Here's a picture of the chamber in the bottom of my t4 engine. You can see the dipstick. The smiling mouth has been crudely cut away and a grinder used on the edges. Is this a racer's mod to get the oil flowing better or just the original factory fettling away some casting flash. It's not happened during my 12 year ownership. I'm still getting thin flakes of metal in my oil, which trap on the strainer, but it runs OK.
I had this. Apparently it was a "mod" done to improve oil flow on them back in the day. I have to say though, it's the most untidy mod I've ever seen. I'll see if I can find my thread. Panic not though
I've had a few metal flakes in the strainer too. I reckon it's either bearings disintegrating or the cam lobes being worn away. Either way a rebuild is probably on the cards...
Yes I think you are probably right, though probably not cam lobes as it's not magnetic. It's the £3000 cost that's been bothering me so I've been working round it to see how long I can make it last. So far I've got an oil pressure gauge and have been mending all the leaks I can find. Just about everything seems OK- valves aren't receding, compression good, no dark smoke, clean plugs. Just this every time I've changed the oil.
Looking at the rough job done in your first picture I would say you will have loads of that for a long time. A good flush and a blowout wouldn't go amiss.
Just changed my oil and there were 3 pieces of either black plastic or black metal in the strainer and came out the sump..... Should have checked if they were magnetic but don't have my magnetic tool with me.
