Brass Specs in Oil

[RaYzerman19]

Ride that thing! Stuff that small (microns) and such small quantity, and the filter was clean.......... an oil analysis might enlighten you, but you need two or three historical ones for comparison and to see if anything's changing. But IMHO, you got nothing to worry about.

 

[Big Sky]

My experience is the same. I always look at the oil I've drained and check the bottom of the pan to see if there's anything significant (I also wipe the pan clean before I drain). The oil always has a metallic sheen to it, especially if you examine it under bright light, like sunlight. We change oil to get rid of contaminants and some fo those are fine metal particles coming from normal wear and tear. I alternate the metallic drain plug between the pumpkin and engine sump. Always a dab of very fine muddy sludge, probably the same stuff glinting in the oil. Now, if there were particles as big as a grain of sand, I'd be worried!

 

[SoCalFJR1300]

you guys stress too much. Brass specs 1/10 the size of a grain of sand?? I didn't know we had any brass moving parts inside our engines.
Chill out and ride the stupid thing before you give yourself a heart attack.

Ditto

 

[hppants]

Changed the oil this morning after my 3000+ mile trip (in which the bike ran flawlessly, btw). I made sure the pan was spotless before draining.

Not 1 spec of anything in the bottom of the pan. Nothing. Notta.

Doesn't make sense, I know - things don't fix themselves.

But with no symptoms, I'm not going looking for something that isn't there.

Stay tuned....

 

[Graham Downunder]

Next time you change oil do yourself a favour and when its nearly finished dripping out pout a different clean drain pan under it .Then poor in about a litre ( quart) of clean new oil and leave it to drip out . You can see if you have any metal in it and how much old oil hangs around after each oil change ,some engines hold quite a bit.

IMO you are worrying about nothing just keep riding it

 

[Fred W]

We know (from doing the math) that the FJR engine retains nearly a whole quart of oil at each oil change.

I guess if I saw a lot of metal particles in the oil that I was draining I'd be somewhat concerned about how good the oil filters I was using were doing their job... A good filter should strain metal particles out of the oil as it circulates.

Perhaps the Bosch 3323 is not a great choice in oil filters?

 

[flagstaff]

A simple an inexpensive oil analysis is worth it. If nothing else, it feels good to read the analysis that tells you how good your oil and engine are doing. It's only $25.00 from Blackstone. Yes, a history of oil samples will tell a story, but for the most part you will get a report that says everything looks good. If everything is good then you are reassured and there is really no need for a followup analysis for many thousands of miles. A series of test is usually called for if the analysis finds an area out of the normal range. In that case you might be taking corrective ation and want to see the results.

Besides all the technical data, a real person write comments for each sample. I suspected the injectors on my Duramax were on the way out. I sent in a sample to confirm my diagnosis. On one sample the fuel made up 2% of the oil. That was just outside the acceptable range which is "less than 2%. Another sample right before I installed new injectors had the fuel composing 3.5% of the oil with a significant drop in viscosity. After I installed the new injectors I sent in a sample to confirm I had solved the problem of fuel contamination. Here is the reassuring personal comments that accompanied all the statistical data:

EDWARD: The fuel that had been plaguing this engine for last two samples finally disappeared here. Wear

metals continue to read nice and low even though this oil was in use almost twice as long as last time. With

wear this good, you might as well go longer on the oil, but we wouldn't blame you if you just wanted to stick

with what's working. The viscosity was normal for 15W/40 and low insolubles and silicon show good oil and

air filtration. Nice engine as of sample date 10/1/11. Keep up the good work.



$25 well spent for peace of mind.