth the risk of possibly loosing an engine,cuz i didnt clean the oil pickup... Good point,Enriched and thanks for your concerns...