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Went to the Charles Navarro seminar today and it was very very informative. Charles is very knowledgeable on the subject and a great guy to talk to. He gave a presentation on oils, decoding the API ratings for different grades of oils and what is appropriate for what application. Then he talked about the various failures of the M96 and M97 engines and what can be done about them. And IMA Motorsport where the seminar was hosted was very impressive. The owner, Ivan, was pretty cool and he has a great staff and they had some amazing cars in the shop. They had a sick DP race car and several twin turbo projects. They've got some really talented fabricators and the shop is super clean. Very professional.
I showed Charles the bits I found in my oil filter and he identified the "tan rubbery piece" as a Porsche sealant excess that worked loose. I think he called it Drybond or something like that. The glassy brown bits were most likely polyamide from the Vario Cam tensioner guides. The tensioner actuates at ~2400 rpm and not in a smooth action, more like a sudden on or off action. Plus the heat really affects the polymer over the years. From the size and amount of bits in the filter now, it's not cause for much concern now, but recommended I keep a close eye on how much I collect in the oil filter. I didn't have any metal in the filter but I'll be getting the magnetic drain plug to monitor any other unwanted wear.
If a seminar like this is scheduled for your area, I highly recommend it. I was surprised the entire Potomac PCA didn't show up.
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