Bits of metal in my oil filter
10-14-2011, 03:17 AM
#16
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Maybe I am missing something here, but can't that be IMS bearing material? That should be ferrous.
I guess you could have a look for oil leaking between trans and engine, which I believe is a sign that oil is seeping through the IMS bearing. But, lack of oil leak does not mean the IMS bearing is ok, as far as my knowledge goes.
Johan
I guess you could have a look for oil leaking between trans and engine, which I believe is a sign that oil is seeping through the IMS bearing. But, lack of oil leak does not mean the IMS bearing is ok, as far as my knowledge goes.
Johan
10-14-2011, 12:44 PM
#18
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The engine has not received any internal work save the passenger side VarioCam solenoid & actuator were replaced not too many months ago.
Oh, at around 25K miles the RMS was replaced along with as was the standard operating procedure then (and might still be) the IMS end plate and its 3 bolts were replaced with upgraded parts. The old end plate had an o-ring for its seal while the new end plate had a 3-ribbed seal. The new bolts were micro-sealed to prevent oil from seeping past through the thread spaces and leaking out from under the bolt heads.
Otherwise the engine, the IMS bearing, and all chain pads/tensioners (save the new rails that of course came with the new passenger side VarioCam actuator) are original.
I might add the bad actuator's chain rail pads showed very little wear. The passenger side cams and the lifter tops showed no wear.
There is some luck involved -- hard to say how much -- but I believe a bigger factor in my Boxster engine's long life is due to my very early on in the car's ownership opting to follow a 5K mile oil/filter service schedule.
Sincerely,
Macster.
Oh, at around 25K miles the RMS was replaced along with as was the standard operating procedure then (and might still be) the IMS end plate and its 3 bolts were replaced with upgraded parts. The old end plate had an o-ring for its seal while the new end plate had a 3-ribbed seal. The new bolts were micro-sealed to prevent oil from seeping past through the thread spaces and leaking out from under the bolt heads.
Otherwise the engine, the IMS bearing, and all chain pads/tensioners (save the new rails that of course came with the new passenger side VarioCam actuator) are original.
I might add the bad actuator's chain rail pads showed very little wear. The passenger side cams and the lifter tops showed no wear.
There is some luck involved -- hard to say how much -- but I believe a bigger factor in my Boxster engine's long life is due to my very early on in the car's ownership opting to follow a 5K mile oil/filter service schedule.
Sincerely,
Macster.
So the moral of the story is, change your oil often and drive that car as much as possible!
10-14-2011, 02:24 PM
#19
10-14-2011, 09:27 PM
#20
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Unfortunately won't be running at that event but I might go see part of the club race. I'll also be at the autocross in Greensboro next Saturday and the next one back at Knight's Stadium early in November.
Are you going to run on the track or watch the club races?
Are you going to run on the track or watch the club races?
10-15-2011, 02:15 AM
#21
Three Wheelin'
To the OP...please confirm the flecks are ferrous. I had similar looking flecks that I thought were being picked up by my magnet, but it was actually the "sticktion" from the oil coating them that was allowing my magnet to pick them up.
10-15-2011, 05:52 AM
#22
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Absent any noises that signal low oil pressure, absent any knocking or other unusual noises, that few tiny bits of light metal (probably a tiny piece of aluminum that went through the high pressure oil pump which makes bigger (but very thin) flakes of aluminum) doesn't look particularly scary to me.
Relax.
When you take the car out of storage next spring just drive the car a bit -- 100 miles or less -- then remove the filter housing and dump the oil and filter into a clean drain pan and see what you see. What you see or don't see determines what you do next.
Sincerely,
Macster.
Relax.
When you take the car out of storage next spring just drive the car a bit -- 100 miles or less -- then remove the filter housing and dump the oil and filter into a clean drain pan and see what you see. What you see or don't see determines what you do next.
Sincerely,
Macster.
10-15-2011, 09:05 AM
#23
Three Wheelin'
I have a somewhat similar situation - 2003 996 C4S. Went about 6700 miles until I changed the oil at ~89,000 miles. Put in a blend of Castrol Syntec - it had the highest ratings for API and ILSAC of any synthetic on the shelf - and I checked EVERY bottle. Since they did not have the 5W-40 that I wanted, I blended equal amounts of 0W-40 and 10W-50.
As to the metal: I have 1 piece in the filter that is flattened 1.5 mm dia. and ~3 pcs that are maybe 0.3mm. In all maybe 4 or 5 little bits of metal after 6700 miles. I added a magnetic drain plug and feel good about driving the car, and will change the oil at 5000 miles going forward.
As to the metal: I have 1 piece in the filter that is flattened 1.5 mm dia. and ~3 pcs that are maybe 0.3mm. In all maybe 4 or 5 little bits of metal after 6700 miles. I added a magnetic drain plug and feel good about driving the car, and will change the oil at 5000 miles going forward.
10-15-2011, 09:27 AM
#24
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10-15-2011, 10:06 AM
#25
Former Vendor
I have learned this while developing the IMS Guardian system.. If you want to measure particle levels a test thats typically employed for Diesel engines has to be used.
We received a factory engine in a crate and stripped it down without ever firing it up to build it into a fully optimized Grand Am race engine. It had this same material througout the internals; the used oil analysis didn't show any of the material elevations. The particulate evaluation did show these elevated levels and they were very high. I have pictures of the spankin' new internals covered with glittery oil.
The Lubrizol labs carry out these analysis for us- they make the oil additive blend packages for our oil co-developed with Joe Gibbs Racing- its just a tad more extensive than dealing with a place like blackstone where they just carry out UOA.
10-15-2011, 10:10 AM
#26
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You're missing the point, Jake. I think with regular UOA's and history with several data points (more than 1 or 2 reports) you would see elevated wear metals in your reports before finding metal shavings in your filter(s).
10-17-2011, 12:10 AM
#28
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[QUOTE=Flat6 Innovations;8946731]
We received a factory engine in a crate and stripped it down without ever firing it up to build it into a fully optimized Grand Am race engine. It had this same material througout the internals; the used oil analysis didn't show any of the material elevations. The particulate evaluation did show these elevated levels and they were very high. I have pictures of the spankin' new internals covered with glittery oil.
QUOTE]
Are you telling us that Porsche factory engines will shed metal bits for a while when new??
We received a factory engine in a crate and stripped it down without ever firing it up to build it into a fully optimized Grand Am race engine. It had this same material througout the internals; the used oil analysis didn't show any of the material elevations. The particulate evaluation did show these elevated levels and they were very high. I have pictures of the spankin' new internals covered with glittery oil.
QUOTE]
Are you telling us that Porsche factory engines will shed metal bits for a while when new??
10-17-2011, 04:42 AM
#30
