Thanks for the responses. I also find it hard to believe that something could have been in there for 5 years and not manifest itself earlier. They said it was probably dislodged when they flipped the engine over to replace a couple broken exhaust studs. However, I autocrossed this car and engine regularly for a year or two in San Diego, I'm thinking it would have been dislodged then. Still, I don't think I can prove that it wasn't already in there though.

For clarification, the material appeared to be a thick spongy ring around the oil screen. It pulled apart fairly easily and then you could see the very short fibers. There was no hint of metal. The stuff that clogged the thermostat was hunks of fiber material. In answer to another question, my engine soundpad was replaced before the engine swap and is in perfect condition.

The engine rebuild is the safer way to go, but it will mean parking the car until I can get to it. Means I also will need another car to drive as the winter comes. And there's that money thing again. My wife is having a field day with this...

sticking with the towel idea, you can imagine what would happen to a towel in a running engine.
it would be chopped to bits like a carrot in a cuisinart!
then the bigger bits would be caught in the pickup screen.
the smaller bits are everywhere else.
+1 on the rebuild, i'd replace the oil cooler too.
i'm in the middle of a rebuild, all it takes is time and money.

Why don't you cut apart your oil filter and see what you find? If it isn't clogged, chances are nothing made it into the oil passages of the engine. So far you just found stuff in the external thermostat & scavenge circuit (checking out the external oil cooler would be useful). Everything in there must go through the filter before it gets to the high pressure side, so if the pressure relief of the filter didn't get used, your internals should be clean.

Edit: Or was it the internal thermostat? In which case you do have an engine full of gunk, and it needs to be taken apart ...

Stuff happens in shops that shops don't always like to admit. I used to be a service manager. One day two of the guys were fooling around, one flicked a loose nut at the other guy who had the plugs out of an engine he was servicing. You guessed it, the nut went down a plug hole and wasn't found until we took the head off after starting the engine.... In twenty years I saw other 'strange' events.
If the engine did not display this problem before taking it to this shop-and it never left the shop-you have an issue with them. As somebody said-get the material analyzed. The shop seems to think it is a shop towel-why is that?
It may be time to talk to a third party.

Sounds to me like shop had engine out, stuffed towel in an oil line to plug it, and it got sucked in when engine was started.

No way a towel has been in the engine for 5 years.

Some good advice above. Clean out and flush everything as best you can, check again in 1000 miles, if all is well, keep on smiling and drive it like you stole it!

Oh, do tell, what was the name of the "porsh shop" that found this crud inside your engine. Maybe they had just bought a new Customer Fleecing System from Snap-On ?

Mark Petry
Bainbridge Island, WA
81 SC (and 3000 lb of snap-on)

I just did a google map, you are less than 20 miles from JW Workshop. Wish I lived that close. I would take car from where it is, and have it flat-bedded to JW.

http://www.johnwalkersworkshop.com/

pics of the crud
 

I recovered the material and will try to dry it out to identify it. You can see in the pictures of the thermostat how it jammed up the mechanism. I've also got the oil filter, and will cut it open to see if there's anything inside there. I also need to dig out my Haynes manual to see what the oil flow path is through the engine to try to determine the extent of contamination.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1251774440.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1251774665.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1251774777.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1251774988.jpg

In the close up, I know it looks like a certain organic material produced after Taco Tuesday, but I assure you it's not that. What it is, I can't say. The shop's theory is either a shop towel left in from an oil change or the engine swap, or material from an oil filter that disintegrated.

It is time to rebuild that engine, or at least disassemble it and see where else that stuff is. I am sorry to say it can't be in there for 5 years and not do some damage.

one problem with a DIY rebuild is that will make it nearly impossible to recover anything from the shop

it is cheap tho & it is doable

maybe you should visit JWW - he is near a nice brewpub too...

it sounds like what you really need is 2 uncles - the nice one is the meanest lawyer in the state -- if he doesn't pry $$ for a rebuild from the bad shop, then you let Uncle Luigi exact retribution...

That looks like one of those blue shop towels to me (brown from the oil). I don't know why the shop would even try to explain it as something other than their fault. If they did the engine and transmission work and they ran the car and then this problem happened they should be responsible. Maybe get a second mechanic to render an opinion.

-Andy

That's the internal thermostat, which is in the high pressure circuit (and downstream from the oil filter judging by the oil flow diagram I remember). That likely means you have the stuff distributed everywhere. That sucks.

Whats the name of the shop you took your car to and where are they located just so another pelican doesn't take his car there and recieve the same treatment. Sorry to hear about your situation, hope it works out.

As I started reading on the first page, I was thinking paper towel. As soon as I saw the pic, that confirmed it. Bounty, I believe! If that were in the case for years, it would be a flattened out pile of cellulose in the bottom of the engine. That looks fresh to me.

As an aside, I keep seeing $10k for cleaning up that engine. It seems to me that you could pick up a good used second engine for less than that? Just a thought...

the risk in that is how do you know it is a GOOD used engine...

it sure solves the no-car-to-drive problem tho -- you could resell it later after you rebuild the original

- how many miles on the motor that is/may be clogged with towel?

LOL, yeah, sure they do. And the shop owner is married to . . . Morgan Fairchild, right? That's the ticket!

That stuff has not been in your engine for 5 years, obviously. It was fairly recently introduced.

Per the Haynes manual, the oil flow path is as follows: From the oil tank to the pressure pump to the thermostat. Then through the attached oil cooler to the bearings (crank and cams) and then to the bottom of the crankcase where the pickup screen is. Then into the suction of the scavenge pump and back to the oil tank. There is an added variation in that I've got a front mounted oil cooler before it goes back to the tank.

Last night I cut open the old oil filter and there was evidence of a little bit of "fuzz" on the external side of the oil filter. I'm thinking that just a little bit made it past the screen and was collecting on the filter. Upstream of the screen however... Yeah, I'm betting that this crap is everywhere.

Resolution?
 

After a long discussion with the shop owner, we've come to a compromise. The shop will disassemble, clean out, and reassemble the engine. While it's apart, we'll replace the parts that should be replaced when you've got an engine apart. So, it seems like the shop is trying to do the right thing. :)

Hi. I'm happy for you :) Glad the shop took responsibility!

But this was a frightening story to read...
But of course the whole point of taking a car to a shop is that one expect them to be professional and have the needed expertice to "MAKE THINGS RIGHT"! When something like this happens, then it really stinks...

Probably they were not interested in having their "good name" rubbed in the dirt, and saw that the wise thing to do was to make up for it! Gives them credit!

I hope your wife is in a better mood too! ;)

Personal opinion, but that item is NOT from some earlier time period. There is no where in that engine where it could lay around and be benign. Talk to some professional mechanics who are not involved and don't tell them it's your engine and see what they have to say. I can tell you, they will tell you your buddy is getting screwed. The material came from whoever was last in that engine PERIOD, no doubt. Those same people are responsible for it. Make this simple. Go to them and tell them you talked to a lawyer and they will either fix it bu full disassembly, cleaning and reassembly and give you a decent warranty on the fix or you will see them in court where they can explain it to an expert witness. They will fix it free, but the won't like you. How much is liking you worth? If they really liked you, they fix what they screwed up!