JTT

I never thought it would happen to me.....

No, this is not letters to Penthouse, unfortunately. I've tucked my car away for it's long winter nap, with visions of lovely little TLC jobs to pass the winter away. One of the first steps is the draining of old oil and replacement with nice new juice for her winter nap. Removed drain plug and started draining oil....damn, nearly forgot to collect my sample for Blackstone analysis....ok, got a sample, alas at the end of the drain. Checked my magnetic drain plug and found a little grey paste. Nothing too dramatic but enough to just cover over the surface of the magnet. Next step was to cut open the Napa Gold spin on filter (installed the LN adaptor in the Spring). That's when the heart rate spiked. Glittery metallic particles in the filter creases!! Also glitter in the bottom of the filter canister. This is not the "paste" material like on drain plug, rather glittery "flake like" material. These appear to be ferrous as magnet picked them up easy.



Ok, back into house for Bourbon, Scotch and beer (RIP Tom). Fast forward a couple of days for the hangover to die down. I pull the sump pan, expecting to see more glitter and maybe worse. Now comes the X Factor bit....sump was spotless. No glitter, no muck, no bits. I did find a tiny sliver of brown plastic (I'm guessing tensioner pad??) and a little blob of sealant in the pickup screen. Next I did the "finger test", checking the outlet side of the oil filter...clean again?? Testament to Jake's filter adaptor not allowing any bypass! So, where is the metal hiding?

Ok, a little background. Car is 2003 996 C2, Cab, I have owned for 3 yrs now, with 105,000 kms (65K miles). Oil and filter changed religiously at 5000 kms (3100 miles) or less (this change was actually 4000kms) (2500 miles), with Castrol Syntec 0W40. New sump baffles installed last winter. Low temp Thermostat installed. LN ceramic retrofit IMS installed by previous owner approximately 35,000kms (22,000 miles)...receipt in hand. UOA done over the last 3 oil changes, with no unusual findings and no increasing trends. Latest sample had been sent off but don't have results yet. I pretty much daily drive car during summer months, shortest trip is rarely less than 20 mins. I've done three DE days (green group and slow) in 2016, missed out in 2017.Car NEVER uses any oil between changes. No rattles or smoking. Can't think of anything else.

Initial plan is to drop transmission to check IMSB and RMS (I do have a very small amount of wet around bell housing). Still can't figure why there is no glitter in the pan. Is it "possible" the oil pump is the source? Pump picking up clean oil from sump, pushing it through filter and being "cleansed"???

Thanks to anyone with ideas.
Joe

JTT

Here is the material discovered in the pickup screen.

Ahsai

Oh man, sorry to see that. Good news is whatever it is, most likely you caught it at an early stage. Do you have a Durametric? I'm thinking of checking your cam deviations and see whether they are solid regardless of revs.
The flakes are probably too small and light to stay at the bottom of the pan.

strathconaman

I love these threads. They make me want to vomit.

Ahsai

BTW, do you know if the bearing is the single row pro, which contains two rows of bearings or it's the classic single row retrofit?

JTT

I do have a Durametric, however am reluctant to start the engine again.

Strathconaman....I vomit a bit in my mouth every time I think about it.

JTT

Won't know for absolute sure till I get the transmission down, but based on it being a 3.6 and installed in 2015, I'm assuming classic single row.

Ahsai

I see. I agree you may need to inspect the bearing first because it's one of the things that you can inspect without tearing down the engine.

You may want to cross check with Joel on this thread for more ideas https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...er-in-oil.html

Edit: looks like you're already on that thread...

JTT

Yeah, been following. His is non-ferrous though, so seemingly different failure mode. Interestingly enough, my plan for first thing in spring was to check the cam variance as preventative maintenance. I also ordered new water pump, coil packs and was considering AOS....well, I guess that will be easier now.

Mike Murphy

tomcat

beetleything

He posted this in his first post -

LN ceramic retrofit IMS installed by previous owner approximately 35,000kms (22,000 miles)...receipt in hand

So the glitter has to come from somewhere else ?

Ahsai

I guess it doesn't matter much anyway as the whole engine needs to come apart to fix it properly, whether its the bearing or something else.

silvergray951

Oh man, sorry to hear this OP :-(
Reminds me to check my filter too.

Porschetech3

Why not pull the cover off the main oil pump and pop out the gears to have a look at them . It's very easy to get to, and just may be your source of metal, since there was none on the magnetic drain plug and none in the sump.