HELP My friend is changing oil in his 91 12 valve and took the drain plug out which is magnitized and there is 2 ball bearings on it!!! Where could these have came from?????

 

It's not the 2 you found it's where are the rest of them? Does it have a turbo on it? If so that would be my first thought.

 

They came from the vacuum pump.

Is the truck new to him?

 

turbo spins fine and no excessive play. has had the truck for about a year now. whats up with the vaccum pump?????

 

There are ball bearings in the vacuum pump (drives the power steering pump). Sounds like it's coming apart or one failed before your friend got the truck. Does the vacuum pump look newer than the rest of the engine?

 

cant really tell, maybe. any way to tell if it is coming apart????

 

Not without taking it off. You don't want it to seize up and get completely trashed when right now all you need is a bearing.

 

how do the bearings from the vacuum pump get into the crankcase?

 

There's a caged bearing right at the front of the pump on the old non-intercooled pumps. If that bearing fails, the ***** will drop right into the timing case and roll down the oil drain right into the pan. Relatively harmless as long as you catch the vacuum pump before the case gets all tore up from the parts thrashing around with no support.