2019 Flex non turbo 3.5 with 47,000 miles on it. We bought it last year with 37,000 miles on it. At 42,000 I had the dealer change the oil because I didn’t have time. Today I wanted to switch it to Amsoil for this oil change, so as I stared the oil change and found a milky look on the bottom of the oil cap. I didn’t freak out because I wanted to see the oil and because my wife only drives short 3 mile trips to work and back it could just be condensation. I pulled a sample for analysis upon draining. Oil looked good until I found flakes at the bottom of the drain pan. I saved the filter and old oil. I saved some of the flakes at the bottom of the drain pan. I sent the analysis off. Now we wait. Any opinions?
2019 Ford Flex with Flakes in Drain Pan
- Thread starter wreckless123
- Start date
I am waiting on doing anything until the oil analysis comes back. I still have the filter and can cut it open if needed.
I'd cut open now, unless if you have some warranty clause where someone else needs to cut it out.
I open mine, drain, then wrap in paper towel. Let sit for a few days.
Are these flakes ferrous or non?
I am pretty sure I still have a power train warranty until 60,000 miles. So if the analysis says there is a problem I am going to have the dealer open it, so they can see it for themselves.
I have never heard anything bad about Amsoil other than price. Why would you avoid it.
Does this engine ever get driven on the highway?
I would not be worried about this.
Your analysis may or may not show anything abnormal. With pieces such as this there needs to be either pre-processing of the sample (digestion) or another method of analysis besides a simple spectrograph. Those chunks are far to large to be analyzed by ICP.
I witnessed the same type of thing when I bought the honda civic in my sig at about 134k. I was worried when I noticed the same type of flakes in my drain pan after the first or second oil change after purchasing it, I chalked it up as more a thorough draining after a while. After about 110k more miles since then, it was obviously a non issue.
Had a very similar situation with my old 5th gen 4runner with the 4.0 v6, mine looked worse actually but ended up being the softer metal drain bolt threads shedding.
Take a look for worn out threads on the drain bolt, someone may have cross thread it before, they’re typically much softer metal than oil pan bolts for this very reason, easier to sacrifice the bolt than the entire pan
Take a look for worn out threads on the drain bolt, someone may have cross thread it before, they’re typically much softer metal than oil pan bolts for this very reason, easier to sacrifice the bolt than the entire pan
No updates from the OP. I'd guess the short tripping, otherwise coolant in the oil but the miles are so low I doubt it.
The oil fill cap shows the engine is not getting up to operating temperature most likely due to not enough highway driving or only short trips around town. The debris might only be dirt from exterior bottom of oil pan, or the bucket you used was not perfectly clean?
I can tell you from experience that most dealerships will not take warranty action based solely on a customer provided oil analysis. They need a hard mechanical symptom or drive-ability concern and only after they have approval from the manufacturer to start digging into a engine.
If the vehicle is mainly short tripped, I would use a dino oil and change every 2 or 3K miles to get the water out. Synthetic is a waste.
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