Metal sliver in oil -- time to panic?

[monkeyodeath]

I was doing my first oil change on my new-to-me MKIII when I noticed a small sliver of metal sticking to the magnetic sump drain plug.

The piece is ferrous and fairly stiff. No glitter in the oil or any other pieces I could find. Engine seems to run fine.

Any ideas what this might be and how worried I should be about it?

 

[kommando]

A single piece on its own is not giving much information. Its now a watch and see, so check the magnet frequently.

 

[Fast Eddie]

Some better quality close up pictures, taken from different angles, may also help people to identify the mystery object… your current picture shows little more than a grey shape when zoomed in…

 

[Triton Thrasher]

Crap photo.

Bearing cage?

 

[kommando]

Bearing cage?

Possible, but is it an old piece left inside during the last rebuild or a piece from a newly fitted bearing. Need to know the history of the bike, ie was it sold as just having had a rebuild (a red flag IMHO) or one with a decent amount of miles since the rebuild.

 

[Triton Thrasher]

There’s a risk there are similar fragments still in there and they might not stay in one place.

Could do a lot of damage.

 

[concours]

I was doing my first oil change on my new-to-me MKIII when I noticed a small sliver of metal sticking to the magnetic sump drain plug.

The piece is ferrous and fairly stiff. No glitter in the oil or any other pieces I could find. Engine seems to run fine.

Any ideas what this might be and how worried I should be about it?

View attachment 124591

Well, if panic is your preferred method of response, so be it. It would be prudent, however, to investigate the source.

https://www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/why-we-call-it-inspection-2018.24374/

One thing is for certain, mechanical things do not heal themselves.

 

[concours]

Can you post an image with better focus?

 

[monkeyodeath]

My apologies for the terrible photo, I had uploaded the wrong one. My initial post has been amended with better ones. Piece is about 1/8" long or so.

This bike's engine was rebuilt some 20+ years ago, according to receipts. I have good reason to believe that it's been ridden a fair bit since then, though probably not starship mileage.

I didn't notice any "fur" otherwise on the drain plug, just this chunk.

 

[kommando]

Does look like a bearing cage but as it should have twin roller bearing mains it does not match typical roller bearing cage which is more solid than pressed steel it appears to be.

This is the current typical roller main.

Interesting to see what one from 20 years ago would look like, here is a typical ball bearing with pressed steel cage.

 

[MichaelB]

Weird, did you pull the Big sump screen on the bottom and inspect?