Metal Flakes Found in Oil Filter

[ubii]

Originally Posted by WhipE350

Interesting! That is pitted for sure. You have pics of the bearing itself to see why it might have caused that pitting?

Yes, there are photos of the exterior and interior of the IMS bearing (which I completely disassembled) in the photo album below.

https://picasaweb.google.com/111981285973242271059/986?authuser=0&feat=directlink

The shop thought that the pitting may have been caused by excessive moisture in the engine due to infrequent oil changes made by the previous owners. No pitting was seen on the IMS bearing nor on any other internal engine component, only the inside surface of the IMS flange. The exterior of the IMS bearing did show a bit of wear, which may have been caused by it loosing its press fit, as explained in one of my previous posts. Other than that, the bearing appeared to be in pretty decent shape, though it was fairly difficult to turn by hand.