dkasserra

I have found about 6 shiny bits/shavings of non-ferrous metal on the outside of my oil filter. Need I be concerned?
I am pretty sure it was the outside as the oil flows from the outside to in correct?
Thank you

Splitting Atoms

Correct. Flows from the outside in. I changed my oil this past weekend and found at least 4 small flakes of what appeared to be aluminum. They varied in size, but the biggest was about one mm across. I am not worried about it. I found a few dozen small bits of plastic that are most likely from the chain guides. I am more worried about those. I will change the plastic pads when I do the IMSB in a few months.

Hotrodaxel1976

We found some shiny bits also, car is in the shop for a tentioner repair and to investigators of the shiny bits are called into action, O Boy. I hope it's residual from the ims failure in 2013

dporto

^^^I would hope there was not any debris left from an IMSB failure in 2013. If there is, it's likely that it's done a whole lot of damage of it's own in the meantime. You should be doing oil analysis and looking for signs of bearing damage (copper/lead etc...)

5CHN3LL

Without knowing the size of the parts, it's tough to advise. If these are the tiny, less than 1mm foil-like sparkly bits, each of us has done an oil change with a few of those. It's when your filter starts to look like a Christmas ornament that you know you've waited too long and now your pooch is good and truly screwed.

dkasserra

Yes smaller than 1mm shiny non-magnetic bits. Does it matter if they are non magnetic or not?

5CHN3LL

Yes. If they are aluminum, they can be leftover milling debris from the original machining. If they are ferrous/magnetic, the material is being shed from a part IN the engine, not the case. Any collection of ferrous material larger than the magnetic "sludge" you normally find in tiny amounts on your magnetic oil drain plug is cause for further attention, if not alarm.

Incidentally, the correct filter and spin-on adapter can ensure that ALL of those little flecks stay on the dirty side of the filter. It's not fun to imagine where a little metal bit like that might find its way if allowed to roam freely.

Here's what an "OH MY GOD, FORGET EVERYTHING I'VE EVER SAID AND CALL RABY" oil filter looks like:


And the world-famous IMS glitter money shot:

dkasserra

Nope, does not look anything like that. The flecks are only on the dirty side. Will post a picture later today. maybe 5-6 bits on dirty side only

5CHN3LL

I would rate that a solid "change the filter again in a month and check for more debris."

Note that you can change the filter element on the 996 without changing the oil; you'll lose less than a quart instead of the full 9 quarts.

A single aluminum shaving getting chewed up by the oil pump will produce at least that many of the sparkly flecks, and in this case, the flecks were stuck in the filter - so everything worked the way it was supposed to.

dkasserra

Nothing on magnetic plug or in oil.

dkasserra

Will do. That seems to be the going advice. If there is more debris, what could it be? Not the dreaded IMS I hope?

Hotrodaxel1976

The car had a Ims bearing replaced then drove 1k miles then stored in 2013. The filter and oil had never been changed after the repair. I found a couple aluminum bits in filter, nothing in the oil

AzDropTop

Wow! Now that is scary looking.

5CHN3LL

Those are worst-case (well, bad-case. Worst-case is when daylight goes through the engine, right)...ANY amount of metal beyond the very occasional specklet(tm) or two of aluminum is enough to certainly watch carefully...

Vincent713

Lots of useful information on this thread alone. Maybe I should save up for a 997.2.