Flakes in the oil filter

[The Rooster]

Hello all. Getting my gt350 ready for the spring and decided to cut the oil filter open. Found some flakes, mostly very fine but there’s a few bigger ones I did a search and it seems like this is considered normal for a first oil change… my car has just under 10000kms /6000 miles and this is the second or third change (I bought it with around 7000kms, I know it was at least changed once)
Thoughts on this? Normal or should I be worried?
Thx

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[DCShelby]

Normal. Want scary? Open up a filter from the first oil change on a KTM or Ducati…..

 

[nustang]

first oil change? I'd be relieved the filter is doing what it should. More concerning would be a ton of sparkles in it several changes later.

 

[DougS550]

Hello all. Getting my gt350 ready for the spring and decided to cut the oil filter open. Found some flakes, mostly very fine but there’s a few bigger ones I did a search and it seems like this is considered normal for a first oil change… my car has just under 10000kms /6000 miles and this is the second or third change (I bought it with around 7000kms, I know it was at least changed once)
Thoughts on this? Normal or should I be worried?
Thx

Always send an oil sample to get an analysis done. You can also send your filter. This will tell you everything you want to know about internal engine wear. Good Luck

 

[JAJ]

Hello all. Getting my gt350 ready for the spring and decided to cut the oil filter open. Found some flakes, mostly very fine but there’s a few bigger ones I did a search and it seems like this is considered normal for a first oil change… my car has just under 10000kms /6000 miles and this is the second or third change (I bought it with around 7000kms, I know it was at least changed once)
Thoughts on this? Normal or should I be worried?
Thx

Next time you change the oil, while the plug is out, stick one of those magnets-on-a-stick through the drain plug hole and slide it around the bottom of the oil pan. If there are big chunks of iron-based stuff, like chips off valve springs or whatever, that's where they'll be.

As for worrying, it might be a great cure for boredom, but it won't help. Thing is, even if there is a problem, and even if you have an extended warranty, you won't get a repair or a new engine until the current one actually fails. It's like our healthcare system - it's purely break-fix - no symptoms, no service.

EDIT: On the oil sample thing, I use the Finning Cat lab in Edmonton. They do good work and you get more useful data in the report than Blackstone delivers.

 

[The Rooster]

Thanks for the reply’s. This is the first time I’ve ever looked inside a filter so I didn’t know what to expect. Like I said I’m guessing this is the second-third oil change. I know it was done at least once because the filter had been off before I got to it.
At the risk of sounding like a newb…What are these flakes?
Warranty is up so that’s off the table, (plus the whipple cancels that anyway)… if this was a concern I’d just want to get ahead of it before a catastrophic failure.

here’s a better pic of the fine stuff after the oil drained out of the element.

 

[Bulldog9]

I've been cutting filters open for years, and have had many vehicles with cartridges. I always check in the pleats and have never seen anything like this. I have no idea what is/is not 'normal on the S550 Voodoo or Coyote. Definitely doing this at next change. I thought the Voodoo motor had a cartridge or is that just the GT500?

 

[DougS550]

I've been cutting filters open for years, and have had many vehicles with cartridges. I always check in the pleats and have never seen anything like this. I have no idea what is/is not 'normal on the S550 Voodoo or Coyote. Definitely doing this at next change. I thought the Voodoo motor had a cartridge or is that just the GT500?

That might be dirt particles from when they assemble the engine. The oil analysis will tell you more. Good Luck

 

[The Rooster]

It’s a cartridge. 15-16 had the spin on can filter.

 

[JAJ]

Thanks for the reply’s. This is the first time I’ve ever looked inside a filter so I didn’t know what to expect. Like I said I’m guessing this is the second-third oil change. I know it was done at least once because the filter had been off before I got to it.
At the risk of sounding like a newb…What are these flakes?
Warranty is up so that’s off the table, (plus the whipple cancels that anyway)… if this was a concern I’d just want to get ahead of it before a catastrophic failure.

here’s a better pic of the fine stuff after the oil drained out of the element.

Two things:

First, a used oil analysis is more about the oil condition than about the engine condition. I use it to make sure my oil drain intervals aren't too long. The UOA process only "sees" particles in a very small micron range - the limit, according to the experts on BITOG, can be as high as 20 microns or as low as 5 microns. It depends on the machine. The key point is that the biggest particle a UOA detects is way smaller than an oil filter will catch, so what you're seeing in the filter won't show up on a UOA report. Or, putting it in practical terms, if your engine is throwing chunks of metal into the oil, a UOA probably won't detect it.

Second, after about 2,000 km of driving, change the oil filter and see what kind of stuff is in it. The oil will be fine, so it won't need changing. If the stuff in this filter is left over from manufacturing, then there'll be less in the new one. If there's more, then it's time to worry.

 

[Tomster]

This is the reason I do my break in oil change at 500 to 1000 miles. Send a sample off to blackstone labs if you are concerned next time you change the oil.

 

[The Rooster]

Two things:

First, a used oil analysis is more about the oil condition than about the engine condition. I use it to make sure my oil drain intervals aren't too long. The UOA process only "sees" particles in a very small micron range - the limit, according to the experts on BITOG, can be as high as 20 microns or as low as 5 microns. It depends on the machine. The key point is that the biggest particle a UOA detects is way smaller than an oil filter will catch, so what you're seeing in the filter won't show up on a UOA report. Or, putting it in practical terms, if your engine is throwing chunks of metal into the oil, a UOA probably won't detect it.

Second, after about 2,000 km of driving, change the oil filter and see what kind of stuff is in it. The oil will be fine, so it won't need changing. If the stuff in this filter is left over from manufacturing, then there'll be less in the new one. If there's more, then it's time to worry.

I can’t see it being left over from manufacturing since it’s been changed before, although I don’t know when.

 

[JAJ]

I can’t see it being left over from manufacturing since it’s been changed before, although I don’t know when.

Trust me, the first time was much worse than what you have. It takes a while. My experience of Fords, which isn't vast but it's maybe a half-dozen new engines, is that the oil itself comes out with sparkles for about the first 15,000 to 20,000 km if you hold the drain pan in the sun after you've emptied it into the recycling jug. So, you're part way there, but not likely all the way.

 

[Bulldog9]

A magnetic drain plug is also a good idea. Won't capture everything but will give you a good idea of what's floating around. I replaced the yellow plastic drainplug with the metal plug with a magnet when I did the 1000 mile oil change.

 

[The Rooster]

Trust me, the first time was much worse than what you have. It takes a while. My experience of Fords, which isn't vast but it's maybe a half-dozen new engines, is that the oil itself comes out with sparkles for about the first 15,000 to 20,000 km if you hold the drain pan in the sun after you've emptied it into the recycling jug. So, you're part way there, but not likely all the way.

that’s what I was hoping to hear. So what are we looking at?.. piston, rings? I can’t imagine it would be bearing material…

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