777mech

Is this normal? 67,000 miles 2001 996tt. Non magnetic specks some are gold color.

jpflip

It happen to me also, but that was long time ago, about three years and I'm still looking at the filter every year and cannot found any lately.... The pieces were about the size of the ball on a pen....I don't know where it is coming from but the engine still strong....

"02996ttx50

only time i ever wanna see gold flakes is in a bottle of goldschlager, and even then, not so much.

i also cut my filters open every time...flakes are not good.

vongo

Same here... First two oil change I did I had similar flakes. Changed from 0w-40 to 5w-50 and shortened change intervals to ~3ooo miles. It's been good since then.
Might have been caused by lugging the engine slightly, as I used to cruise at ~2ooo RPM and have since increased my cruising RPMs to 27oo or greater.
Last two changes have been clean. Not sure what specifically resolved the issue but I'm guessing a combination of the three... Shorter change intervals, thicker oil and increased cruising RPMs.
I'm sure others will chime in.

777mech

I'm probably just being paranoid, most of what's there is not easily seen without a flashlight. It looked completely clean before I actually cut it open. I filled it with 5-40 rotella and was thinking I should pull the filter and check it after 2k miles or so. The engine runs very smoothly and has that classic turbo rattle as well.

"02996ttx50

if you actually cut open your filter after street driving at 2K miles from a fresh oil change? you left "paranoid" a few stoplights behind lol

mxracer

Send an oil sample to Blackstone and you'll get all the information you need.

Berra

Damn, some of you really do worry way way WAY too much.

777mech

I guess I am mostly concerned with the few gold colored specks I found. Is there any other internals aside from worn rod or main bearings that could produce this?

jpflip

Very good suggestion, I am doing it every year since about 5 years and everything came out perfect. I found this comforting like a good blood pressure test ;-)

wross996tt

Unfortunately we don't know what the particles are. Other than the color and non magnetic, it would be nice to know what type of metal it is before reacting. Copper or brass? Did you have your coolant pipes welded?

Macster

The pieces are not metal but plastic. Composite plastic and from one of the chain guide rail plastic covers.

A few very tiny pieces is really nothing to worry about.

But worry is what it seems most Porsche owners do while they are awake.

If you want change the oil and oil filter and drive the car normally for <pick a mileage number> and then change the oil again and check the filter. If you see more particles that's a sign that possibly a chain guide plastic cover is coming apart for some reason. They are generally pretty durable but there is always the exception.

My WAG is you'll see nothing.

BTW, checking the oil filter is really rather a waste of time. It is rare a serious internal engine problem will produce debris but not get any worse in the 3K or 5K or whatever K oil change interval one follows. Engine problems that are serious enough to produce debris generally go from bad to worse in way under an oil change interval.

Carlo_Carrera

It is normal.

Kevinmacd

Have to disagree, being that these cars are driven very little compared to others, one should still change the oil at least 1x year even if the driven mileage is very low. Metallic chips can show that a bearing, valve guide, cylinder wall being galled etc., is happening. It can be a valuable tool to do this!
Perfect example is the IMS bearing in a naturally aspirated Porsche engine, will shed metallic bits before failure. This was how I found mine on one of my non turbo engine Porsches. Pulled the bearing and sure enough failure was eminent. Kept me from having a catastrophic failure.
It is a common practice to cut open an oil filter when servicing an aircraft engine as part of the service.
With that said it is not uncommon to see some small metalic particles, the quantity is the determing factor. In this case this to me is normal wear, since internal parts are plated etc.
This is not emough to worry about! If the quantities increase then a red flag should be raised!
Suggest not to worry about it!

"02996ttx50

i have 140k miles and have cut open maybe 8-10 filters and not once seen any metal.

seeing gold flakes if not in the still running stream behind my house, would be alarming.

add: cutting open a filter to see if there is engine debris and/or pieces of internal parts in infinitesimally small quantities is only a "waste of time" if you see nothing!

..and if you see "metal flakes"?, then you know there is more to potentially "see and hear" in your motors future. whether one then still feels it has been a waste of time? probably says more about their personal threshold for ominous and potentially portentous engine conditions, than it does about the ways in which they may choose to alternately spend ( or waste ) their "time".