Metal in pan, time to rebuild? (with pics)
 

Hello everyone. I know I am new here, but I would greatly appreciate some advice. I found a "significant" amount of what I assume is bearing material in my oil. Some of it was found in the drain pan when I changed the oil for the first time (I haven't had the car long), but the majority of it was found in the filter.

I have the personal feeling that Porsche owners crack open their cases far more often than they need to. That being said, there is quite a bit of material in the filter and pan, and I am trying to avoid catastrophic failure which will be very expensive.

Some info on both myself and the car:

I have a "moderate" amount of experience rebuilding engines. I am ASE certified (expired about 15 years ago) in a bunch of things, including engine repair. That being said, its also been about 10 years since I rebuilt and engine. I have zero experience with Porsche engines.



https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...fe0f992051.jpg

The car has an unknown history. Approximately 60K miles, and no significant leaks. The previous owner said it had a reseal, but there is no documentation. Even after finding the material, It runs and drives fine. No real smoking, no knocking. There is a whining sound, but it sounds like it is coming from the flywheel area. Oil pressure at idle is high, around 3/4 of the way up the gauge, with brief moments of bouncing. Not really sure what thats all about.

The car is from Oahu, and I was told that it was owned by a Porsche mechanic. If anyone knows the car, I would love to hear from you.

The Material: Grey flakes, non magnetic.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...b926e826df.jpg




https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...db5c68c756.jpg


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...94b6b1641a.jpg


Reasons I am hesitant to pull the motor:
It runs and drives great, with no leaks.
Im lazy.
Im cheap.

Reasons I want to pull it:
To avoid serious damage which would be more work (Im lazy), and more expensive (I'm cheap).


Let me know what you guys think. I would hate to pull a working engine, but with the cost of these motors, I don't want to need a new crank.

If it runs and drives great and oil usage is within the normal range, I'd say just drive it. But that looks to be quite a bit of material in the filter. I'm not sure that is normal, hopefully someone will chime in with more info for you.

Sub'd. I am no expert, but that doesn't look good. I'd like to hear some experienced folks chime in here. I have had much higher mileage cars and not see this kind of particulate buildup in the filter. What oil are you using and does the car sit log periods between starting?

edit (I see you just did your first oil change on it. Hopefully you got the good stuff, any new is better than what was in there anyway at this point.) I'd only run about 3k miles and then do another oil service. Send a sample of what you have off to Blackstone.

How did the crankcase oil drain plug look? Lots of metal shavings on the magnetic part...

He states "non magnetic", I would then lean to Aluminum or Magnesium.

If I saw that, I would be disassembling the engine for a complete and very thorough inspection.

Thanks for the replies, looks like I will be pulling it. It will probably sit for a couple more months before I get to it, but I will be sure to post some pics of what I find.

You could send an oil sample off for analysis; and that would confirm what it is that you are seeing. If the particles are not magnetic then one should suspect that you are seeing bearing material. The 3.6 engine should easily make 200k miles on bearings; so, you are having an abnormal failure that should require a total rebuild including splitting the case to inspect the IMS bearings as well as the crank bearings.

Porsche engines have some weaknesses, but not usually bearings.

I suggest that you plan on a total rebuild as soon as possible.

Yeah, I understand that Porsche bearings don't self destruct too often. When I open it up the biggest question won't be what failed, but WHY it failed.

Kinda hard to tell from the pics, but granular aluminum could be timing gear material...

Looks like it is made of fibers from the pics. Could it be an oil filter failure?

Possibly the coating from the magnesium valve covers? When I had mine of at 70k to do a valve adjustment it was starting to flake off. I ended up buying the aluminum ones from Hargett.

It doesn't look great, and given the amount you've found, regardless of the origins I doubt it'll last long at that wear rate.