Yea drain the coolant and oil, pull the kicker, make note of how your clutch pull and all looked before you take it apart. Take pictures with your phone, it helps a LOT! Especially for your first time.

Pull the cover off, then look at the crank and look along it into the case. You'll see the black rubber (it is rubber right y'all?) seal. If it's protruding out or anything then it's blown. They can also come apart at the lip and leak. You can try mixing some soap and water in a spray bottle and spraying it around it then roll the motor over slowly and watch for bubbles. That might work but I'm not 100% sure. About the only way I could think of doing it without having to pull the crank nut and gears off.

As for the metal flakes in the oil: it's more than likely clutch "dust". It'll look like aluminum and be kinda like a paste. But again that's just going from my experience with my first LT. I'm no expert,, I've only had mine together for like a year and a half or two years.