Should I be loosing any sleep over this? I’ve noticed a couple of these flakes in the last oil change, and now this one.

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can you pick these up with a magnet?

Like John said, it would be good to know what type of metal this is. A magnet will help shed some light. Is this a new build?

Whether or not it is magnetic material is pretty much irrelevant.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you should never have chunks like that turning up in an oil change.

The chunks seem to be slightly discolored as if being overheated.

@troth

' date='Apr 12 2020, 11:26 AM' post='2803569']
Should I be loosing any sleep over this? I’ve noticed a couple of these flakes in the last oil change, and now this one.

Click to view attachment
[/quote]

Look like they could be main or rod bearing fragments. If you have any of the used oil I would send it out for analysis.

You may want to cut open the filter for further investigation. Looks like bearing material. Overheated bearing material. Oil analysis is probably a good idea. Did it make noise before the service? Good luck!

Agree with the posters above, looks like bearing material to me as well. Time for a quarantine teardown project? Be a lot cheaper to do it now to investigate and correct than to wait for the cause to, uh, self-report....

The pieces were pretty shiny, so I don’t think they were discolored. I was getting some clicking, but I’m pretty sure it was just the valves. I adjusted them when changing the oil and that noise is gone now. Running super smooth, as good as ever now.

I threw away the filter, but still have the oil. It might be contaminated from the laundry detergent bottle it’s in and a very small amount of oil from another car. I haven’t heard of getting it analyzed before, and don’t know anything about it. I’m going to look into that. Anybody have more information on it? Probably a small price to pay compared to throwing a rod through the case.

Blackstone Labs is the standard go-to for most. They do a great job of turning a technical chemical analysis into plainly worded reports, along with recommendations.

https://www.blackstone-labs.com/?session-id...yp0kmd%29%29%2F

We stock the oil analysis kits.

https://900designs-container.zoeysite.com/oil-analysis-kit-1

The 1st run will always show everything. Analysis is more a matter of trends, if you see a spike in bearing materials would be in indication of impending failure. These metals WILL be in the analysis, it’s just at a level that would be normal wear.
Is it possible the problem may be from outside contamination.

Cut open the oil filter and pull the paper pleats apart. That will tell you more than anything in the sump screen. Getting the oil analyzed is not a bad idea if you're really concerned