Taking care of your car engine is priority one. You get regular oil changes and make sure you never stress the vehicle beyond what it was built for.
So, seeing metal in the oil can be alarming. How much metal is normal and what do you do if you see it?
In this guide, I will cover the normal metal amount in the oil and explain how this happens.
I will also look at the types of metal you could see and show you what to do about it. The bottom line is that metal in the oil is never good news.
How Much Metal in Oil is Normal?
While a small amount of microscopic metal particles from regular wear is expected, shavings in used engine oil indicate significant engine fatige.
Microscopic “glitter” metal particles are normal, but not larger metal particles or “shavings” that you can feel or see with your eyes. An oil analysis can provide ppm amounts of each metal to quantify how healthy the engine is.
It’s not unusual for engine oil to have small amounts of metal shavings from time to time, however it should be impossible to see with your eye. If you are even slightly able to see that there are any metal shavings in the oil, it should signal something alarming is happening with the engine.
If you are concerned about tiny metal particles, you can take a magnet and lightly pass it over the engine oil that has been drained from your engine. Further, cut open the engine oil filter and pour the oil inside it into a clean pan.
To assess how much metal has been collected in the oil, you will want to drain the engine oil while it is noticeably clean. If you wait for it to be dark black to perform this visual inspection, it makes it much more difficult to assess the total amount present in the oil.
At the 10,000 mile mark for engine oil changes, it is not uncommon to see some particles enter the oil from engine wear as it breaks in. After the engine has been broken in, if you have shavings showing up at the next engine service, you should be much more worried about the engine state.
Once you see metal shavings, perform an oil and filter change (obviously replacing any filter, not just the bypass.) After the oil change, you want to remove the oil filter again a day or two after you drove to see if metal shavings have been accumulating where you can see them.
If you have continued visible metal shavings after the filter inspection, or there are significantly more than just a few, then that is a sign you would want the engine looked at as soon as possible.
How Does Metal Get in the Oil?
If your engine is new, a few bits of particles may simply be from the break-in process but no effort by the lubricant and random bits of metal shavings imply wear inside the motor.
Metal parts inside the engine will begin to rub together from not enough lubrication, and the shavings can erode over time. All these shavings will all be left suspended in the oil and returned back into the engine system.
Once vital engine parts begin to wear down, the damage can’t be reversed, and that is why it is so important to catch this issue early on before you would need a new motor.
In addition, you want to be doing regular engine services to promote the lubrication when the oil is being replaced. You might as well take the extra steps to prevent the catastrophic wear beyond basic engine maintenance.
What Do Metal Shavings Mean?
Metal shavings in oil can mean different things depending on what type of shavings they are. However, it can be hard for the inexperienced person to tell some of the difference.
If you aren’t sure of what you are looking at, you may want to consult someone more experienced. Below are some of the different types of metal shavings, and what each may indicate.
#1. Iron.
Iron shavings may indicate wear occurring in a rotating component in the engine. There are many components that are made of iron that could be rubbing and wearing.
An example of an engine part is the crankshaft, and camshaft. It could also be from any iron valve train component.
I can almost guarantee that with any of these engine components that you are probably looking at a significant repair in your near future. However, you more than likely will have had some significant engine related complaints long before you would see these engine components in the oil.
#2 Copper, Bronze or Brass.
These colored shavings look differently than you’ll see elsewhere, making them much more identifiable. If you see any of these colored shavings, you are probably dealing with some worn bushings.
It is also possible the metal is coming from a bearing that has failed. All of these parts are small, but can cause major problems when they are bad.
#3 Molybdenum or Chromium.
These metals can look very similar to aluminum; however, unlike aluminum, these metals are used to make your engine pistons.
If you find any of these metal shavings, it is almost a guarantee the engine pistons are worn. However, the piston rings may have broken as well.
#4 Aluminum.
There are many parts of an engine that are made of aluminum, making it more difficult to decipher.
Look at a few parts on the engine surface, as this may be from the overhead camshaft bearings or the aluminum caps.
What to Do if There’s Metal in Oil
If you are not doing an oil change, the only time you probably will not see evidence of the metal shavings is when you are dealing with the issue itself. Instead of finding the shavings, you will probably find some performance related symptoms associated with the issues that arose from the issue.
If your car is showing rough idling or noise coming from the motor, get the vehicle checked out. The metal shavings could even be contributing to the vehicle having less power or starting white smoke from the tailpipe.
Doing an oil change will tell you the symptoms associated with the metal shavings working against the oil. If you can see regardless of color the metal in the oil, THIS is when you want to get the motor checked out by an experienced mechanic.
In most, if not all cases, metal filings in the oil means you have expensive repairs or an expensive rebuild of the engine immediately.
If you caught it early enough you could do something that is much easier, at the end of the day. However, it is important to treat and take proactive measures as soon as you see there is an issue.