Found metal glitter in my oil. (1 Viewer)

[Thechavezshow]

I have a 91 LC.
this morning while doing an oil change. I found metal glitter at the bottom of my oil tray.

Been told I need to remove the engine to find the problem.

My question is can I remove just the engine or do I need to remove the engine and tranmission.?

Any advice will help me alot. Thank you

 

[Kernal]

How is the oil pressure?
Any noises (new) from the engine?
How is the engine running?
Any work done on the engine?
What viscosity engine oil are you running?
Do you have a photo of the glitter?
Have you dropped the oil pan to look?

One option to start, collect a sample of used engine oil and send it out for an Engine Oil Analysis (EOA); the report will discuss the level of wear metals they may find.

Standard Oil Analysis | Blackstone Laboratories

Learn about the standard analysis, the baseline testing we do on most samples. The standard analysis is all most people need to answer their questions.

www.blackstone-labs.com

 

[jfz80]

A lot of steps I’d take before pulling the motor.

If you have the old oil you could send an analysis to black stone to see what metals ans or other materials present.

Run a magnet over debris to see if ferrous or not.

How is general health and performance of engine otherwise ?

 

[Thechavezshow]

How is the oil pressure?
Any noises (new) from the engine?
How is the engine running?
Any work done on the engine?
What viscosity engine oil are you running?
Do you have a photo of the glitter?
Have you dropped the oil pan to look?

One option to start, collect a sample of used engine oil and send it out for an Engine Oil Analysis (EOA); the report will discuss the level of wear metals they may find.

Standard Oil Analysis | Blackstone Laboratories

Learn about the standard analysis, the baseline testing we do on most samples. The standard analysis is all most people need to answer their questions.

www.blackstone-labs.com

The oil pressure is normal. Ever since I bought the vehicle September last year. But The oil pressure does go down ¹/⁴ when I'm in park or stop at a red light. But when I start driving it goes back to half way point.

I'm running 10w-40

I try take a photo but you can't see any thing. Even with an close-up. The glitter metel is that small.

No I haven't drop the pan but I will do it next weekend. Update you

The engine has 210,000 miles on it the last owner didn't really take care of the LC this is the 3rd oil change I did.

Thanks for your time. I will get an sample

 

[Thechavezshow]

A lot of steps I’d take before pulling the motor.

If you have the old oil you could send an analysis to black stone to see what metals ans or other materials present.

Run a magnet over debris to see if ferrous or not.

How is general health and performance of engine otherwise ?thanks I'm going to get a sample

A lot of steps I’d take before pulling the motor.

If you have the old oil you could send an analysis to black stone to see what metals ans or other materials present.

Run a magnet over debris to see if ferrous or not.

How is general health and performance of engine otherwise ?

Right I'm getting a sample now.

The engine still driving fine no new noises or sound, performance is all good.

I did the magnet test. Nothing stick on

 

[Kernal]

What oil filter have you been using? Toyota filters are generally considered the safest.

 

[Thechavezshow]

Mobile 1 oil filter.

 

[BILT4ME]

Mobile 1 oil filter.

How many miles on this oil change?

If you know the PO did not take good care of this engine, it's very likely you are washing out years of crud build up in the engine and it is getting heat cycled frequently.

If what I see in the pic is just the grayish color of the oil, I would say you're washing out old stuff.

The other stuff in that pic that looks like grains of sand look like dirt in your oil pan to me, but I don't have a reference point for what I can see. I like to swish around the oil to see if it catches the light, if there are significant glitter flakes, or if it just has a silver hue to it.

I sure as hell would not pull the engine based on that oil sample.

Make sure to pull an oil sample while the oil is draining and use a CLEAN container. Don't dip it out of your dirty oil pan.

Blackstone will send you free containers to use.

 

[JoeCova]

The vast majority of “glitter” will be caught in the oil filter. Next time you change the oil, use an oil filter cutter and check out what’s inside, be sure when you remove it from the engine to keep the oil in it.