Debris in Oil after oil change, any diagnosis?
 

I've only owned this Box for two months. This is the first Oil change I've done to her. I had a PPI done and it came back normal.

When I changed the oil, I noticed quite a few particles in the oil. None were magnetic, some seemed like sludge balls, only a few seemed to be spongy.

I'll take apart the oil filter tomorrow to investigate further.

Anyone seen this in their oil before any type of failure?
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1488074157.jpg

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1488074175.jpg

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1488074194.jpg

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1488074213.jpg

You may want to remove oil sump plate to investigate further
Is this material posable the oil filter cartridge paper breaking down
Definitely open up the filter to see what is trapped in there
Typically you get plastics fron chain ramps

That is certainly a lot more particles that you'd expect to find in an oil change.

Try to figure out what material the particles are made of - plastic, rubber, non-metalic metal. Hard plastic bits are usually from the timing chain tensioners/ramps. Rubbery yellow/brown bits are usually left over engine sealant and are normal and not a worry. Any metal bits should be investigated.

Post up pic's of the oil filer.

One of the problems is that its probably impossible to know when the last oil change was done. I would not rely on what the previous owner said unless he also provided a receipt. He wouldn't be the first used car seller to say that the oil was "just changed last month" when it was really two years and 15,000 miles ago. :)

If you have the time, you could drop the sump and see what's in there but if you don't have the time or inclination (and assuming the oil filer looks ok), I'd change the oil and drive it for a few months and then change the oil again to see if these results repeat.

Insert your longest finger into the hole where the oil filter mounts to clean out anything lodged in there. Metal is not good especially if it's magnetic iron based

Always a good idea to finger your sump ;)

Hmm, I don't get it. The Oil filter looked really clean. I hardly saw any bits or flakes of any kind on either side of the filter????

Whats non-metallic metal? :)

I was wondering that too. He probably meant magnetic.

Yes I feel certain he did. :confused:

When you had the PPI done - did they not drop the sump and inspect? From what I know, that's a pretty important piece of a PPI on these cars. Gotta make sure no metal in the sump or filter.....
What exactly did they do for the PPI?

Dropping the sump would mean an oil change which would add to the cost and be a freebie for the seller if you should decline the purchase for whatever reason. . You can inspect the pleats in the filter without draining the oil.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_sludge

If your car was turbo charged it could have also been the coking of the oil burning the oil.

In our cars: maybe bad Air Oil seperator? Or bad oil quality? My 240sx used to this everytime untill I changed from partial synthetic to full.

Yes, I did mean "magnetic". I installed a new LN Engineering Billet magnetic drain plug. From what I know, the PPI did not drop the oil sump and do an inspection. I Don't think the PPI checked the LMS.

Good point and worth doing in a PPI. I doubt it would be standard procedure though.

It is rare (never say never, but so rare its almost never) for a PPI to include any type of 'invasive" work on a car so dropping the oil sump wouldn't typically be included in a PPI.


Inspecting the oil filter during a PPI can be done fairly simply without having to drain the oil and what small amount of oil is lost could be topped up. However, the potential buyer and the shop would need to get the owners approval before doing such work.

Given that the main purpose of a PPI is to make sure you don't need an $18k engine next week, a PPI that doesn't involve seeing that filter cut open and the pan being dropped is largely a waste of money (assuming you can crawl under a car and understand what you're looking at to begin with).

Er, "In my opinion".

Other than the engine, the boxster is about as simple a car as you can buy. Engine, engine, engine.

Nothing else on the car would be as big a deal breaker than bits of any foreign material.

I had a PPI done on a Cayman and they didn't even check the air filter (which was quite dirty) let alone the cut the oil filter open. I advised them that they might drum up a little business by checking these things but they seemed concerned about doing anything invasive. Seemed odd to me. It pays to ask questions.

The oil flows from the outside to the inside of the pleats. You don't need to cut it open. One can easily spread the pleats to see if there is any foreign material. Oil loss in minimal, hell you can even pour it back in if you like.