Found Metal in Oil Filter – What’s Ferrous Besides IMS Bearing?

[Jvarghese]

Just did an oil change after a 3,000-mile interval on my 189k-mile car, and some things caught my attention:

-The oil looked pretty dirty coming out.

-I’m running the LN Engineering spin-on filter adapter.

-After cutting open the filter, I found a few small non-ferrous (aluminum?) bits near the paper.

-More concerning: a noticeable amount of ferrous material in the pleats, which I confirmed with a magnet.

-I saved the filter oil in a bottle and already sent it out for analysis—now just waiting on the results.

Main question:
Besides the IMS bearing, what other components could be shedding ferrous material into the oil at this mileage?
At this mileage if I have to do the IMS what else should I replace while I have engine and transmission out?

Would really appreciate thoughts from anyone who's seen this kind of debris before trying to stay ahead of any major issues.

Thanks! - here are some pictures

[78F350]

"... Besides the IMS bearing, what other components could be shedding ferrous material into the oil at this mileage?..."

Timing chains and crankshaft bearings come to mind as potential sources of ferrous metal.

[Gilles]

Originally Posted by 78F350

"... Timing chains and crankshaft bearings come to mind as potential sources of ferrous metal.

With 189k miles, perhaps be a good idea to check the cam deviations, as it coild be time to replace the chains?

[Homeoboxter]

I think the superficial layer of the bearing material is not really ferrous and comes in flakes. It's more likely that one of the chain pads is worn down and disintegrated and the chain runs on metal grinding ferrous debris into the engine. I'd pull the sump and take a look at what's inside. Checking cam deviations and actual cam angle are also good ideas to confirm, as suggested by Gilles. You can also listen to bearing noise under the IMS, if it's bad, probably should be audible. But most likely the engine needs to come out if you want these fixed...

[Jvarghese]

Really appreciate all the insight—thank you! I’m planning to dive into it this weekend, starting with dropping the sump to see what’s inside.
note: the water contamination you see is from the fact I had it transferred from a water bottle because I didn't have the sample kit at the time.

In the meantime, here are the oil analysis results.