When to be worried with metal shavings in oil?

[BigBucksHunter]

Switched to a magnetic tip oil drain plug last year. Don't have a ton of miles on it (only 7.8k on the car, 2020 Bullitt and 4 HPDE days. Stock engine). First time pulling the plug and this is what I got for metal shavings.

Edit: checked and magnetic plug installed late last year. Barely any miles on the car with it installed so whatever shavings it caught were already in there.

This type of plug has a drain key so all the oil flows past the magnetic tip while draining. I'm thinking this is fine and I'm just collecting what had been sitting in the pan but don't want to mess around.

I don't beat on the car and haven't noticed any performance issues.

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[80FoxCoupe]

I wouldn't worry about it yet. Document and monitor the next few oil changes.

 

[Oakley]

if this is the first oil change after using the fancy plug it could've just picked up stuff that was in the pan that wasn't getting sucked into the filter. if it keeps happening or gets worse maybe then i'd let the dealer know.

 

[Cobra Jet]

The only other way to determine if there is something else going on internally aside from bore scoping the cylinders or popping the block open and looking at bearings and cam/crank journals would be to cut open the oil filter. After the filter has been cut open, carefully unravel the pleated material and see what's trapped in it.

See this thread:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...cut-open-your-oil-filter.142181/#post-2915241

 

[BlackandBlue]

Send oil off for analysis.

If you have abnormal wear going on it will show up. 30 bucks and a whole lot more piece of mind.

 

[GregO]

Switched to a magnetic tip oil drain plug last year. Don't have a ton of miles on it (only 7.8k on the car, 2020 Bullitt and 4 HPDE days. Stock engine). First time pulling the plug and this is what I got for metal shavings.

That’s not bad for a just broke-in motor !
How many oil changes have been done in that 7,800 miles ?
Not to turn this into another oil thread but what oil weight are you using ?

 

[BigBucksHunter]

That’s not bad for a just broke-in motor ?
How many oil changes have been done in that 7,800 miles ?
Not to turn this into another oil thread but what oil weight are you using ?

This is my 4th oil change. Bought car used with a few hundred miles. Got the 1k mile done by Ford. Did the others myself.

5w 20 synthetic first season I had the car, then 5w 30 synthetic blend last season, and just switched to 5w 40 full synthetic. The 3rd oil change I did right before winter storage so barely put any miles. Just wanted to go with a heavier weight oil for track days this year.

 

[VictorH]

If that's the fourth oil change and you've had the magnetic drain plug in for the past year, I don't think that's good at all.
Are you still under warranty? If yes, I'd bet Ford will wait until something really bad happens. Not sure what you can do at this point though, other than continued monitoring.

 

[GregO]

If that's the fourth oil change and you've had the magnetic drain plug in for the past year, I don't think that's good at all.

It’s not bad.
Being the motor only has 7,800 miles it’s still shedding metal from the burnishing process.

 

[BigBucksHunter]

If that's the fourth oil change and you've had the magnetic drain plug in for the past year, I don't think that's good at all.
Are you still under warranty? If yes, I'd bet Ford will wait until something really bad happens. Not sure what you can do at this point though, other than continued monitoring.

Can confirm metal plug was installed in October 2022 basically right before winterization so barely any miles on it with that plug. What I pulled out was already in there.

 

[GregO]

Can confirm metal plug was installed in October 2022 basically right before winterization so barely any miles on it with that plug. What I pulled out was already in there.

Have you considered adding an additional oil filter magnet like Filter Mag ?

 

[BigBucksHunter]

Have you considered adding an additional oil filter magnet like Filter Mag ?

Did not realize these exist! Seems like cheap insurance so will probably pick one up. Thanks!

Also going to cut open my old oil filter today or tomorrow. That should give a better picture.

 

[GregO]

Also going to cut open my old oil filter today or tomorrow. That should give a better picture.

You’re going to find metallic fines between the pleats at your low mileage whether the oil was change once or 4+ times in that 7,800 miles. It takes awhile for the burnishing to plateau especially with those extra long cam chains.

 

[BigBucksHunter]

Thanks for the insight. Just want to know for my own benefit. Had a minute of panic when I shined a light on the plug though!

Changed the trans fluid to Syncro Shift II at the same time. Still have the old fluid. Thinking about dragging a magnet through it to see what I pick up there too.

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