# Metal pieces found in oil pan ('02 SE-R)



## mxc106 (Aug 15, 2010)

I currently have the oil pan off of my 2002 Sentra SE-R and I found these pieces of metal in the pan:

http://i973.photobucket.com/albums/ae212/mxc106/Oil Pan Metal/Metal_Pieces_in_Oil_Pan_1.jpg

http://i973.photobucket.com/albums/ae212/mxc106/Oil Pan Metal/Metal_Pieces_in_Oil_Pan_2.jpg

They are ferrous (i.e. picked up by a magnet). The largest piece is about 1/2" long and all pieces seem to have a triangular cross-section with two sides smooth and the third side rough.

The reason I have the oil pan off is that I had a ticking/knocking noise that seemed to be coming from my front cover, so I was planning to replace the timing chain. The chain and guides seem to be in decent shape, but the tensioner on the top chain is sticky and doesn't seem to put much pressure against the chain.

Any ideas where these came from? Even with the ticking sound the car was not losing any oil and there was no perceptible loss of power.


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## mxc106 (Aug 15, 2010)

I thought they might be teeth from one of the gears. I looked at all the timing gears (cams and crank sprockets) as well as the balance shaft sprocket and they are all intact.

Does anybody know what the insides of the balance shaft unit look like? Are there any gears in there?


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## SPEEDO (Jun 9, 2003)

I am thinking its from the balance shaft, yes there are gears inside it.. (I have seen them come apart), when in doubt, pull the chain and the tensioner off the balancer


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## mxc106 (Aug 15, 2010)

SPEEDO said:


> I am thinking its from the balance shaft, yes there are gears inside it.. (I have seen them come apart), when in doubt, pull the chain and the tensioner off the balancer


Thanks for your reply. The probability is high that they are from inside the balance shaft unit. When I spin the sprocket on the BS unit by hand, it spins rather freely, but the other side of the unit does not seem to spin at all. 

My last concern is how did they end up in the oil pan? Is the oil hole on top of the unit large enough and the pathway through the block large enough for the ~0.5" pieces to end up in the pan and not get stuck in the BS unit? Also, are there negatives (besides not removing the weight, etc.) to not removing the BS unit. and only removing it's chain? Does this adversely affect oil pressure because the shafts aren't rotating?


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## SPEEDO (Jun 9, 2003)

the balance shafts just help keep the vibrations down... (the b/s turns at twice the speed of the engine) They make a b/s removal kit, and since it sits in oil, once its gone, you have to add a extra qt.. or two. But if you just pull the chain, you wouldnt need the extra oil. From what I understand (from people that have pulled it) they didnt notice any difference in vibration, unless you have the mm inserts, then its minimal


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## mxc106 (Aug 15, 2010)

The balance shafts are definitely the origin of the metal pieces. I took out the balance shaft assembly last night and as soon as I turned it upside down, another few pieces fell out.

I took apart the assembly, and sure enough all the teeth (except maybe 5) are missing from both balance shaft gears. I'll post pics soon.

In case anybody is interested, this car is an everyday driving car. I've had it new since 2002 and it has 107k miles. It has not been modded in anyway, and I don't race the engine or drive at high RPM. I also have changed my oil between 3-5k miles since I bought it, yet this assembly still failed. Luckily it didn't cause any damage to the timing chain, and therefore it didn't ruin my engine. I'm glad the chain was stronger than those teeth and when the balance shaft froze up, the teeth shredded instead of the chain jerking to a halt.


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## mxc106 (Aug 15, 2010)

SPEEDO said:


> I am thinking its from the balance shaft, yes there are gears inside it.. (I have seen them come apart), when in doubt, pull the chain and the tensioner off the balancer


SPEEDO was right on the money on this one....


This photo shows what I found when I opened up the balance shaft assembly, the gears on both shafts have extensive damage.
http://s973.photobucket.com/albums/...?action=view&current=BalanceShaftAssembly.jpg

This photo show a side angle. The left shaft in the photo is the one driven by the chain, and it doesn't have any teeth left. The right shaft still has few teeth.
http://s973.photobucket.com/albums/ae212/mxc106/Oil Pan Metal/?action=view&current=BalanceShafts.jpg

Here's a close up on the center section where the teeth should be intertwined to spin the shafts.
http://s973.photobucket.com/albums/...etal/?action=view&current=TeethShearedOff.jpg

This photo shows the only remaining teeth on either shaft.
http://s973.photobucket.com/albums/...l/?action=view&current=Onlyremainingteeth.jpg


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## SPEEDO (Jun 9, 2003)

Are you going to put it back in (minus the chain) or the removal kit?
The b/s acts as a baffle for the oil, Dont know how far you have looked into it, but if you use the kit, you have to add another qt of oil


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## mxc106 (Aug 15, 2010)

SPEEDO said:


> Are you going to put it back in (minus the chain) or the removal kit?
> The b/s acts as a baffle for the oil, Dont know how far you have looked into it, but if you use the kit, you have to add another qt of oil


I bought the kit from JWT. Since it's not doing anything with the chain gone, and since I had the whole thing taken apart anyway, it wasn't a pain to just remove it.


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## SPEEDO (Jun 9, 2003)

just remember you need to add extra oil.....


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## NorthernSE-R (Sep 2, 2010)

Already cut the balancer shaft chain and took out the sprocket and tensioner. I was wondering if I could take the balancers off without installing the JWT kit. JWT doesn't ship where I live. thanks


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## mxc106 (Aug 15, 2010)

NorthernSE-R said:


> Already cut the balancer shaft chain and took out the sprocket and tensioner. I was wondering if I could take the balancers off without installing the JWT kit. JWT doesn't ship where I live. thanks


The short answer is yes, but there's two things to note. 

The first is that the bolts have to reinserted and without the balancers they are too long, so they have to be cut. 

The second is that there is an oil port right next to one of the bolts that "probably" should be plugged up. Some people do this by tapping the hole and inserting a bolt. The JWT kit has a special spacer that fills in that hole. I could never determine whether this hole "must" be plugged.

I have also seen one person that removed the balancers, took it apart, modified the outside frame and reinstalled it. This way the bolts don't have to be cut, and the oil hole can be plugged without getting the tapping shavings near your engine. 

One last thing to note, is that I have seen the JWT kits sold on eBay for pretty much the same price and maybe they will ship to your location.

Good luck.


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