Particles in oil (religiously changed)

[Nissanrg18]

2018 Nissan Rogue 2.5L 83,170 miles

Was changing my oil today and had particles in the oil collection jug. They looked shiny but crumbled in my fingers. Most of the particles except for one were non-magnetic. The one magnetic particle is in the last photo. The yellow mineral looking particle and the crumbled ones on my finger didnt attract a magnet.

I change the oil and filter every 5,000 miles. I was 259 miles late this time but it shouldn't be an issue. Last oil change looked normal. The only difference was I switched from Valvoline high mileage 0w20 to penzoil platinum high mileage 0w20 at the last oil change. Used the same K&N 1008 filter. Haven't torn that apart yet, waiting on a tool.

Any idea what could be the cause? Did a trip from dallas to austin and back. Cruised around 80-85mph at 2000rpm.

 

[TwoTires]

I hope you're going to do an oil analysis. Filter media particles? I would have a close peek at the coolant tank as I've seen some odd looking particles in coolant from a small compression leak in the head gasket. Old oil on the shelf too long gets deposits in the bottom of the container?

 

[oldhp]

100% sure oil drain pan was clean? Maybe shorten OCI to3K miles and check again.

 

[Nissanrg18]

Waiting on O'reilly's to get an analysis kit tomorrow. Nobody carries them where I live, even NAPA. Oil was brand new from autozone. Will cut open filter when the cutting tool comes in the mail. Nobody carries those either.

I changed the airfilter last year and its clean behind it. Nothing is getting through it so I don't think it's silica.

I always add 4.6Liters of oil per the manual when changing the oil and filter. Is it possible being slightly overfilled caused this? Like half a mm to a mm above the top fill line? I know frothing could occur if overfilled but that would be severly overfilled? I measure my oil to the mL when changing it. Its the cheapest car we own and are close to paying off, so I very much want to keep it ticking. At this point though with these large chunks I'm thinking of carmaxing it.

 

[kschachn]

I hope you're going to do an oil analysis. Filter media particles? I would have a close peek at the coolant tank as I've seen some odd looking particles in coolant from a small compression leak in the head gasket. Old oil on the shelf too long gets deposits in the bottom of the container?

You’d need a special analysis on those particles such as SEM/EDX since they are far too large to show up on a spectrographic analysis.

 

[cptbarkey]

Metal in general doesn’t crumble, but old gasket maker flaking off will. That’s my guess anyway.

 

[ATex7239]

Paint from a lightly colored oil filter canister maybe? What filter are you using?

I’ve had a tight filter give me trouble before and had to get a good bite on it with oil filter pliers. Paint chips off during removal and gets into the drain pan. Happened to me just last week in fact. Just a possible observation.

 

[Nissanrg18]

Paint from a lightly colored oil filter canister maybe? What filter are you using?

I’ve had a tight filter give me trouble before and had to get a good bite on it with oil filter pliers. Paint chips off during removal and gets into the drain pan. Happened to me just last week in fact. Just a possible observation.

Nah. It's horizontally mounted and any painted areas are far away from where it screws in. Never had any issues. Someone earlier mention it could be gasket material. I have noticed some laggy acceleration (for a cvt) lately. I was thinking it was the cvt belt slipping. (Drained and filled (not flushed) at 40k and 50k again after finding they didnt replace the vent plug to the transmission).

Penzoil high mileage basically reconditions the engine seals right? Maybe it made the gasket soft or something to make it break down. The coolant resevoir is between min and max. Looks green, maybe dark green. Ill get a tester for exhaust gases in the coolant.

 

[oldcodger]

Possible excessive glue in a filter. Had a tractor one day showed up a lot of particles in the oil which i found came from a sloppy glue job in the filter.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

I lean towards the filter as the culprit also.
Plus, those K&N's do not trap well. Consider another brand next time.

 

[doublebase]

Could be something left behind in the filter from poor quality control, maybe adhesive. Also, you don’t use speedy dry at home, do you? Looks almost like clay from speedy dry. Then again it wouldn’t be white like that after absorbing oil. Was the funnel clean when you changed the oil? I can’t tell you how many times there’s something small stuck to the walls of a funnel before I add oil (and I have to clean it). Another thing of course is when you check your oil level, you’d be amazed what can be stuck in a rag when you wipe the dipstick down (and it in inadvertently sticks to the dipstick). And I’ll tell yeah, every time I open up an oil fill cap to add oil there’s risk of something falling in there (happened just yesterday and I had to dig it out with my finger).

 

[Nissanrg18]

Could be something left behind in the filter from poor quality control, maybe adhesive. Also, you don’t use speedy dry at home, do you? Looks almost like clay from speedy dry. Then again it wouldn’t be white like that after absorbing oil. Was the funnel clean when you changed the oil? I can’t tell you how many times there’s something small stuck to the walls of a funnel before I add oil (and I have to clean it). Another thing of course is when you check your oil level, you’d be amazed what can be stuck in a rag when you wipe the dipstick down (and it in inadvertently sticks to the dipstick). And I’ll tell yeah, every time I open up an oil fill cap to add oil there’s risk of something falling in there (happened just yesterday and I had to dig it out with my finger).

The filter doesn't explain the magnetic metal debris. Oil cap is clean. Don't use speedy dry and the funnel is clean and has a particulate filter in it. I wrap the funnel in a plastic garbage bag to keep crud from getting on it between changes.

 

[dumkid]

I wouldn't be so worried. If there's more junk at the next OC then I'd worry. But a few small pieces of non metallic material is unusual but not a sign that your engine is dying

 

[Nissanrg18]

I wouldn't be so worried. If there's more junk at the next OC then I'd worry. But a few small pieces of non metallic material is unusual but not a sign that your engine is dying

There was a large chunk of iron or steel

 

[kschachn]

Having the pieces analyzed may help to ascertain their origin. Maybe.

For the metallic ones a cheap and dirty way to analyze them is by digestion, such as dissolving in an acid and then running a spectrographic analysis. A better way as I mentioned to have a direct elemental analysis such as from SEM/EDX. There are other methods that the lab may use.

It helps if there is a corresponding analysis of the metals in the engine so you have a comparison. But even without that the lab may make some recommendations.

 

[Graham Piccinini]

My theories below. Pick one, pick few, or ignore.
- The pan wasn't 100% clean to begin with.
- The oil filter QC lacking.
- Pennzoil is trying to turn into wax!!! old timers were right!!! (Jk)
- I believe the QR25 issues of crumbling catalytic converter have been fixed around 2010ish, so yours shouldn't be affected. But there was that weird issue where chunks of catalytic converter ceramic dust were getting sucked back into the combustion chamber and ruining the pistons & cylinder walls. Again, I do not think this is the case, as you'd have heavy oil consumption and shiny glittery oil.