anthony42hat

Depending on where you live the chances of doing a couple of track events in the next 4 weeks is probably wishful thinking. Having said that, I would at least drop the pan to see what is in there before I took it to the track. Best of luck.

Petza914

Yes, too risky. Every time you start the car, you're beating up those timing chain pads from what we're seeing in the filter. Does the car ever make kind of a rattling or grinding noise right when you start it, especially if it hasn't been driven in a while?

I would have the tensioners replaced sooner rather than later, and before any track days. You need special tools to lock the crank pulley and the camshafts so unless you have those, this is not a DIY job. I would guess you're looking at probably 4 hours of labor plus the cost of the tensioners, which are about $100 each from online parts suppliers (Suncoast, FCP, etc) - probably more if supplied by a dealership.

TheBruce

+1 to what @Petza914 and @qikqbn said. Those black/carmel bits are from the chain guides. A few here and there are normal. Are those the one ones or were there more on the other side?

Definitely would get the tensioners replaced if you are hearing any noises on cold starts or seeing more of those bits than you like. Ive not done it yet but my indy said it was an easy job.

As far as dropping the pan, its also pretty easy. That was my first major DIY project, but luckily I had help from @Wayne Smith.

Wayne Smith

To be fair I merely helped to jack the car up and then became a spectator!!!

If you pull the pan take extra time to fully remove the old gasket and clean the mating surfaces. You don't want a leak to cause you to do the work twice.

Wayne Smith

And for those of you reading along remember that when The Bruce needed a clutch, his mechanic offered up a lift, tools, and advice for him to DIY in a professional environment.

So define easy job as you will!!!

usel

So far no new or unusual noises and the other side of the filter was pretty clean. However, seems to me based on opinions I am reading its only going to get worse from here. Are there after market tensioners which are better than factory, or they are all about the same?

Steph1

Wait a minute...... My Indy told me the rattling I experience on cold starts is exhaust related!?!? And that they "All do that"

When I start it cold, it rattles immediately for a half second, then silent for a second than rattle for a quarter second, and then totally silent on, until the following cold start. My oil filter shows absolutely no plastic nor metal.

I'm having the brakes done this week, so I'll bring up the chain tensioners.

Petza914

Unless there is something wrong with your exhaust where baflles inside something are broken free, that isn't your exhaust, and they don't all do that. It's your timing chains slapping against the paddle guides before the chain tensioners are pressurized, then the noise goes away because the hydraulic pressure in the tensioner makes it work correctly. If you're not seeing plastic yet, that's good - you're catching it before damage has been done, but it likely won't be long before you start seeing dark brown or black plastic pieces in your oil filter.

Steph1

Good to know thanks, I'll bring that up Thursday when I go for brakes. After reading your comments, I did some research and found that some people fixed similar problems by changing a little O-ring on the filter housing shaft??? Ever heard of that.

Petza914

No, I haven't, but I also run the LN Engineering spin on filter adapter on my cars with a metal canister filter, so no oring or plastic filter housings on my car. On my DFI Cayenne that LN doesn't make a spin on adapter for, I replaced the plastic oil filter housing with a billet one from ECS tuning. Did the same on my BMW X5. I don't like plastic parts that get heat cycled repeatedly in a critical engine fluid system, but that's just me.