Debris in oil pan, thoughts?

[Mathes308]

Greetings, first new post

Well, did the oil pan swap due to the typical rust making a pin hole. Will get my Sig filled out asap, truck is an 03' with 197,000 miles on it, everything seems well, sounds great, runs great, oil pressure I'm guessing is fine.
Going to try to attach a pic of the bottom inside of my old pan, there are about 4 or 5 metal flakes, they feel super thin, could grab the mics but I'm guessing 0.001", other than that, nothing spectacular.
So whats everyone's thoughts? If I never had to drop the pan I wouldn't have known they were in there, also noticed about a quart and a half of oil cant drain from the pan due to the plug boss so not sure how long they have been down there.
Factory wacky oil gauge is the 0-Line-40-Line-110 style, cold (70F) reads high on the line between 40 and 110. hot idle is about 1/16" above the line between 0 and 40, hot idle after towing up a hill with temp gauge around 210 is right on the line between 0 and 40, 60 mph cruise is between 40 and the line above it.
Running Rotella T6 5W40

Hoping where ever it came from is robust enough to live without it

 

[AH64ID]

Welcome!

Probably nothing to worry about.

Don't bother even looking at your oil psi gauge as the reading is fake. The only thing on the motor is a 6 psi switch, so as long as there is 6 psi the ECM gives you a fake reading on the dash.

 

[Tuesdak]

Start doing Used Oil Analysis and a few samples will tell you if anything is going on.

 

[Ozymandias]

I wouldn't bother about it, could also be leftovers from the Factory.

 

[Mathes308]

Thought the first few replies were gonna be "walk away from it" "sell it" or "you're on borrowed time"

It runs so well!

I've been a little gun shy, bought the truck used from a rinky dink dealer. One owner, traded to a dealership, had all the recalls done in November.
Drove 7 hours to see it with check in hand. Paid $10k with 196,000 on it.
No rust on the body, ran like new, oil cap shows no blow by.
Found the reason for the price was the leaky oil pan and the drivers side frame rail was rusted between the cab and bed at the very bottom. Oh, and a broken leaf spring.
Had the spring and frame fixed at a body shop for $300, did the pan myself for about $300

Have to make this baby last, the wife wasn't thrilled about buying another truck.

 

[Tuesdak]

Thought the first few replies were gonna be "walk away from it" "sell it" or "you're on borrowed time"

It runs so well!

Diesel engines are know to run perfectly till the moment something fails and then suddenly there is a hot oily trail of parts and maybe smoke. Open checkbook it's always expensive and catastrophic. They do work harder and last longer than a gas engine in most heavy load cases.

Have you cut open the oil filter and looked for debris? Run a magnet over the filter paper and see if it pulls a lot of filings out.

Again the best way to know the engine condition is a UOA. Otherwise as noted you just don't know how long the debris has been in there and if you should be worried or not.

 

[mwilson]

Could be leftover debris from a previous repair as well.

I think the oil filter element inspection with a magnet is a great idea. If it is clean I would motor happily on.

A couple of oil samples wouldn't hurt either over the next year just for added piece of mind. It will take at least two to get a baseline.

 

[Mathes308]

I did cut the filter open that came on the truck when I bought it, no idea how many miles were on the oil though, filter didn't look new. Inside was spotless, pulled all the pleats apart, nothing.
I agree analysis is the way to go, at least It should show me that it is either going to keep running the way it is or get worse, Ill toss a kit on my next Amsoil shipment.
Now just wish I knew if the injectors were orig. or have been changed. That's another guess at is it good or on borrowed time.

Thanks guys.

 

[sag2]

I would not give it another thought. Get at least two UOA's and see what they say if that makes you feel better.

 

[RWherley]

These Cummins are though engines I have seen them survive things that would destroy a lesser motor, my dads 04 3500 with the 5600 trans ripped the rear thrust bearing off and dropped it in to the pan and ran that way for a month before we figured out what was going on, other then needing new crank bearings it was fine. My 93 got a clogged oil nozzle and burned out a wrist pin bushing, it needed a new rod and piston but the rest of the motor was ok.