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Hi everyone,
I thought I should post an update on the project. Yesterday I have changed the oil and filter in the vehicle at about 10,000 km after the timing chain guides replacement. As I was planning I have dropped the oil pan and inspected it. On the bottom I found two plastic pieces of the old guide rails lining about 3/4" long and another little piece about 1/4" x 1/4". I did not find anything else there and the strainer of the oil suction pipe was surprisingly clean (except one flake of the RTV gasket that I used during the assembly) – no aluminum shavings at all. The filter (a third one after the repair) yet still had traces of small aluminum shavings here and there. Overall everything seems to be OK, no issues at all with the oil pressure. I am planning on changing the oil next time at my regular intervals of 10,000 km.
…As my next project I have to replace the rear subframe bushings. One day I heard the rear suspension clanking when my wife was pulling out of the driveway. I have dropped one corner of the subframe at a time a discovered that all 4 bushings were shot (the metal inserts completely disintegrated from the rubber housings). I have made a band aid fix by temporary jamming 3/8” thick 4” O.D. x 1.5” I.D. rubber washers in the assembly stack (shown on the picture) to keep the metal inserts in place and it did the trick: the suspension is back to normal – everything is solid and no clanking while switching from reverse to forward. This should last for a few months until November or so when I am planning to replace the bushings with new ones …but now – it is salmon fall run that will keep me and the vehicle elsewhere away from any repair activities.
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