[D_Boy]

Hey,

Just bought a 2001 9-5 knowing that it needed some engine work. Already relplaced the bearings on the rods and mains, and I have new tappets on the way. Only one problem: I still don't know what these chunks of metal are that I found in the oil pan. Three of them look like they are from the same part (two of them fit together perfectly). Can anybody help me out?

First Picture - Laying on backs
Second Picture - Laying flipped over
Third Picture - At least 2 of the chunks fit together

 

[N.E. Swede]

pic 1 certainly looks like a journal bearing from a turbo. Is the head still on the car? These things love to eat pistons, and with that bearing in the pan this car must have lost a ton of oil FAST

 

[Norm95]

x2 on the journal bearing having just replaced mine.

 

[srmoose]

pic 1 certainly looks like a journal bearing from a turbo. Is the head still on the car? These things love to eat pistons, and with that bearing in the pan this car must have lost a ton of oil FAST

It does look like that but how would it get into the pan?
is part of it brass? it looks like it was to connect into something and avoid a dielectric connection? with the brass?
And Welcome to the site!

 

[D_Boy]

pic 1 certainly looks like a journal bearing from a turbo. Is the head still on the car? These things love to eat pistons, and with that bearing in the pan this car must have lost a ton of oil FAST

The cylinder head is currently sitting on my kitchen counter . I basically disassembled the entire engine to get a good look at everything and to find out where those pieces came from.

The good news is the pistons look like they got lucky, and so did every other vital engine part ;ol;. There was no scoring in the piston bores, and before I took it all apart I put a pressure gauge on each cylinder and they all looked good.

The main and rod bearings got lucky too, except for one. The #3 main bearing was torn up, but the journal there looked okay, so I just replaced all the bearings and skipped having any machining done on the crank journal. Three of the tappets (cam followers) were spongy feeling, so those are being replaced too.

Long story short - I think you may be right about the oil. The bearing failure and tappet failures both point to low oil or low oil pressure. There wasn't really sludge in the engine, but it was pretty dirty. When I took the oil pan out, the pick-up screen was partially clogged with little flecks of metal (main bearings), but not entirely. It's all cleaned up now, and with a new pick-up tube gasket, so that's ready to go.

 

[D_Boy]

It does look like that but how would it get into the pan?
is part of it brass? it looks like it was to connect into something and avoid a dielectric connection? with the brass?
And Welcome to the site!

Thanks, srmoose. Good to be here. This is my first Saab .

The bottom row of 3 pieces all appear to be cast iron, or something like that. A magnet will pick them up, so they are a ferrous metal of some sort at least. As for the one other piece, brass is my guess.

I assume it got into the oil pan through the turbo's oil return line (green arrow in the picture). Its just wide enough to carry it straight down into the oil pan.

Luckily the turbo is essentially half-way out of the car already, so I'll let you know what turns up!

 

[srmoose]

yup it was just hard to imagine none of them getting stuck..

 

[D_Boy]

Update: took the turbo apart, and those chunks of metal are not from inside.

Any other ideas?

 

[trapperpg]

Any chance this engine has an appetite for turbos? Possible that pieces are from a previous unit.

 

[D_Boy]

Any chance this engine has an appetite for turbos? Possible that pieces are from a previous unit.

That could be possible, but the more I look at these parts, the less I believe they're from the turbo. When fitted together, they appear to have slots for a tab of some sort. Imagine the seat where the main or rod bearings go, with notches on opposite sides, only much smaller. The inner surface diameter when put together measures approximately 1/2 inch, or 10mm. I added better close-ups so you can see them better.

(Again, I have already inspected the bearings and replaced them, so there is 100% no way that's where they came from, they just remind me of them)

 

[trapperpg]

See if you can fit your pieces to the pics here
http://www.3sgto.org/f2/cutaway-td04-turbo-pics-iniside-6879.html

or maybe when Olaf was fitting the oil pan on the assembly line, he tossed in a handful of scrap from an old snowmobile engine...."let 'em figure that one out!"