was doing an oil change tonight and found this attached to my magnetic oil drain bolt. it doesn't look like it sheared off of anything. am i looking at a valve guide? is this a big deal? i haven't noticed any strange sounds or vibrations or performance. i'm pretty ignorant when it comes to an engine's inner workings. do i need to park the bike until i get this fixed? what happens if i do nothing? there's no telling how long this has been sitting there for how many miles as i only need to change my oil once a year.
They are used in several places. Looks like one to align the case halves or a side cover to crank case. I know you have replaced clutch and might be pin from clutch cover to case. It's just used to align the parts. It can't come out with your engine assembled. It came out at some time with a side case off or during engine assembly. If it was mine, I wouldn't worry. Put oil in and drive it like you stole it.
seriously, I wonder how many people change out their clutch, have one of those fall in the engine, and it ends up in a bad place (like maybe the thread where the new clutch wont release... ?
Bevo, another observation, your oil is really black and sooty looking. Are you running rich? Is the inside of your exhaust black? If bike runs good, even if rich, all is good. I prefer an engine running a little on the rich side. Main reason I'm saying something is you might want to change your oil a little more often. The soot will deteriorate the oil a little quicker than normal. Just a suggestion.
what a relief. i was pretty nervous i was going to need to tear my engine apart. thanks so much guys for chiming in. i did replace my clutch last summer so that would make sense. as for the black oil, i use Amsoil that is rated to go 1 year/10,000 miles between changes so i just change it once a year. when i replaced my spark plugs either last year or before they were pretty much the perfect color. and there is some black soot inside my tailpipe. should there be none? engine sounds great and feels like it's running smooth.
Photos, Magnetic Oil Plug Results after 1,737 miles Hey all, installed a new magnetic oil plug in August of this year in my Vstar 1300, installed plug at 7,100 miles on the bike, 1,737 miles later here are photos of the metal it collected. Surprised? Not really, our engines share the oil with...
well you convinced me. just bought one. still not sure how effective this thing will be, but anything that might help the engine last longer for $13 is worth the investment especially with all the money i've spent on stuff that doesn't prolong its life.
Glad we were able to identify mystery part for you. At times I think I've rebuilt to many engines and dealt with identifying parts to much, then something like this comes up, like it when I can help. For the blacker oil, as long as bike is running good, then all is well. I like a vehicle to run a tad rich, which will show up as a little soot in pipes. If your Amsoil oil change frequency is working for you, stick to it. With that said, I think your oil is a little blacker, soot contamination, than it should be. I would change filter and top off oil between extended total oil changes. But again, if working for you, it's all good.
I always say the mark of a good mechanic is things run without the parts you find laying around after the repair was done...the fact that you hid one in the oil pan gets you double bonus points! Add another stripe to your sleeve! You just got a promotion!
good looking out. i have a talent for stripping screws and bolts
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