So I just changed the oil for the second time since owning the car. First oil change, 3k miles and 1 year ago, things looked pretty normal, even the filter was free of debris.
Today I changed the oil, cut open the filter and found about 20 specks the look like gold flakes. About .5mm in diameter average. A sample flake is in the left half of this picture.
So, I know these engines new cost their weight in gold, but I know they're not made of gold, so I'm thinking I'm looking at brass. I looked at the drain pan, and saw flakes there, too. But it it wasn't a clean pan to start with, so I can't be sure it came from this particular motor. I did change the oil in my Town & Country and my Subaru last week, but don't remember seeing any flakes. But then again, both have high miles, 194K in the Subaru and 134K in the T&C, so I can't rule out that it came from them either. Sorry, I didn't take pics of the drain pan.
So, to all those who rebuild these motors, what's made of brass? Bearings? Lifters?
Also, I also found out that this is a factory replacement motor. I've seen somewhere that you can decode the age of the motor, but I can't find it anymore. Does anyone know when this factory replacement motor was built? The car is a 2002, so it would be newer than that, right? Serial number is M96/22AT65265200. I have no maintenance records for this car.
Thanks in advance.