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I found I had a used OEM filter lying around coming off my 245 and decided to do a teardown. About 15 years ago, I had torn one down before and was curious to see if anything had changed. That was indeed the case, but I also found something potentially worrying. I was taking photos, so I could make and album and post a link for those interested.
Had I not done so, I would have remained unaware of the crud that was inside. I thought at first that it was just iron filings from my sawing open the can. But then I looked at this photo below, and I noticed that the crud was also on the dome of the can, and that worried me. When I took the photo, the can had not yet been set upright, I had removed the filter element sideways. That means that that stuff cannot possibly be iron filings from my sawing, they could only be near the edge.
When I run this crud through my fingers, it doesn't feel like metal filings (sigh of relief) at all. It feels more like a softer crud of years of dirt build up that was released into the engine oil. I can only hope that it went straight down the bottom of the oil pan and was picked up and filtered before it could reach vital components. A recent compression test showed a healty engine, BTW.
What could this crud be? Could it have come from the PCV, and if so, how?
Thanks for any insight you can give...
http://i.imgur.com/PS1u6QL.jpg
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Crude oil is broken down into many products, including oil, products lighter than oil, and products heavier, including waxes and tars.
This morning, I saw a story from the Henry Ford Museum on the discovery of Vaseline - the discoverer noticed waxy deposits on oil rigs that the workers used to spread on their hands to soothe small cuts, etc. He developed this material as Vaseline.
I venture that the gunk is made of some of these heavier fractions coming out of your oil.
Add some of the products of wear from your engine - it does wear, doesn't it - and you get grey gunk.
Perhaps some knowledgable BBer will present the actual answer.
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Thanks for the interesting reply.
I may not have made the consistency of the crud I found in the filter very clear.
It's definitely not as hard as iron, but certainly a lot harder than vaseline or tar.
It looks a bit like coffee grinds, but feel a bit gritty or granular. Running between you fingers tends to break them up.
It is quite familiar, I just can't think of what exactly right now...
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Hi Grey,
You seem like the inquisitive type, so a couple of things come to mind if you want to gather more intelligence on your crud at home.
If you can gather enough, roast it in your oven on a clean surface until any oil or water is removed and only solids remain. This is best done when your wife is away.
Most products of wear other than engine bearings, as well as rust will be magnetic, so you can separate those with a magnet. I don't know what magnifying capacity you have but the stronger the better.
What remains will likely contain some amount of carbon from the oil and fuel. This should glow and burn away using a propane torch. Anything that doesn't burn is inorganic and may been in the air that made it through the filter. The needle-like structure of asbestos from brake dust might be visible at 100x.
I can't recall the year precisely, 78 or 79 I think,but I was camping in Glacier Natl.keep park with my girlfriend. A few hundred miles to the west Mount St Helens blew it's top off while we were there, and I remember a warden coming around in the middle of the night to tell us to stay in the tent and to keep a scarf over our mouths.
In the morning we awoke on Mars. Dust everywhere, in the air and a 1/8" layer on my beloved 62 Pontiac. The cloud was moving south-east so we went north after covering the air filter with wet towels, but it was half a day before we were in clean air. Six months later I was getting 100 miles to a quart of oil.
Peter
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FYI - here's what an actual analysis looks like....
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Hey, that looks familiar... oh yes, I saw it being discussed in a YT video from ChrisFix. Sure would like a service like that was available over here too...
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Hi Peter,
Interesting story, BTW, on Mount Saint Helens, so despite those towels and the air filter, the ash got in the engine anyway...
I tried a few things. I took a cotton swab and lifted some of the crud from the filter and put it in white spirit. The stuff is non-magnetic, and is quite brittle. I can break it up rubbing between my fingers. It also doesn't glow when subjected to a flame.
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I am indeed. I like top tear everything down, from LED-bulbs and electronics to tools and fuel and oil filters to engines and gearboxes.
When it comes to cars, I tore down some filters, but also a worn B20A and M40 from a 1970 Amazon that I no longer have.
I think I will collect some of the crud and rinse it with white spirit and dry it. Won't be in the oven though, but I might conjure up something with a hot air gun and a big tin can.
At home I have a cheap USB microscope, at work I have access to a nice Mantis stereoscopic microscope. Unfortunately, I won't be able to take photos with it.
To be continued...
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For $28 - send an oil sample to the folks at Blackstone Oil Analysis. No need to guess about what wear metals and other materials are ending up in the oil, and what that might mean. Measure.
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That's an interesting option, and I have started looking into it.
However, it seems that there's not really a market for it over here (Netherlands). The companies that offer the service take industrial clients only. And the one company I found that would take my sample was prohibitively expensive at € 179, and it seems to be aimed at marine engines.
However, for a crude test, I found this: http://www.motorcheckup.net/en/home/.
They say it checks the amount of contamination, condition of the oil, presence of water and/or coolant and presence of fuel.
How about that?
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Well, I'm skeptical as I couldn't find anything at the site that says what they actually do. But if it's all you have that's affordable....
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Via a reseller, I found this pdf:
http://machinedokter.nl/media/attachment/file/d/a/datasheet_checkup.pdf
It's in Dutch, but I guess the photos tell the story.
Apparently you add a drop in the centre of the circle, and over time it travels outwards. First results start to appear after a few mintues, but it may take up to 10 hours to complete.
The first circle shows the level of contaminants, like soot and wear particles;
The second circle shows the state of the oil, the browner the worse (black if it's a diesel);
Third circle: ragged edges mean moisture in the oil, if alongside that ragged edge the circle turns yellow it means the presence of glycol (coolant).
Last circle: held up against the light: the more pronounced and wider the white ring, the more fuel there is in the oil.
I guess it's some kind of paper similar to chromatography paper in which the lighter substances travel further than the heavier ones. Perhaps the different circles react to different chemicals.
The small print in the bottom advises to change the oil in case the test indicates problems, drive 500-1000 km (300-600 mi) and repeat the test to see if the problem persists.
I might order a set of 6 and see.
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