should I be worried? - metal dust/shavings in fresh oil

[dutch]

Here's the back story:

I bought this car 3 months ago, it's got a reman engine with around 15000 miles on it. It's mostly stock expect for an intake and exhaust, stock pulley.
po seems to have taken good care of it, the oil was pretty much still clear when I bought it, and has always been mobil1.

Because I'm putting it away for the winter, I wanted to change the oil, so put Mobil1 and new 820s filter in last week. The oil that came out looked fine on first glance.

I drove it for maybe 20 miles before realizing I had put too much oil in, I put 6.5 liters in, which amounts to 6.87 qt. After a search on here I found out the terminators are used to having half a dipstick worth and not the full mark. So I drained half a quart and got the scare of my life, metallic dust in 20 miles old mobil1! Maybe one or two shavings, but mostly a dust/flake like size.

Warmed the car up today to listen if I could hear anything bad from the motor, tried to listen with a screwdriver underneath. There's the slightest faint knock at idle, but it seems to come from the back of the motor, almost the clutch area more so then the motor itself. It's also gone with the smallest increase in rpm. From the top the motor you can't hear anything, purrs like a kitten.

So I drained a little more warm oil after another short testdrive, into a completely clean drainpan, washed it out real good before I started.

Again metal dust particals in my 30 mile old mobil1!

I tried to take pictures, but the camera doesn't like to focus on nothing.

Do I have to start saving for a new shortblock?

 

[SlowSVT]

That is not a good sign

On a freshly overhauled engine some fine metal particles are to be expected but not after 15,000 miles.

Remanufactured engine hah? I vaguely remember something about thrust bearings not being installed in some of those engines.

Do you still have the old oil filter? I would cut that open and wash it clean with solvent into a container so you can evaluate the volume of filing that has been collected. If there is a lot time to yank the engine out. Or you can remove the timing chain cover and inspect the oil pump which should be very telling.

 

[dutch]

Sadly tossed the old filter last week, I do still have the 'old' oil.

I'm afraid I don't have the space to yank or tear into the engine during the winter. It's going in storage, not my personal garage...

edit: just emptied a qt of the 'old' oil that was in the car for maybe 2000 miles till last week in my spare black oil catcher and it seems free of metal, what the sh!t?

How can driving 30 miles on fresh mobil (even 6.8 qt) cause that much wear? I've gotten on it a few times, but I did that with the old oil a lot more!

 

[MTBSully]

Sadly tossed the old filter last week, I do still have the 'old' oil.

I'm afraid I don't have the space to yank or tear into the engine during the winter. It's going in storage, not my personal garage...

edit: just emptied a qt of the 'old' oil that was in the car for maybe 2000 miles till last week in my spare black oil catcher and it seems free of metal, what the sh!t?

How can driving 30 miles on fresh mobil (even 6.8 qt) cause that much wear? I've gotten on it a few times, but I did that with the old oil a lot more!

Could be that too much oil caused "frothing" of the oil in the pan from the crank whipping it up, which lead to poor oil consistency (air pockets etc) which damaged some bearings or something else.

How do you accidentally put in almost two extra quarts?

 

[dutch]

I didn't put in 2 extra quarts, I put 6.8 qt (6.5L) in because that's what it took to get to full on the dipstick.

The frothing oil is what came to my mind too, however the old oil had always been up to full on the dipstick too (so probably drove around with around 6.8qt) before this too.

It was only this past week that I found some threads on here explaining these cars need to sit on the middle of the dipstick.

 

[testorossa1989]

Since its a remanned engine is it still covered under warranty? I generally never fill up oil to the full mark just for safety.

 

[dutch]

Nope, just out of warranty...

I'm tempted to just change the oil and filter again tomorrow and run it for a couple of miles and check again... I just can't see what the heck has gone wrong in 30 miles?

 

[SlowSVT]

Nope, just out of warranty...

I'm tempted to just change the oil and filter again tomorrow and run it for a couple of miles and check again... I just can't see what the heck has gone wrong in 30 miles?

That may be a good course of action.

I don't think 2 extra quarts will damage the engine in any way. A magnet will tell you if it's farris metal or not.

 

[dutch]

It wasn't 2 extra qt's though. The manual sais 6 and most member here run 6.5 right? I put 6.8 in and drained 0.5 again to be sure.

