So I bottomed out after hitting a rut in the city, and then noticed I had a small leak coming from the oil pan. On inspection, a piece of sealant was loose on the side of the pan and therefore the probable cause of the leak. So I took off the oil pan, with the plan to reseal it with the Loctite 5900. But right there, in the middle of the pan, I found this circular piece of aluminum, approximately 13mm in diameter. I also found one small metal shaving, 4mm in length, and a few pieces of soft brown silicone which looks to be residual sealant. In the filter I found a fair number of small translucent non-metallic particles that I would like to assume are just pieces of the composite plastic chain guide/rail covering, as mentioned in another post. I found zero metal pieces in the filter, even after examining under my usb microscope. So my question is where the hell did this relatively huge piece of metal come from? Is it a symptom of the dreaded IMS issue? And if so, shouldn’t I also find metal shavings in the filter?
The car has had no previous issues, and had recently become a daily driver after sitting around way too much.

 

Given its size and shape probably something that got into the engine during assembly and has been at the bottom of the sump plate ever since the engine was first run.

It is not uncommon to find debris from the engine manufacturing at the bottom of the oil sump.

The piece's size and the screen on the oil pick up tube means it won't get ingested by the oil pump. 'course, you'll remove it along with the other bit of stuff you found.

Almost certainly there'll be some new pieces of residual sealant there after you button up the sump plate with a new application of sealant. The smaller pieces will go through the oil pump and be caught by the oil filter. The larger pieces will remain at the bottom of the sump for the next time the sump plate is removed.

 

The first "plus" is that it's aluminum and not steel/ferrous... That being said, it looks like it could be any number of plugs or caps, that are used to seal off certain areas inside the engine. Could it be an "extra" that was mistakenly left inside the engine during manufacture? Uh... maybe - but I wouldn't count on it. Also, was the other "metal shaving" aluminum as well? I'd post those photo's over on Rennlist and Renntech forums in the hopes that someone with more experience would chime in... Good luck

 

The problem is not that he'll get someone with more experience to chime in (I've had problems with engine rebuilds with removing an oil galley plug left in an oil galley and what I finally removed looked very much like the piece of metal the OP had pictured) but someone with much less experience who'll declare the engine in need of serious engine work.

While the piece of metal can appear quite scary it has been there since (probably) day one and is nothing to be concerned about. If it were serious the OP would have found that piece of metal along with lots of other pieces of metal.

But the OP is of course free to post where he wants and then make up his own mind which responses to accept or reject.

 

Thanks Macster. I am somewhat relieved to hear that it is most likely left over from manufacturing. I have since talked to a non-Porsche mechanic friend who echoed you exactly, saying its not uncommon to find bits in a pan that's never been removed, and that this looks like some kind of plug that was punched out but somehow otherwise retained. My thought is that, given that it is an early '99, it is possible that early manufacturing could have had some hiccups like this(?).

The metal shaving that I found did turn out to be ferrous, but it too exists in isolation. It has the appearance of a machined flake from manufacturing. I am posting pictures of that here as well for reference. I went through the oil and the filter again with a magnet and found only a small amount of dust, no actual pieces, ferrous or otherwise anywhere.

I plan on getting the LN IMS solution when it is time for a new clutch, but was hoping I could wait on that a little while, which it seems like for now I can.

I will probably take the suggestion to post this on the Rennlist just to see what the input there is. But common sense seems to lend a hand here, and that if I had only looked at the filter and never dropped the sump, I would never have been worried in the first place.

 

The OP doesn't mention; How long he's had the car, how many miles are on it, when the last service was done, whether the oil pan has ever been opened before etc. etc.etc...It's a hell of an assumption to make that something like that piece has always just been kicking around inside the motor without knowing any history. Ignore it if you must, but there is nothing "normal" about finding that piece in your oil pan.

 

Those two pieces look quite like drilling chips

 

They certainly do... the one in the original post doesn't though...