Metal flakes in oil ! Is my engine grenading itself ?

[WyrTwister]

At least until the cause is found . I cringe at the thought of those metal particles floating around in the oil . Still wonder what ends up trapped in the oil filter .

Wonder if it is bearing white metal of from an aluminum component grinding down ?

 

[spasm3]

If the dealer is doing mityvac type oil changes, i could see this. I had small non magnetic particles in my mazdas oil at the 250 mile mark. None since. I think i may have been some type of bearing overlay coating.
If the drain plug had never been removed, those particles would sit on the bottom of the pan until you drained it.

 

[OM605]

Originally Posted by spasm3
If the dealer is doing mityvac type oil changes, i could see this. I had small non magnetic particles in my mazdas oil at the 250 mile mark. None since. I think i may have been some type of bearing overlay coating.
If the drain plug had never been removed, those particles would sit on the bottom of the pan until you drained it.

This is still the theory that makes the most sense to me. After all, oil wasn't glittery or anything, just a few things the size of a grain of sand mixed with black sludge/deposits. I have to add that the engine is probably the cleanest i ever seen, not a trace of varnish or even coloration anywhere under the valve cover with 8-10K OCI with syn 5W-40. Pistons are almost free of any carbon build up thanks to E85.

 

[OM605]

I think i found someting unexpected and it has to do with the time i didn't properly put the oil cap back on. One of the metal tabs of the cap scraped off some paint and a little bit of metal off the valve cover and it ended up in the oil. I looked at the oil cap and it has a bunch of those paint/metal particles on one tab. Exactly what came out with the oil.