metal shavings in the oil pan

[ChipsXJ]

I am not too familiar with this aspect so thought I would ask..I did search, but did not find much.

pulled the oil pan off a 93 4.0 with about 165000 + miles on it.

there were some metal shavings in the bottom of the pan. Not alot, just some. some appear to not be magnetic.

Is that a bad thing?

I was just planning on changing out the rear seal, timing chain and gears, valve cover gasket and throw in another jeep I have that is suffering from a rod knock.

[5-90]

Sounds like bearing break-in metal that didn't get flushed out. Babbitt metal is non-magnetic (mostly lead and copper, as I recall,) and you're almost guaranteed to get some shavings in the first 500 miles or so (although your engine is quite a bit older...)

If you want, you can pop a cap or two and Plastigage the bearings to make sure they're giving good oil clearances, but I'd not worry too much. I don't think I've ever pulled an oil sump off an engine for the first time and NOT seen bearing metal in there - so don't worry too much about it...

"Sure, kids swallow quarters all the time - no problem. Now, if he craps out two dimes and a nickel, it's time to start worrying!"

5-90