well guys, heres the deal. I bought my car with 108k on it, and I now have about 120k. It seems to run fine and I dont hear any valve tap or anthing. However, when I first got it, I checked the air filter, and although it was the correct fram part number, i guess frams filters do not fit in the 98 z29 correctly, because it was slightly too small, and there was pine needles and other debris on my maf screen. Then, I won a free oil change at the dealer, and they found a needle bearing attached to the magnet on the oil drain plug. The guy at the dealer said the bearing came out of my rocker arm/ pushrod. So here is my question-- How bad off do you think my engine is? would it be worth it to swap in a new engine, or just replace the rocker arms or what? If i get my engine diagnosed, how much will it tell me? Oh, and i am on a budget. Thanks guys

 

What sort of budget are you on? If you have the means, I would suggest rebuilding the motor. LS1'a are still running in the $2k range used. You could easily do a rebuild with forged internals for that much. I would however get a second opionion about the matter. If you the car is running fine with no noises, that would be your first indication that it may be nothing.

 

Well as for your air filter check to make sure the tray that sits in the filter housing is in there. I tried to find a picture but I couldn't. The only reason I think that could be the problem is because mine was missing when I bought my car.

As for the needle bearing that is actually a fairly common problem and in order to prevent any damage you should pull the oil pan and make sure there arent any more in the bottom of the pan. And of course replace your rockers.

 

I'd say just replace the filter with a proper one (even a factory filter isn't a bad thing), but make sure that removable plastic "tray" is in place under the filter.....maybe that's all the problem is now?

As far as the motor goes, does it seem to run ok? As long as the motor doesn't sound like it's running really bad, then just replace the rockers (it's a needle bearing from the roller pivot rockers that landed in the oil pan) and you should be fine. Your's isn't the first car to have those needle bearings show up in the oil pan.

 

How many hours of work do you think this would take? Im a fairly decent mechanic. Also, what damage could the filter not being in place do? where can I get one of the tray things, as I dont believe that I have it.

 

Many have had the rockers fall apart with no other damage to the engine.
To find the parts I'd first go post in the for sale section that you need the filter tray and a couple of rockers. Many have upgraded rockers and have stock ones laying around or you could buy some nice aftermarket ones for less than $500. Same with the filter tray, everyone that has put in a K&N FPIK has a filter tray in their garage somewhere. If that doesn't work get the filter tray at the dealers.

 

Email this dude. elecarndt@aol.com. He's a friend of mine who has made a second job out of parting 4th gen maro's. He's parting out a 98 TA right now. He's not bad on price and is very dependable.

 

Do I need the filter tray if i buy an aftermarket air lid? And will i be able to tell which rockers need to be replaced? Or should i just replace them all anyways? thanks

 

Yes, you still need the filter tray. The lid replaces the top of the filter housing. The tray fits in the bottom of the housing (the part that holds the radiator in place). I think I paid $75 for it from the dealer. Check around on ebay and on here and you can find the entire filter assembly for around that price or less.

As for the rockers if it was me I would replace all the rockers with some good aftermartket ones so I could avoid this ever happening again. Sometimes those needle bearings can get sucked into the oil pump and cause serious damage throughout the engine.