On a scale of 1 to 10...
 

Boxster is up for yearly maintenance, dumped the oil and coolant today, going to be doing the coolant reservoir / expansion tank, thermostat, water pump and front motor mount. I also just noticed that the secondary oil pump fixture on the drivers side is "sweating" oil a bit, looks like a quick o-ring fixes that. Who know what else I will find :)

So, dumped the oil (sending off a sample to blackstone as well) and inspected the filter. Went through every pleat and found the following:
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1604291048.jpg


http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1604291067.jpg

My best guess from reading is that they are shavings from the chain guides, but I would love to hear what everyone else thinks. Definitely plastic, found no metal. The biggest one is the one in the second shot hanging from my finger.

Judging by what I have read, I am not super worried. (oil analysis results could always change that :P) Engine runs great, no oil consumption, no noises, nice even consistent power. Would love to get everyone's take though from those who have gone through many more filters than I have, on a scale of 1 to 10 how worried should I be? Any recommended action at this point other than monitoring?

Background: 01 S, 53k miles, 3k on yearly oil.

Thank you!

For me that would be a 2 of 10. No immediate concern, but a reminder that eventually the cam adjuster pads will need to be replaced. "Cam Deviation" would be the thing to check, using a Durametric or other high end diagnostic device.

That reminds me that the Boxsters are the only car that I ever check the filters on. We should really cut open check the filters on our Honda/Ford/Audi ...whatever, just to see what 'normal' looks like. I bet that most cars shed as much or more under similar mileage and age.

Thank you!

And I could not agree more, when I think back over all the cars I have owned, Trans-Am, Chevy SS, 240sx, Rx-7's, etc... it never once occurred to me to dissect the filter. Can't imagine what I might have found in the RX-7's! (Makes you wonder if the apex seals chunk off at all and fail quickly or just shave down to nothing...). Every sub-sect of car culture has it's own nuances.. I think i should take this habit on for good. Once you get over the initial shock that the filter is actually doing an important job and things wear down over time, it is just another data point to be more informed.

I echo what 78F350 mentions regarding the cam deviation readings. Last winter in prep for a bunch of maintenance items, I pulled my pan and saw quite a bit of the shavings that you see. My cam deviations weren't horrible, but based on the scope of maintenance I had planned and the ease of doing the pads with the engine out, I decided to just pull the engine and do the pads at the same time along with everything else. I did have a bit of chain slap on start-up.

I ended up doing all the chain guides and tensioners while it was out with new chains, using the newer tensioners. The long guides from the IMS to the cams had very little visible wear while the cam adjuster pads were toast.

Yea, what F350 said.

I agree if we cut open the filters from our non P cars, we would probably find all kinds of stuff in them

My Lexus has a paper filter & there's never anything in it, It has 52 K miles & i sometimes don't change the filter since it's a pain to change it & I change the oil when it darkens which is sooner than the 30k mileage recommendation.

My filters have always been clean...as I hold my breath to take a look.

Thanks all, once i get everything back together I will check out the cam deviation readings. I believe my foxwell can do that, but will see. If not, might have to find a windows machine and invest in a Durametric.

My filters have some very small little chips like that 1 or 2 every 3-4 K oil change and my cam numbers are 3.3 and 8.2 or something very close to that, I have pretty bad chain rattle at start up unless I bump start it then very little noise if any,..So I'am sure Ill be doing this in the future I'am at almost 90 K miles on a 02' 2.7 5 spd