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Date: Tue, 06 Apr 2004 00:10:49 GMT
From: gregory trimper <trimpernospamcop.net>
Subject: Re: C900 - oil showing significant concentration of metallic particles


The One4Sun - GWS wrote: > soon, but recently I noticed during fluid checks that the engine oil has > what I'd consider an overly high concentration of metallic particles in it. In more than a decade of tearing apart C900s, I have to say that I have NEVER seen metal in the oil while changing. I have seen metal shavings in the oil pan when doing an engine tear-down or rebuild, and occasionally collected on a magnetic drain plug, but never have I seen metal particles in the drain oil, dipstick, or filter. > To my mind this means either bearings or piston rings are in need of > replacement. You'd know pretty quickly if a ring had self-destructed. Better guess is rod bearings, or something (carbon? spark plug tip? something else?) gouging the cylinder walls. You can determine this with a simple compression test. > The engine probably does need a complete strip down and > rebuild, but is there a way to tell what type of metal(s) the particles are > to get an idea which engine parts they're coming from? There is. There are many places that do consumer-level oil analysis, I've used Blackstone in Indiana: http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ The breakdown of the analysis can give you a clue as to where the metal is coming from; then again, they're testing at minute levels, not at the visible. From their own site, the basic explanation is: * Aluminum: Pistons, bearings, cases (heads & blocks). * Chromium: Rings, a trace element in steel. * Iron: Cylinders, rotating shafts, the valve train, and any steel part sharing the oil. * Copper: Brass or bronze parts, copper bushings, bearings, oil coolers, also an additive in some gasoline engine oils. * Lead: Bearings. * Tin: Bearings, bronze parts, piston coatings. * Molybdenum: Anti-wear additive, some types of rings. * Nickel: Trace element in steel. * Manganese: Trace element, additive in gasoline. * Silver: Trace element. * Titanium: Trace element. * Potassium: Antifreeze inhibitor, additive in some oil types. * Boron: Detergent/dispersant additive, antifreeze inhibitors. * Silicon: Airborne dirt, sealers, gaskets, antifreeze inhibitors. * Sodium: Antifreeze inhibitors, additive in some gasoline engine oils. * Calcium: Detergent/dispersant additive. * Magnesium: Detergent/dispersant additive. * Phosphorus: Anti-wear additive. * Zinc: Anti-wear additive. * Barium: Detergent/dispersant additive. Basically, what you're looking for is Aluminum or Copper (bearings) or steel (rings, cylinders, pistons, etc). If you have visible particles, you can easily test for this yourself with a magnet (in fact, this is why magnetic drain plugs exist, or some manuf. put magents in the oil pan baffles, is to catch the more common steel/iron bits from breaking in a new engine). Start with a compression test, then a simple magnetic test on these particles. That should give you a pretty clear picture of what's going on inside your engine. lycka till! GTr - - http://www.preservestoughton.org/ http://www.uffdawalmart.org/

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