Did an oil change yesterday and found 2 needle bearings on the magnetic oil drain plug. Super pissed!

I've already ordered the Comp Cams rocker trunion upgrade set but am wondering how bad the situation is in the mean time while it ships.

This car is my DD to and from work.... Is my best choice to park the car until I remove all the needle bearings? Will it cause damage if I continue to drive or will my oil filter catch them?

I'm going to stick a big magnet on the oil pan in hopes to get any stragglers.

Will I need new valve cover gaskets or would it be better to replace them?

Thanks in advance!

 

If those needle bearings came from the rockers, then I would think the car would making noise already.

I would not drive it. They won't even make it to the filter though. They'd more than likely get stuck at the pick up tube once they hit the pan.

Buy new covers in case you need them. The old ones are reusable rubber but sometimes they tear.

 

This is assuming the needle bearings came from the rockers. I don't think the stock LS1 has it, but some of the aftermarket cams use a thrust bearing. Do you know anything about the engines internals, don't automatically assume it's never been touched.

 

Yeah I've noticed the valve train has been a bit noisy since I've owned the car. There's actually a slight misfire I've been trying to track down since I've owned it too. I can only hope new bearings will solve the problem, but not likely.

I'm only assuming (and hoping) it's the rocker bearings as they are the exact measurement and it's a fairly common issue with the stock bearings.

Don't say thrust bearing! Man that would suck. I think those bearings are a little thicker so hopefully I've only lost a couple bearings and if I'm lucky i'll be able to account for all of them. I'll have to cut open my oil filter and have a look in case any are in there too.

 

need to get a count on the number of bearings, both how many theres suppposed to be and how many you can find. get the magnet out and runn it down the pushrod holes. if theres any doubt of an unacounted for needle bearing then your gona want to tear it down.

 

Okay I'll make sure to account for all of them.
I shouldn't have to check the filter as the oil pickup line is screened, correct?
If anything, they should all be in my oil pan or in the push rod holes?
Thanks for the magnet idea, I have a good one that should fit in the push rod holes.

I'll pull the valve covers as soon as I get a chance and give an update on what I find.

 

Well if it made it to the filter I think that would be the end of your oil pump. I don't see a 65 Rockwell bearing getting through the pump without serious damage. I also don't think the pump would suck it up.

Maybe upgrade time?
http://www.briantooleyracing.com/com...union-kit.html

 

Upgrade time indeed, already on order

 

UPDATE:

Finally did the comp cams trunion upgrade. I was able to confirm that what I found on my oil drain plug were definitely rocker needle bearings. The stock rocker bearings appeared to be fine. It's possible the previous owner replaced the stock bearings and had 2 needle bearings that were still stuck in the engine as I've never found anything in the past 5 oil changes. Just completed the upgrade and now I feel better knowing my push rods, rockers and springs are all in great condition.

PS- The upgrade was time consuming but easy. The hardest part was finding TDC on the compression stroke then rotating 360 degrees. (Which I still think I did it wrong).
This may be placebo, but the car sounds a bit different and feels up on power. Loving it.