metal in oil after rebuild? or something else? got a pic.

[dirosa]

grenaded my bottom end a month ago, cleaned out everything as best as i could, brought the oil cooler to my machinist to get cleaned, along with machining the crank. re-assembled with new oil pump, bearings, and did 6 oil changes so far. after every oil change, there is something that looks like metal in the oil.

first few oil changes were after 15-30 minutes of idling just to get the oil hot. every time the filter was changed too. so after a week of driving to work and back, oil pressure when hot has not changed (~1.5bar at ~700rpms). i changed the oil, and this is the same shit i have seen the first few oil changes too.

at first glance, the oil in the pan is clean, but once you stir it up with your finger, and shine a light on it, you see what i think is metal. though, it's not as "shiny" as before, i am still scared.

it's a shitty pic cause i was holding the light and trying to focus with my camera. tell me if i'm crazy or what

 

[hvyman]

Looks a little metally. Cut open the filter. Did you do anything with the block?

 

[dirosa]

i sprayed compressed air and brake cleaner throw all the ports i could find, and all through the oil filter passages.

i'm going to cut open the filter probably tomorrow, but even if i find particles in there, how can i identify if it's metal or just "dirt" ? like i know steel is magnetic, but aluminum is not, so how do i know?

 

[MDCmotorsports]

Looks like bearing material to me....

 

[Flateric]

That goldy metallicy sheen is bearing material I am almost sure, which is not what you want to hear I know.

Did you clean the camshaft cores, I don't think just spraying compressed air etc through every port you can find is really gonna cut it for a antiseptic clean motor for a rebuild.

I unfortunately think you will see your oil pressure start to fall of now or soon as the tolerances in the bearings get worse from wear.

One way to be certain here is to take the oil that looks metallicy, put a thinish layer in a plastic pan or plate of some type and out in the sunlight move a powerful magnet around under the plate pressed against it. If you can clearly tell where the magnet is under the plate by seeing the magnetic field move those tiny sheen like particles around you have your answer.

 

[mkiiichip]

Maybe send it to blackstone labs for testing?

 

[dirosa]

yeah, i had a bad feeling it was metal too.

i don't think i can send to blackstone labs as you cannot transport oil across the boarder (i'm in canada).

the magnet think i thought about, and i think i tried the magnet trick, but it didn't work, so i thought maybe it was aluminum. i didn't try the exact method you explained, so i'll give that a shot first.

thanks for the replies...........

and while i'm doing this, any ideas on how to figure out the cause? after 6 oil changes, the amount should be getting smaller, but it is staying the same if not getting bigger. something is obviously causing this, and it is not remnants

 

[Typhoon]

You either need to do an oil analysis or strip the engine. Anything else is guesswork. I will add that I've owned more than one engine that has had used oil come out looking like that and they've lasted a good long time.
If you get an analysis done now and follow it up with another one with the exact same mileage or time in use in a month or so, you will be able to gauge if the issue is getting larger or diminishing.

 

[clutch]

If you are just wanting to verify that it is metal shavings take some of the oil and pour it through a coffee filter. Then get a LED and hit it. The aluminum should put off a shine, and it is probably alot cheaper than sending it to a lab. And you could still do the magnetic idea if it is shavings just to verify that it is steel then that would give a you a good starting point on where to start looking at for any scoring. Just a thought.