What's in YOUR oil?

I change oil in 5 of our cars (2 late model and 3 HAMB-friendly) and all leave something in the drain pan after I drain the oil out. Three leave metal flakes, one leaves sand-like grit, and one leaves both!

Is this normal, or am I the unluckiest car-owner in the world?

 

Metal flakes, sand and grit? I could MAYBE understand a few flakes, but sand and grit can't ever be a good thing. You live in a dry area or something?

 

I have a theory that the grit might be crumbles from nylon timing gears (?)

 

Any stuck to your drain plug ? Are they new cars or rebuilt motors .I lived out there and with the heat and sand i smoked the motor in one of my harleys . Its not good to have metal in your oil or anything at that , next time you change it let the oil run down a peice of card board and you can see if anything else comes out. Check your air cleaners are tight and sand and dust cant get in , still cleaning it out of my bikes IT GETS IN EVEY THING

 

None stuck to the drain plugs.

They are; 61 Ford 390CI rebuilt 3 years ago, 66 Buick 425CI, 59 Chev 283CI, '03 GM 3.4 V6, and '03 Ford 4.6 V8

 

Per Robert Gilbert : Check your air cleaners are tight and sand and dust cant get in , still cleaning it out of my bikes IT GETS IN EVEY THING


On the crud in your oil.
I'd you do have a decent air filter. Don't you?
And hopefully an oil filter if the engine is an early one that came without a filter.
I see some of these setups on some of the rods with the cute curved airhorns or velocity stacksand very little for filtration and wonder how long their engines can be expected to live.

 

Not one thing about what you described sounds good to me.
I would be looking into how the "sand" (if it is sand) is getting into the crankcase..and the metal shavings ..That sounds like something may be getting its ass ate out, by that sand its ingesting. And trying to lube your engine with grit is not a good way to go.

 

In addition to all the good suggestions here, try a magnetic drain plug to pick up the metal in your system.

 

magnetic drain plug if it is then its not metal that s a good thing .

 

a couple of dinosaurs

 

Hope the "sand" ain't really cast iron from your cam and lifters. It can be pretty gritty.

Junk oil they are selling these days won't lube the nose of the cam good enough.

Brad Penn is all that I use. And don't be afraid of a bottle of STP just in case you don't start it every day or so.

K

 

i was going to say the same thing............

 

Fleet vehicles often have the oil sent out to be analyzed. You could see about having this done, It would tell you for sure what is going on.

 

AAA used to offer an oil analysis as a part of their membership.
I occasionally would find hard crumbs of black crud in the oil of some of my older cars. Turned out to be bits of the black valve stem seals that had hardened, crumbled and worked their way down into the sump.