Metal flakes in oil

[GTsilber]

Originally Posted by j.fro

Send a sample away for an oil analysis. They'll tell you exactly what's in your oil and add insight. FWIW, I use Blackstone labs.

Just requested a sample kit, will post what the findings are.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Bobiam]

Analysis poo........ Time for a IMS bearing change. I would not drive that car AT ALL until its done.

[GTsilber]

Originally Posted by Bobiam

Analysis poo........ Time for a MS bearing change. I would not drive that car AT ALL until its done.

I have my doubts about driving the car as well - conflicted.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by Bobiam

Analysis poo........ Time for a IMS bearing change. I would not drive that car AT ALL until its done.

The quickest way to destroy a new, and expensive, IMS bearing retrofit is to do it on a car that already has metal circulating in the oil. If this car was in my shop, we would decline to do the retrofit.

[Bobiam]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

The quickest way to destroy a new, and expensive, IMS bearing retrofit is to do it on a car that already has metal circulating in the oil. If this car was in my shop, we would decline to do the retrofit.

So then, what would you suggest to save this engine if those particles are a deteriorating bearing retainer or race????

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by Bobiam

So then, what would you suggest to save this engine if those particles are a deteriorating bearing retainer or race????

You have very few viable options. You could try multiple oil & filter changes (use cheap, light weight non synthetic oil; do not drive the car, just run it in place until warm). After three or four changes, pull the sump cover and open up the last filter; if there is still ferrous metal in there, it is time to pull the engine and either take it apart or replace it. And even if the engine appears to clean out, you are still running a thin risk of retrofitting it.

We have had more than one cars brought to the shop that had metal in the oil and were then flushed and retrofitted with an new IMS by someone else. Unfortunately, none of them survived for very long due to internal damage caused by the circulating metal. I am only aware of a very, very small number of engines that lived for any period of time after being found with metal and an attempt was made to flush them out without taking them apart. The odds are simply not with you.

Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and accept what has happened, and move on from there..

[78F350]

Originally Posted by Bobiam

So then, what would you suggest to save this engine if those particles are a deteriorating bearing retainer or race????

Determine the cause and extent of the problem before dumping many hundreds of dollars on what may or may not be the issue.

Analysis poo........ Time for a IMS bearing change. I would not drive that car AT ALL until its done.

+1 for the stop driving.

-1 for poo.

IMS bearing is not the only thing that can put sparkles in your oil.

The IMS bearing was still decent in the engine I pulled this out of:

But the engine was well beyond repairable.

[78F350]

...and not to be any more of a downer to GTsilber, but read this post. Especially the part after the picture:

Originally Posted by flaps10

...What cracks me up more than a continuous flow of IMS threads are the number of people who wish to have such threads deleted. Let's not talk about ass cancer, so no one will get it. It is as if jamming your head in the sand and refusing to talk about it will make the "myth" go away, or that it will keep the value of your awesome sports car from tanking any more than it already has. If that is the case, then buckle up because these cars now cost more to fix than they are worth (just look at the number of rollers for sale). But take heart because according to the past two issues of Exellence after 30 years of looking up the nostrils of 911 drivers, the 914 is now officially an awesome car and a true Porsche! So there is hope.

Here:

This is the MINIMUM pile of parts you could expect to get away with and reassemble an M96 when an IMS bearing lets go. And I don't mean coming apart and destroying valve timing. My engine ran perfectly and I caught metal in the filter on an oil change. Not even very much metal. My car is a double row IMS, the kind that supposedly don't fail often.

Thanks to a single direct comment from Jake I abandoned plans to replace my IMS and flush the engine. I'm SO glad I followed his advice (never spoken to the man or paid him a dime). I put the past several months of my spare time into getting my car back together with the minimum of damage to my wallet. Honestly I should have spent about $6k more than I did. All I'm getting for my efforts is the 120k mile car I bought, and not a new engine.

When I took my engine apart I found evidence of a previously welded cylinder head (#15), a busted oil ring (not on the list), a spun rod bearing on cylinder six (#5), and of course the IMS (#8). So either my engine is a complete s*** show or these engines have some "flaws". Some of both I suspect.