"flakes" in pleats

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Changed oil today. I have what appears to be very small aluminum (shiny) flakes in the inside pleats. Very small pieces, reminds me of glitter, size wise. Not a ton of it but some in almost every pleat. Just wondering how abnormal/normal is it to find this?

Little background. Fresh rebuild of the engine. Probably about 200 miles on it. Oil was M1 5w30 and Motorcraft filter. Builder told me to switch to conventional for break in, he says for 8-10K miles. I switched to Havoline 10w30. That probably doesn't matter to the question, just filling in what I am doing. Engine is a 5.4 Ford, supercharged.

So is this normal, or am I in trouble and have to do this over? Thanks.
 
Yeah i wouldnt worry. Synthetic break in oil isnt a problem nor is some glitter in the filter during that period. Run the next oil longer and check again you should see less maybe as that was a very short oci.
 
Thank you guys. Makes me feel better. I did google the question before I posted here. There were varying answers from 'keep an eye on it', to 'your engine is eating itself'. Not much beyond that. Aside from the change in oil, from syn to conventional and up in viscosity from a 5w to a 10w, I also went with a Ford racing filter. Local race shop sold it to me for $6.50. Only about $2 more than a Motorcraft. I plan on running this oil for 3,000 mi. This is actually the 3rd change since the engine was done. According to the engine builders schedule. First time I cut open the filter though.

Thanks for the replies.
 
New or rebuild is normal. Thick flakes are actually better than fine metalflake glitter. If it continues for more than next oil change you have a problem.

Every factory fresh vehicle I've owned had shiny first filter FWIW... it resumes to normal after break in.
 
Originally Posted By: stuka
I also went with a Ford racing filter.


You never really said anything about the engine. You didn't even say how it will be used.
But you do know that a racing filter is meant for flow and not for filtration, don't you?
On an "A to B" grocery-getter, a cheap $2 filter will keep out more contaminants.
But hey, it's your engine.
 
Shoplikely didn't brush and blow out the galleries and the crank drills thoroughly.. Not a rebuild like it was for your mother
smile.gif

Sadly almost normal to see if it was under a few grand.

Subaru lost hundreds of turbo engines on WRX a few years ago due to poor crank cleaning after machining.
 
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Good luck finding conventional oil w/0 slickifiers. ILSAC GF is not good for wear-in either.
No ILSAC are conventional.

Maybe try a cheap MC oil.
 
Yup, It's my engine.

If you look at the stats on this page: https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1686256
It shows the Ford racing filter, filters 99% to 20 microns, vs the standard Motorcraft 80% to 20 microns. I think it will be fine.

What was I supposed to say about the engine, other than what I put in the OP? It's a supercharged 5.4 Ford. It's a street vehicle that sees the track 3-5 times a year. Crank HP is about 650-675. Started as a rebuild, found the block had a crack, so new block bored .030" over, reused the rods, heads, crank. New pistons. That's about it.
 
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Good luck finding conventional oil w/0 slickifiers. ILSAC GF is not good for wear-in either.
No ILSAC are conventional.

Maybe try a cheap MC oil.


I'm not that educated on oil yet to know exactly what is what. I'm reading and learning....slowly. My builder just said "conventional". I haven;t been able to get ahold of him for a while, so I called another builder that specializes in these engines. He told me Havoline, or Chevron supreme 5w30, or 10w30 if it was hot where I live. Considering it's been in the 90s for a few weeks and summer is just starting, I figure that qualifies as hot, so I got 10w30. They didn't have CS where I was shopping, in fact, I don't think I have ever seen it here at all. Havoline is everywhere.

I don't have a PCV system, I have filtered breather cans off each valve cover. I did notice that with this oil, they start to smoke within a minute or two of the engine being started, whereas the M1 would smoke but the oil had to be hot, like in the engine at full operating temp. I have concerns that this stuff will cook off pretty quickly.
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Stuka, did you go with the same builder that did your last engine?

Nope. This time was a machine shop/engine builders. Last was a repair shop/builder.
 
No extractors. Just the vented cans. Looking for a vac pump setup but so far nothing suitable.
 
Originally Posted By: stuka

I'm not that educated on oil yet to know exactly what is what. I'm reading and learning....slowly. My builder just said "conventional". I haven;t been able to get ahold of him for a while, so I called another builder that specializes in these engines. He told me Havoline, or Chevron supreme 5w30, or 10w30 if it was hot where I live. Considering it's been in the 90s for a few weeks and summer is just starting, I figure that qualifies as hot, so I got 10w30.


5W-30 and 10W-30 should be about the same viscosity when hot, so his recommendation for "hot weather" is a bit strange.
 
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Originally Posted By: stuka

I'm not that educated on oil yet to know exactly what is what. I'm reading and learning....slowly. My builder just said "conventional". I haven;t been able to get ahold of him for a while, so I called another builder that specializes in these engines. He told me Havoline, or Chevron supreme 5w30, or 10w30 if it was hot where I live. Considering it's been in the 90s for a few weeks and summer is just starting, I figure that qualifies as hot, so I got 10w30.


5W-30 and 10W-30 should be about the same viscosity when hot, so his recommendation for "hot weather" is a bit strange.

Yeah what do I know.
 
That glitter is magic fairy dust. It makes your engine run smoother, boosts compression, allows higher rpms, and makes it run cooler.
You should save it and sell it on eBay.
 
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