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CF forum, a while ago I had posted a thread where after taking my oil pan apart I found a silver sludge and a lot of metal shavings.
Since the motor was an unmolested original 43,000 mile engine, it was suggested that I run it for a 1,000 miles and then open the oil filter and check the filter elements. The opinion was if it was the only time the engine was ever opened, it also included motor break in.
So, here are pictures of the oil filament stretched open.
My question for the forum is...too much? How much metal is normal, should I never have metal? The one area I am always a student is with the motors. I’m a wrench turner not a motor builder, so I need to know if it’s time to rebuild or how you think I should proceed.
I have great pressure, no knocks, and no smoke...so I’m not sure if I need to do anything yet!
This was after I cleaned the oil pan completely when I replaced the gasket. I also ran 3 quarts of oil thru and drained those before running a fresh filter and oil.
I’m eager to hear your opinion...Thanks!
Question back to you: Have you been using oil with zinc all along or switched to something "on the shelf." The metal flake does not appear to be a wiped cam lobe however, which usually shows up as more shiny. The Chevy orange paint specs has me baffled unless its from the oil pan itself. I find it hard to believe any of those flakes are from the original break-in 43K miles ago. That would have been flushed out yrs ago.
I think your next oil change will determine wether a rebuild is in order but for now use a top tier filter and maybe attach a magnet on that or the pan and see what happens next.
Try scraping the debris off onto a clean rag then pour a little bit of gasoline onto it to wash the oil off. It looks like you have a lot of little paint chips and other stuff but the picture isn't sharp enough for me to see any metal pieces. Does it hold good oil pressure when it's at full operating temperature?
I feel that the debris you are looking at may be due to how you cut the filter open. It can give you a false positive.
Some may feel this is a waste of money....while others believe in them 100%. No need to cut open a filter to see what is going on and they have magnets inside them. Possibly worth checking out
Here as of lately....I have been dealing with many engines that when I go in and replace valve cover gaskets or even an oil pan gasket. When I take these parts off...due to these engines not being run on a consistent basis. I am actually seeing rust scale on the inside of these parts. Some can be so bad that when I wipe it with my finger. I get some of the grittiness off and can fell it in between my finger tips.
Question back to you: Have you been using oil with zinc all along or switched to something "on the shelf." The metal flake does not appear to be a wiped cam lobe however, which usually shows up as more shiny. The Chevy orange paint specs has me baffled unless its from the oil pan itself. I find it hard to believe any of those flakes are from the original break-in 43K miles ago. That would have been flushed out yrs ago.
I think your next oil change will determine wether a rebuild is in order but for now use a top tier filter and maybe attach a magnet on that or the pan and see what happens next.
The orange flakes are from me removing the valve covers a few months ago. I pulled them to change gaskets and while I was in there I gave the engine a fresh valve job.
What surprised me was the amount of metal I found in between the elements. I cut open the filter using a cut off wheel at the very top hoping not to contaminate the filter.
I like the reusable filter but the cost kinda took the wind out of my sail...so I gotta think on that.
I will definitely pull my filter again and open using snips and see what I got.
Thank you everyone
After you cut the filter open, take a knife and cut out a section of the filter media with several folds, keep it folded and put it in your vise and squeeze the oil out of it. When you remove it from the vise and stretch it out, there will be no oil left, only whatever debris was present. Much easier to see what's really there. I work on heavy Equipment and do this daily, I have filter cutters that open it up like a coffee can using cutter wheels.
I'd be willing to bet that all the metal debris in your pics was from using a cut off wheel to open up the filter and from the new valve cover gaskets and valve job. Good luck with the next one and use the tin snips carefully.
Duane
Last edited by Duane4238; 12-09-2017 at 08:34 PM.
Reason: addition
Yeh, cutoff wheel could definitely be the cause. Use a pipe cutter or specific oil filter cutter tool, they're not thyat expensive. If it isn't contamination from cutting open the filter (and my bet is that it is), you've a big problem there - I had nowhere near that amount of material in my filter even after first startup/breakin.
It doesn't appear to be the kind of metal particles I would expect from a dying engine. I believe it is debris from opening the filter, also.
Do as suggested above: brush debris into a cup/bowl, wash it with solvent and drain off most of the solvent. Then take a good look. Paint chips have to be from the filter housing; metal shavings probably are also.
12-09-2017, 04:37 PM
Metal in my oil filter
