Metal specs in oil filter
 

Hello,

I found some magnetic metal in my oil filter today when performing an oil change. The flakes are all paper thin. The oil didn't appear to have metal in it. I'm not sure what this is and will be sending an oil sample to blackstone labs for analysis. Does anyone have any ideas on what it might be?



This is a '97 boxster 2.5 with 52k miles. I had an LN IMS bearing replacement performed last year by a certified installer. The removed IMS bearing was in perfect condition. I perform oil changes every 5k or 6 months. This is the first time I noticed metal in the filter. the metal is pretty uniform in shape and size - small flakes, not granules. Car is never driven hard, just leisurely.


Thank you,
Collin

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1722018779.jpg

i have been doing a lot of reading recently on the LN site and other sources. many seem to think that if you can see visible metai like what you are seeing on the filter it is already toast and engine is disintegrating and needs a tear down.
Im not sure if this is true , but if i saw it in my oil I would just keep driving it till it exploded or trade it in .

If the specs in the filter are nonferrous (not attracted to a magnet) and small in total number, I would not be concerned. These engines are predominantly one or more aluminum alloys, and flakes of that material will show up in small but regular amounts in the filter. If the flakes were ferrous in nature, I would be more concerned.

I would use a magnet to see if there is any ferrous metal in the oil. Get a strong magnet and rub it all over where the flakes are. Then I would just wait to hear what the oil analysis says. I change the oil in my Cessna 150 every 25 hours and always run a small diameter magnet between the folds of the filter.

Cheers, Elliot

so in a somewhat related question .... would the IMS bearing starting to degrade be ferrous or nonferrous ? and it is distinguishable from bearing merial ?

I will be doing same exercise as OP in the coming weeks.

The IMS is predominantly ferrous.

There are non-ferrous bushings but not many non-ferrous bearings.

The PO stated in the post that it's magnetic. If the engine runs otherwise perfectly I would suspect that some fine grain steel metal flakes from the IMS and the bearing/snap ring got into the sump during the extraction and then got stuck on the filter material. I'd watch if they accumulate at the next oil change.

Its pretty rare for a 97 IMS bearing to take a crap.

I dont think your filter looks all that bad as far as particles go. That's what the filter is for.
That said, let us know how the magnet test goes.