 

[testorossa1989]

It wasn't 2 extra qt's though. The manual sais 6 and most member here run 6.5 right? I put 6.8 in and drained 0.5 again to be sure.

I wouldnt run any extra oil. I dont care what people here say. The manual specifies it and you should really follow it to a T

 

[kmadona]

Contact Blackstone Labs. Send them a sample and have it tested. They are very thorough.

 

[MrCaliKrome]

The manual sais 6 and most member here run 6.5 right?

I run 6 quarts only. My dipstick reads around the middle.

I think Cobra owners who haven't seen the threads on the inaccurate dipsticks add oil until it gets to the top, which is understandable as this is standard procedure on all cars.

 

[dutch]

Changed oil and filter again today. Luckily not much metal shavings came with the 'old' oil, the filter looked pretty clean too.

Drove for 20 miles and I'll check some of the new oil again tomorrow.

 

[SlowSVT]

Changed oil and filter again today. Luckily not much metal shavings came with the 'old' oil, the filter looked pretty clean too.

Drove for 20 miles and I'll check some of the new oil again tomorrow.

kmadona has a good idea regarding the Blackstone oil test.

It's good to hear the oil is showing up "cleaner" but finding metal shards in your oil is never a good thing and it came from somewhere!. Keep an eye on it like you have been and change the new oil out and inspect it after 50-100 miles or so. If the motor runs fine I guess you can cross your fingers and perhaps nothing will come of this...........then again :shrug:

I bet your thinking about those shaving 30% of the time while diving the car .............this kinda thing can drive you mad not knowing what went wrong :cuss:

 

[dutch]

I've looked into that analysis, but sending oil samples internationally isn't a good idea I think.

Will inspect it tomorrow after it sat for a night. Drove 20 miles today, so we'll see... Car is going in storage tomorrow too, so I won't see it till march.

And yeah, drives you nuts thinking about that crap all day.

 

[SID297]

That is a bit disconcerting.

 

[highcompression]

I don't like the looks of the goldish chunks. I am one of those people that cuts filters open periodically. I have came to this conclusion ... Just about everything I own I will examine the oil under a super bright LED light. Very, very, very minute "dust" can be found in about every engine. My 12' Sierra, my Kohler twin (0-turn), wife's 11' Acadia, 4 wheeler, generator. I haven't seen a draining on any engine that was perfectly clean. As long as I don't see "chunks", I'm not concerned.

Before I get flamed, you guys go change oil on whatever: car, mower, cycle, etc ... Use a clean pan and a high powered flashlight and report the findings.

 

[highcompression]

Like I said, from my little phone looked like yours had a few chunks .... But I think this is one of those things that some will obsess over. It's a natural thing as a engine runs. Same as brake pads wearing, or clutches in a auto transmission. It's part of the theory of operation.

Relax

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

I would not freak out about this till you know exactly what those particles are.

You did not hurt your engine by running 0.8 quarts over the 6.0 quart mark.

Are the particles aluminum, or ferrous?
Do they stick to a magnet?

I also like the idea of doing a used oil analysis, especially now that you have even more used oil available to send out.

I would have the first "over full" drain out tested, and I would also have the full oil change drain out tested.

0.8 quarts over full is not going to cause any issues what so ever.

Prior to installing my Canton road race oil pan, I regularly ran 7.0 quarts and had no issues what so ever.

 

[SlowSVT]

I don't like the looks of the goldish chunks. I am one of those people that cuts filters open periodically. I have came to this conclusion ... Just about everything I own I will examine the oil under a super bright LED light. Very, very, very minute "dust" can be found in about every engine. My 12' Sierra, my Kohler twin (0-turn), wife's 11' Acadia, 4 wheeler, generator. I haven't seen a draining on any engine that was perfectly clean. As long as I don't see "chunks", I'm not concerned.

Before I get flamed, you guys go change oil on whatever: car, mower, cycle, etc ... Use a clean pan and a high powered flashlight and report the findings.

20-30 years ago the first oil change on a new engine would yield a not to insignificant amount of filings as the sliding surfaces put a polish on one another due to poor quality surface finish :nonono: In modern engines it can be hard distinguishing a brand new engine from a well broken-in engine from the amount of metal filing in the oil :thumbsup: If I remember correctly the first oil change on the Cobra I saw very little metal floating around the 10W-30.

As Billy Joel says "the good ol days weren't always good". The quality of manufacture today is miles ahead of where it use to be :rockon: