Metal shavings on dipstick, any harm done? (Mostly concerned about oil pump)

Joined
Jun 30, 2022
Messages
15
I have a new 2022 4Runner with 500 miles on it. I decided to change the oil at 500 miles to help get rid of any debris from the engine breaking in. When I went to check the level of the oil after refilling it, I noticed there were some metal shavings on the tip of the dip stick. After fooling around with it and inserting it and removing it, I concluded that the dip stick was scraping the inside of the dipstick tube as it was snaking it’s way through it. I took some 2000 grit sand paper and smoothed the edges of the tip of the dipstick and now it inserts much smoother and got rid of the metal shavings I was seeing.

My question is could the shavings from the inside of the dipstick tube cause any harm to my engine? It took me a few tries of inserting and removing the dipstick to figure out what was happening so I’m sure I got some of the small metal shavings into the oil pan. I’m assuming the pick up tube strainer would catch anything too large and the oil filter would catch the rest however what about the oil pump? My understanding of the 1gr-fe is that the oil flows through the oil pump prior to the oil filter. Can oil pumps tolerate small metal debris in the oil?

These pictures aren’t mine but they look almost identical to the metal shavings I was getting on the tip of my dip stick.
0B08D4B6-142C-4085-B093-373D50F2BC6D.jpeg


4DE5EB41-DE38-4D9D-AD98-25EEC2B97985.jpeg
 
No. Too small to clog the pickup screen, too few and too soft to do anything significant to the oil pump gears, and will be caught in the filter before the oil passes on to the bearings and cams etc.
Thanks for the feedback, I was mostly concerned about the oil pump but it seems like they can handle some debris. I imagine the engineers who designed the engine would have taken that into account and chose the pick up tube strainer size appropriately so that the oil pump wouldn’t be damaged if any debris got to it.
 
I don't think it hurt anything but I am surprised to see this on a new vehicle. It makes a person wonder how many other shavings are inside the engine. It's good you changed the oil right away.
 
No. Too small to clog the pickup screen, too few and too soft to do anything significant to the oil pump gears, and will be caught in the filter before the oil passes on to the bearings and cams etc.
Unless the filter is in bypass.
 
I don't think it hurt anything but I am surprised to see this on a new vehicle. It makes a person wonder how many other shavings are inside the engine. It's good you changed the oil right away.
I was surprised at how many metal flakes were in the filter. My 4Runner has a filter element inside a housing and the bottom of the housing had flakes in it and when I tore apart the filter, there were about a half dozen small flakes in each flap of the filter. I know that’s to be expected with a new engine breaking in but Toyota says the first oil change is at 10k miles and I can’t imagine running it that long like that. It was well worth the 50 dollars and afternoon.
 
.
Obviously Toyota invented a magnetic dip stick. :p

That said the oil pump is my least concern. Toyota's
manufacturing has been more advanced in the past.
.
 
My Focus had metal shavings on the dipstick and in the oil on the first oil change.

Typical of any Ford I've ever owned, it succumbed to rust before anything actually wore out.
 
My Focus had metal shavings on the dipstick and in the oil on the first oil change.

Typical of any Ford I've ever owned, it succumbed to rust before anything actually wore out.
Thanks for the feedback! I didn’t have any metal shavings on the dipstick that was coming from the break in process but if your focus did and it never gave you and problems then I’ll probably be fine with the few small slivers that may have gotten into my oil pan from the dipstick tube.
 
Back
Top