Sparkles in oil ??

[djdino]

Hi all, have been racing a WRX with forged 2L and using Mobil 1 15W50 syn, I live in Perth Western Australia so regularly see 40+ days in summer. During the 2nd last oil change (2-3 track day) my oil had a sparkle to it, tiny and could only be seen in bright sunlight or under halogen spotlight, cut open oil filter and couldn't see any large metal particles, have changed oil today and can see the same.

If people are using this oil have they seen this also ? I was going to use this or Mobil Delvac MX 15W40 as a Subaru guru (builds EJ20 race motors) over here swears by it (Delvac).

 

[crinkles]

i did a change on new car once and there was a metallic sheen to the top of the oil like you describe. could have been break in on the new motor. haven't seen it on other oil changes since.

 

[djdino]

Yes it does look like a metallic sheen, the best thing is to test the oil which I will do I was just wondering if I should change oils in the meantime, is the 15W50 a good oil ?others here use Castrol 10W60 edge but I thought this was too thick being a 60 weight.

 

[crinkles]

i believe M1 15w-50 is a good oil, for interest sake, what does the WRX manual recommend for oil?

 

[djdino]

I believe they specify a 5W40 for street and a 10W60 for race applications, although this would change depending on variable cams etc, my motors been rebuilt with forged pistons, eagle rods, ACL bearings etc so haven't really looked in the owners manual for a while.

 

[river_rat]

I'm told that some sparkes and silvery swirlys are "permissible" for ~1500 miles on a new or rebuilt engine. But not after.

 

[paul246]

Get a UOA done on a sample instead of guessing.

 

[djdino]

Originally Posted By: paul246
Get a UOA done on a sample instead of guessing.


Will be having the oil tested, though in the mean time should I be using the 15W50 or changing to the Delvac 15W40 ?

 

[BuickGN]

Originally Posted By: paul246
Get a UOA done on a sample instead of guessing.


In my experience when the particles are big enough to be seen (the sparkles), they won't show up in a UOA. I had an engine shedding a ton of metal, oil was sparkly, and UOAs came back ok yet the engine was completely worn in 10,000 miles when I tore it down.

 

[djdino]

Originally Posted By: BuickGN
Originally Posted By: paul246
Get a UOA done on a sample instead of guessing.


In my experience when the particles are big enough to be seen (the sparkles), they won't show up in a UOA. I had an engine shedding a ton of metal, oil was sparkly, and UOAs came back ok yet the engine was completely worn in 10,000 miles when I tore it down.


I am definitely learning from reading this forum when it comes to oils etc, I always assumed my engine being forged and pushed quite hard would wear more so than a road going EJ20, I will run some Mobil 1 Delvac MX 15W40 (semi) and test both samples.

 

[hooligan24]

I have had sparkles in my oil after some roadcourse use, but the UOA came back good. It did have a high lead count(160), but Blackstone said it was from the leaded racegas I was using at the track. Will the leaded fuel that made it into the oil make the oil have sparkles in it? I guess what I am asking is, was the spakles I was seeing actually the racegas?

 

[djdino]

OK going in to Mobil head office tomorrow to take in a sample as they are interested in the "sparkles" will run the 15W50 for a few events and test that as well.

 

[BuickGN]

Originally Posted By: hooligan24
I have had sparkles in my oil after some roadcourse use, but the UOA came back good. It did have a high lead count(160), but Blackstone said it was from the leaded racegas I was using at the track. Will the leaded fuel that made it into the oil make the oil have sparkles in it? I guess what I am asking is, was the spakles I was seeing actually the racegas?


I used to run my car solely on Av gas which has much more lead than leaded race gas. When the engine was sound, no sparkles whatsoever.

 

[vxcalais]

Originally Posted By: djdino
Originally Posted By: BuickGN
Originally Posted By: paul246
Get a UOA done on a sample instead of guessing.


In my experience when the particles are big enough to be seen (the sparkles), they won't show up in a UOA. I had an engine shedding a ton of metal, oil was sparkly, and UOAs came back ok yet the engine was completely worn in 10,000 miles when I tore it down.


I am definitely learning from reading this forum when it comes to oils etc, I always assumed my engine being forged and pushed quite hard would wear more so than a road going EJ20, I will run some Mobil 1 Delvac MX 15W40 (semi) and test both samples.


Use Repco Diesel 15w40 as all it is rebottled Mobil Delvax MX for $10 less.

 

[hooligan24]

I sent blackstone an email about how I had a good UOA(except for 160 lead count) but I could see sparkles on the dipstick. He mentioned that I might have been seeing the lead from the racefuel if it looked like gray particles. He said it wont have a sparkle to it, but if the count is high enough and the oil is clear enough, I should be able to see it. When I think back about it, I remember the gray particles not having a sparkle to them, and I also had them covering the baffle inside the fill hole. It made the baffle look dirty, which sparked me to try a run of A-Rx

BuickGN- have you ever noticed gray particles?

EDIT: he also mentioned that "If you can see the metal with the naked eye, then
it will be too big for our machine to read."

 

[tdi-rick]

Originally Posted By: BuickGN
Originally Posted By: paul246
Get a UOA done on a sample instead of guessing.


In my experience when the particles are big enough to be seen (the sparkles), they won't show up in a UOA. I had an engine shedding a ton of metal, oil was sparkly, and UOAs came back ok yet the engine was completely worn in 10,000 miles when I tore it down.


Most all the labs here do a PQ Index test (total number of particles in sample, irrespective of size)
This will show up a component failure that may be missed on Fe/Pb/Al/Cu, ets #'s if you pay attention to it.

 

[hooligan24]

Quote:
However, when you have big chunks of metal, you usually have small chunks as well and what's what we can see


this was the response from Ryan from Blackstone

 

[Dick in Falls Church]

Many years ago, one of the SCCA racers at Summit Point WV commented that his drain oil sparkled like Candy Apple paint.
After changing to AMSOIL 20W-50, the sparkle wasn't there any more.

Yep, maybe he wore his engine to the point it wouldn't wear any more. Then again, maybe not.

 

[dickwells]

Does this engine have a timing chain? Do you have a magnetic drain plug? If not, get one.