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Originally Posted by Frodo
I was changing my oil/filter recently and something got my attention. I have the SPOFA and magnetic drain plug. I got to looking at the oil on the drain plug and rubbed my fingertip over it. What I got was a thin but noticeable shiny residue on my finger. Not really gritty at all, just felt/looked like wet, metallic shiny talcum powder. (I should have taken a pic, but I was home alone and, of course, my hands were a bit oily to be handling the camera.)
Considering this is an engine and it does has moving parts that do rub against each other (even though in a well-lubricated fashion) plus the fact that I now have this strong magnet grabbing most everything metallic that flows past it, are my findings particularly unusual, or is this a definite red flag?
I still have the filter (a WIX spin-on)---would it be useful to cut it open? If so, do you just go at it with a hacksaw, or is there an easier way?
I ask, of course, because I (like many Boxster owners) am concerned about possible IMS issues. BTW, the car has 52K miles.
Opinions??
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All engines generate some fine metal as the result of normal wear, which is why the magnetic drain plug is a good idea. As this is your first pass draining the oil with a magnetic plug, is has also collected stuff that was already there but had not come out with previous oil changes. I would also second cutting open the filter and checking it as well. There are specific tools to do this without creating a lot of metal filings, which a saw would do. The tool is much like a giant can opener, and can be found a most decent speed shops, or on line. In general, if the debris is very fine, and not a lot of it, I would not be overly concerned. If the metal is granular or in larger flakes, that would be a "red flag".
