Hey guys,
Just picked up a 2000 bear tracker locally for cheap and decided to go through the engine before starting it and attempting to drive it condition unknown. When I was dumping the oil I noticed metal shavings in the oil plug screen and more metal shavings in drain pan. Needless to say I started to break her down to see whats going on.

Interestingly the piston/rings/cylinder wall look brand new, aside the normal carbon deposits. However, there was cratering in the combustion chamber near the exhaust valve. I'm wondering if the previous owner did a top end rebuild and the shavings are left over from a broke ring, or if its coming from the transmission. I haven't fully separated the case and inspected the gears but the top end looks good. Ill post pics of the combustion chamber tomorrow. Any suggestions? Im going to start logging the rebuild here in hopes that you guys can walk me through it.
Thanks!
Nick