Why do I have a plug in my oil line?

[campfire]

Changing oil today, I spun the filter off and found a rubber plug hanging out of one of the oil ports. I don't remember seeing such before on this truck or the others. I recently changed the filter on the CUCV and just remember seeing open ports. But this plug is hanging out about 3/4" into the oil filter space.

It doesn't show up well, but it is the orange thing visible here on the non-oilpan side.





Part of me says I wouldn't have forgotten something like this if it had been hanging out before, and part of me says that plugs in the oil line sounds like a Very Bad Idea. So I'm lost.

What am I looking at, and is this a problem?

 

[campfire]

Here is what the CUCV looked like. I do see a rubber plug on the far side, but it's not protruding into the oil space.

 

[campfire]

I guess I forgot to tag the 6.2 squad.

@longbedder @AgDieseler @blazinzuk @kennyw @tRustyK5 @diesel4me @AnyoneElseWhoHasEverRebuiltOneOfThese...

It looks like a check valve for the line going to the oil cooler, but I can't find documentation for it online or in the CUCV manuals. They just refer to the entire housing as a unit.

Hey, I'll even tag @sreidmx in case he ever runs into this someday.

 

[campfire]

Rockauto lists an "Oil Cooler Bypass Valve," but that's not the right thing. Nor is the "Oil Filter Bypass Valve."

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/chevrolet,1983,k10+pickup,6.2l+379cid+v8+diesel,1299326,engine

 

[KirsL]

It should be a check valve to push the oil through the filter and the cooler. It's a press fit piece so not sure where the little gasket came from.

 

[diesel4me]

I cant see s*** in the first two pictures...(cue the Stevie Wonder meme!)..
All I can say about the oil cooler hoses is when I took mine off,there was just 3/8" NPT threads on the ends,no type of check valve..and just two threaded holes in the block for them to screw into..

I've never really looked close under the oil filter when I changed one--I just made sure the filter's gasket didn't stick to the block,had that happen on another engine once--made it 5 miles before it blew out the gasket and I lost quite a bit of oil...billowing smoke when the oil hit the exhaust alerted me soon enough to shut it down quick!..

On a small block I believe the oil bypass is a spring loaded metal disc of sorts--but again,I never paid much attention to whats under the oil filter...

 

[campfire]

It should be a check valve to push the oil through the filter and the cooler. It's a press fit piece so not sure where the little gasket came from.

Forgot to include you in the list.

The rubber piece is loose and nearly a perfect fit for that hole. Like it's supposed to be a plug blocking that port.

 

[campfire]

I cant see s*** in the first two pictures...(cue the Stevie Wonder meme!)..

Okay, here are a couple of pictures with added lighting.






I can just screw the filter in over it, but having a loose and misplaced plug in my oil system just sounds like a recipe for disaster.

 

[diesel4me]

I'd need like a 300 watt bulb to see that better...sorry....

I wonder if it could be an oil filter anti-drainback valve that somehow came loose from the filter and ended up in there ?...

 

[tRustyK5]

Looks foreign to me...

 

[campfire]

Looks foreign to me...

I wonder if it could be an oil filter anti-drainback valve that somehow came loose from the filter and ended up in there ?...

But the CUCV did have some sort of plug in that port. It just wasn't protruding into the filter.

Does anyone know what that port is supposta look like? Google hasn't found me a 6.2 picture, but I've found sbc pictures with rubber check valves in ports like that.

@KirsL, do you have a picture of what it's supposed to look be? Or can you describe it?

 

[blazinzuk]

Dude sorry wife's friend came over and she cooked for us. Food trumps alot in my world I will go look at mine in the morning

 

[sreidmx]

That's weird mine doesn't have that either?? I'd also say it looks foreign

 

[campfire]

That's weird mine doesn't have that either?? I'd also say it looks foreign

Is your port plugged or open? I'm thinking it's supposed to be plugged off and the press-fit plug fell out of its hole.

But the cost of being wrong here has me downright nervous. Nothing says "bad idea" like plugging the main oil line...

 

[sreidmx]

That I could not answer for sure I just know there wasn't anything hanging down.

 

[longbedder]

Hard to tell from the pics...but it looks to me like a loose bead of RTV that got squeezed out of a tube and cured and fell in or broke off some other RTV application excess area, then floated around in the engine.

 

[campfire]

I'd need like a 300 watt bulb to see that better...sorry....

Ok, here's what it looks like under 500 watts. Sorry for not pulling out the light the first time. The item in question appears to be a silicone plug, but it's definitely not a left over bead.




I pulled it out (in 2 pieces), and the check valve is still above it. The valve flapper moves up and down as I push on it, so I think the valve is fine.



Here is the offending piece. It's molded into a peculiar shape and has the number "14" cast into the side of it. It also has a small metal band around the middle section (where it broke). The smaller "cup" section was wedged in the check valve. It is hollow and has oil inside it.






So...assuming it's not part of the check valve (it is too small to have fit through the valve backwards), should I assume that it got spit out by the filter? And that it is a Very Bad Thing to have circulating in my oil system?

 

[yellowK20]

What brand filters do you run

 

[KirsL]

No worries forgetting about me, I'm used being in the background .

No pictures on my end but those should be a check valve. As for the piece you dug out, not sure on that. But it could be part of it. Looking at more, I think it is part of the check valve.
I always run either wix or Napa filters on both my trucks, never had an issue with either.

 

[Blue85]

Start hiding worm pills in the trucks fuel?

Isn't the oil filter adapter removeable?