Metal in my oil

[rcasteel]

I have a 1997 Camry that has a 1999 5SFE engine in it. Recently the car died going down the highway. I suspected a head failure since the engine had been rattling a bit during shifting.

When I tried to turn the engine by hand It felt extremely stiff and I could barely get any movement out of it at all. So, I dropped the timing belt and could turn the camshafts with no problem. To my surprise, I could also turn the crankshaft with no problem. The oil pump, however, was a different story.

During the oil pump replacement, I had to drop the oil pan to remove the screen. In the bottom of the oil pan I found quite a bit of metal shavings (about 1/4 cup). I was alarmed at first, but I tried to pick them up with a magnet and found them to be non-magnetic.

Knowing a little bit about engines, I have determined that the metal must be from the balance shaft assembly. From everything I have seen, the bearings in the balance shaft are held to the balance shafts by aluminum, not steel.

I have tested oil at several points in the engine and have found no sign of metal anywhere else. not even a tiny sparkle.

I opened the oil pump and found a few larger shavings, just small enough to make it past the screen, jamming the rotor. I removed them and the oil pump spun easily again.

I am theorizing that the balance shaft has failed and the oil pump sucked up the shavings and jammed, causing it to seize, causing the engine to die.

Is this plausible?

Compression tests show the rings to be in good shape and the lifters are well within tolerance.

I Have dropped the balance shaft but cannot definitively determine if it has failed. It looks fine to me.

I hooked a drill to the oil pump and brought oil up to the cams. I can see tiny flakes of metal in the oil. Prior to this, I thoroughly cleaned the oil pan. the oil pump is new and the screen and tube were thoroughly cleaned. Shouldn't the oil filter catch these metal particles.

I am still not sure where they came from. In the oil pan, I found see as big as 1/4 inch long. I see no visible signs of bearing failure.

While spinning the oil pump with a drill, I see oil coming through holes in the cam-timing gear, the bearing behind the timing pulley, the bearing on the opposite end of the exhaust cam. I do NOT see oil coming from the intermediate bearings of either cam. Also, how do 'I make sure my crankshaft bearings are getting oiled?

[Rowdyrod]

Dude, I don't have a crytal ball, but your motor is toast. Anytime you find that kind of metal in an oil pan or pump you have serious troubles and the metal shavings WILL circulate where they can get to and ruin everything. The last time I saw that much metal inside a motor the cam had some flattened lobes. You may have wiped out a main bearing or two. If that metal went through the system to the mains and rods its bad juju. The motor needs to be pulled and gone through.

[Zembonez]

The only way you are going to ever know what's wrong with an engine with that much metal in it is to disassemble it. Way too much metal for anything to be good news for sure.

[carsrus]

Did you at least do a balance shaft delete? I think thats do able with this motor still in the car.

Remove them and then run it. Dont be surprised if she locks up again.

[rcasteel]

All of the cam lobes are within specs. All lifter lash is within specs.
I do not plan to replace the balance shaft.

[JohnGD]

Have an assistant work the oil pump and you watch how quickly the oil drips from the main/rod bearing areas. If it's a rapid drip then that's a sign of a worn bearing. Expect the metal shavings that you see coming out of the cam oil holes to circulate in the block too. +1 disassemble and check unless you want to crapshoot after spending all this time so far.

When you say you don't plan to replace the balance shaft, do you mean not putting the unit back? The unit is a bad design.

[rcasteel]

Yeah, I agree. The balance shaft is a poor design. Its failure means metal in the oil...I would say 100% of the time. I am plugging the oil hole and leaving it off.

Oil flow through the rod-bearings seems even across all bearings. I don't really know how much that should be, but I am getting enough oil pressure to feed the top of the engine while the oil feed to the balance shaft is unplugged. A friend suggested that I thin the oil down with diesel and do it again (since the oil is cold)

One concern I have is the cam bearings are not oiling. The ends are, but the middle ones are not. I have been told that they may have to be spinning to oil properly. How should the oil flow on the cam?

[JohnGD]

You shouldn't have more than 2 drips per second using the appropriate weight oil (not thinned out). But the most accurate is to use an oil pressure gauge during operation. I'd still be worried about the metal fragments floating around scratching bearings.

Can't remember for certain but it's similar to the crank. The camshaft is hollow, and IIRC oil flows out from the shaft for the center journals. You can see the port hole on the camshaft as well.

You might want to verify by loosely installing the camshaft so the oil gets a chance to work from the ends to the center journals and see if oil drips out of all journals that way.