Caught before spun bearing. Now what? Help!

[hitman17]

Drained the oil and noticed silver flecks in the oil. So I dropped the oil pan and found this in the bottom of the pan.


I then proceeded to remove the rod bearing from #6 and found this



So now what do I do? Of course new bearings, and check the crank. But what should be done about the metal in the oil system? Is the engine toast, or can I salvage it?

Thanks for the help!!!

[mcshooter]

i cannot believe you had no noise, first thing i would do is take off the oil filter and cut it open and see what it looks like.dont get excited yet

[hitman17]

Cut the oil filter, not too much inside, just a bit of silver grit. So now, what's the next best thing to do? Can the engine survive, and if so, what do I need to do besides replace the bearings?

Thanks

[$$$PIT]

You SHOULD pull the crank and have it mic'd to see if the journals need to be turned. Also gonna have to flush the engine. If you have flecks in your oil pain it's gonna be ALL through the motor and will eventually coz more problems. Like sand in the oil it will ruin the motor.

[hitman17]

What do you mean by "flush the engine"?

[$$$PIT]

To do it RIGHT. It would mean pullin' the motor and having it vatted. Plus you need to flush the turbo oil lines and cooler. I'm sure there is another way to do it. But, I haven't ever done it any other way. Maybe someone else will have an idea. Sorry

[mcshooter]

if the material in the filter is magnetic then its not babbit from the rod bearing, pull the caps off a couple more rods and look at the crank journals

[hitman17]

None of the material I've found has been magnetic

[sublime_whatigo]

I've seen worse survive by just a simple bearing change and a few extra oil changes. It will be a lot more money if it were to blow up later though, tough call.

[hitman17]

From what the previous owner told me, these should only have 3000 miles on them. But you're right, there is a lot of pitting.
I think I'm going to pull the engine, disassemble, and hot tank the block, heads and turbos. Clean out all the oil lines, replace oil cooler and bearings. I may upgrade to a forged crank.
If I do upgrade the crank, I guess I'll have to get the engine balanced.
Have I missed anything?