ok...when I sopped up the oil from the valley...I see gray matter......but it looks brown in lower light.... and it reflects light like metal but it's not clear if it's pieces of metal.... Whatever it is, I think it's coming from what has been caked up everywhere....but I really can't tell. When there's a little bit of oil with it, it looks more gray..... but by itself...idk...can built up carbon break down like this??? I mean I just started using synthetic oil and rislone a few hundred miles ago....I actually do see a few random bits of what looks to be shiny metal in the video ...
I can handle bad news... whatever this stuff is, it's floating around and getting places for sure....it's obviously heavy enough to settle in sitting oil....
I did find literally like 5 super small specs of shiny material in my oil filter material after looking again earlier today....here's the bigger looking one in the photo......filter only has maybe 40 miles on it if that.....but there are definitely some shiny bits I found... But can count on my hand....filter could even have shed....but idk...
I don't remember seeing this kind of stuff when I did the intake gaskets a few weeks ago...But I was in a different mindset and maybe wasn't paying attention??
Here's a video...
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A small strong magnet can be really helpful in figuring out what is being deposited
inside your engine. IF the debris is attracted to the magnet then it's ferrous, hard,
and I'd be looking carefully at the cam lobes, lifter rollers, etc.
On the other hand, if the grayish mud is NOT attracted to the magnet, then this is
non-ferrous metals, probably from the cam, crank, or connecting rod bearings.
Of course no engine is perfectly clean inside. Even if there's no bearing or valvetrain
wear, power stroke blowby past the piston rings means that carbon from the combustion
process is deposited everywhere. As well as humidity turned into steam, past the rings
and reconstituted as water in your oil. (Which is one of the reasons why running too
low temp thermostat is bad for your engine.)
You want your coolant at 195°, but ideally your engine oil is at or above 212°F, so that this
acidic moisture in your oil is boiled out and sucked up by the PCV valve. (!)
****
In English, on a high mileage engine there will be debris from wear and combustion byproducts
to see. I've seen both pristine internals from fastidious car/boat owners as well as heavily
sludged up motors from lack of oil changes. I think you mentioned that your oil pressure is still
good, so right now we need to see if the debris is just carbon build up (non-magnetic) or if the
shiny bits are attracted to a passing magnet.
Let us know what you find. Fingers crossed the cam lobes are good, the roller rockers
pass a visual and still spin with no bad spots, and you can proceed with your project.
