Hello all,

I have done some searching but have came up fruitless. I was doing an oil pan gasket and noticed some lovely bits of plastic in my oil pan. My first thought was the tensioner/guide rails, but after pulling it all out it all looks okay. No visible pieces of broken plastic anywhere. Any idea what the pieces of plastic may be?



Tensioner for scale.

 

The only plastic in your engine are the guides, oil pump sprocket cover, and water pump fins. Make sure you replace the quides ans tentioner, it seems you have the old style two piece tensioner, no?

 

I've also seen cracked valve covers. Especially if an aftermarket coil is installed. Generic bolts can go in too deep and crack the valve cover.

If you aren't the first owner, maybe it's a sign the chain guides were broken and replaced previously

 

MiniToBe,

I have checked all those items, save the water pump, with no signs of cracking.

Does the oil pan gasket have hard plastic? I have already installed the new one so I'm not sure if it does or not. The old one was cracked in multiple places.

Perhaps this is the source of the plastic?

 

some oil pans come with gaskets and some dont. if you look closely at the pan, you might be (able/not able) to see it. It could possibly be old pieces from prior maintenance. if everything is ok minus these pieces, i would just keep an eye keep checking your oil level and/or leaks if any.

 

Broken dipstick pieces maybe?

 

By size comparison to the timing tensioner, this. ^^