Type_LT

Hi Folks,

I wanted to post a bit of what I found after changing the oil/filter on the 08' C4S w/57k mi. I picked up a week ago. Naturally being OCD about oil cleanliness I was eager to see if my IMS had already turned itself into baby IMS's or the cylinder rings were getting too friendly with the bores.

The oil and filter were changed about 3k miles ago by the previous owner and upon draining looked pretty good passing my flashlight-shine-through test.

What I was most interested in was what remained in the filter and filter housing. Just a note that the car doesn't have a magnetic drain plug and uses the original paper insert filter although I'm strongly considering updating to a screw on filter.

In short, didn't see anything alarming such as tons of magnetic metal or any large chunks (<0.5 mm radius) of any metal stuck in the filter material. I counted about find 8 small non-magnetic silver (Aluminum) bits on the dirty side of the filter but that's pretty normal from what I've been reading. This 997 Turbo forum thread had some conversation on what is normal: https://rennlist.com/forums/997-turb...il-filter.html

I also poured the oil from the filter housing into a clean plastic bin, threw a couple magnets in there and sloshed it around for a few minutes to see if any magnetic particles were in there. I counted one, maybe two sand sized flecks on the magnets. Any other shiny bits in the oil were not magnetic and very very fine.

I plan to send an oil sample to Blackstone. Is it representative enough to provide then with oil that only came from the filter housing? (e.g. is it excessively dirty?) I have about 8oz. from the housing.

semicycler

Blackstone prefers oil collected in the middle of the drain cycle. This means opening the drain plug, letting the oil start to drain, then collecting a small bit well before the oil stops draining.

Since it's too late to go back and do that for your case, call them and ask if what you have can be used or not. And while you have them on the phone have them send you some free mailing kits.

Type_LT

Thanks semicycler, I'll give them a ring and post back.

Petza914

Keep an eye out for black and brown plastic too, as that can be from timing chain guides and tensioner paddles. At some point you may want to drop the oil pan and see if anything has collected at the edges outside the swirl pots.

Type_LT

About how big would the plastic debris be? More of 1 mm sized chunks or fine powder/sand size?

I did see what I think was "dirt" on the dirty side of the filter. It was very very fine, smaller than normal table salt granules.

I plan to drop the filter after the next spirited drive and check once more. If it looks good I'll wait until the next oil change to drop the pan.

Type_LT

Called Blackstone regarding their requirements for the oil and they do prefer oil from the pan/sump.

They said they can still do oil from the filter housing but to mark the sample with a note stating where it's from so they can analyze appropriately.

The minimum volume they need is 3 oz.

Petza914

They would be hard, kind of jagged, pieces, like the size of the very tip of a sharpened #2 pencil.
They'd look like this.



Anything that just feels like grit or is the size of salt grains isn't them.

Type_LT

Thanks, Petza914. Great picture and I like the ruled paper to give perspective on the size.

I didn't see anything like that in the filter or oil. We'll hope for the same when I drop the pan!

Petza914

What you may find in the pan is little pieces of sealant that Porsche applied when putting the motor together. It squishes out the inside and dome pieces eventually break off. These are bad because they can clogging the pick-up so when you put your pan back on, all it takes is a very thin film (not a bead) of oil resistant sealant so you don't create the same issue. Those will look like these.


Also, after re-installing the pan with a little sealant, your next UOA may show a higher reading for silica, as this is s component of the sealant and nothing to worry about - your next one will be back to normal.

granprixweiss928

My car 997.1 with 27k had a blackstone test pass with flying colors.

A few month or so later I found extensive bore scoring in all six cylinders.

Find another place to test the oil. Call Jake at Flat6 for a recommendation.

semicycler

This one sounds off. Blackstone is a highly reputable lab. What's the backstory on your scoring? Were there any external symptoms (black/bluish smoke, sooting, rise in oil consumption, etc.)? How long did you own the car? Warm up procedure? Cold weather starts? All six cylinders? Are you sure you are not exaggerating? Do you have photos? Did you rebuild the engine?

Fill in the blanks here, convince me Blackstone missed something.