Hi
i've just done the annual oil change :a bit less than 1000 miles
As you know there is a magnet on each of oil tank and crankcase plugs .
there was about one to two tenth of a mil (40 to 80 thou)of black residue, only on the top of the magnet cylinder -
I do not think this is much (but very low mileage obviously)
i would be interested to read what you have seen when you did your oil change
Surely the amount and nature of this sludge must be an indicator of potential problems to come ?
Peter

 

My drain plugs always have a "fuzz" on them too. I think its normal.

 

Hi Rob
have you tried to measure the "fuzz" and relate it to the mileage ?
Peter

 

Mine is usually clean with no build up. 79K miles

 

Pay more attention to the size of the particles than anything else- so long as they're fine, no big deal. If you can see/feel sizable chunks, that's not so good.

 

There is always a bit of residue on the drain plugs when I do an oil change.

Small amount, very fine particles. Every vehicle I have seen with a magnetic drain plug will have some degree of residue there.

I imagine it correlates roughly with mileage, but vehicle use, trip length, etc. would probably matter more.

Wouldn't be concerned about it.

 

Get a Blackstone Labs oil analysis and see what that tells you.

I know I make it a point to clean off the drain plugs but I'm not sure what/how much residue has been on there in the past.

Anyway, my Blackstone report indicates I might be driving a timebomb lol interesting. They've instructed me to send them a new sample in another 2k miles so they can confirm my impending doom.

 

I change my oil and filter every 5000 km, and barely any "Fuzz" on either of the magnetic plugs. Definitly not enough to measure.
Good advice on sending in an oil sample if you suspect engine problems.
Just for the record: 0.1 m/m = 0.004, not 0.040