? Can a BlackStone lab oil report tell exactly where this is coming from ? Gen1 5VZFE

hello Gen1 Team

5VZFE engine with 358k miles
less than 1k since changed oil + filter, found these particles in the catch pan while swapping in a mag plug that did not fit proper LOL, had to order a different brand of mag plug and will be attempting a reswap today

about a 1/4 quart or so comes out into the pan while swapping plugs
should we capture a sample and send it off for analysis or is it not even worth the hassle?

 

They would know the composition of metal. Go from there

 

what do You think it is? i am STUMPED

 

Magnetic so not the main bearing shells. How large are they, basically a ''film'' if you roll a bit between a thumb and finger or gritty like sand?

 

Could be lots of places. Get an oil analysis and just drive it until it gives you some actual symptoms.

 

Interesting. Since it's magnetic, it's obviously steel or cast iron. Most of the moving parts in the engine are steel, with the exception of the piston heads which are aluminum.

I'd get an inexpensive Amazon flex-neck 2-camera borescope and inspect the internals of the pistons for damage to the cylinder walls (cast iron) and the valves. If nothing there then move on to.. I'm not sure? If it was mine I'd probably remove the valve cover & carefully turn over the engine inspecting the camshafts and everything else visible there.

I doubt I would go so far as to remove the timing cover (unless that was due for service separately) due to the major work involved in re-sealing it.

I would probably also take the trouble to start an exponentially-decaying oil pan plug inspection routine. That's a fancy way of saying that I would drain the oil & look at the magnet at these intervals:

50 miles from now.
100 miles from now.
200 miles from now.
400 miles from now.
800 miles from now.
1600 miles from now.

(I wouldn't change the oil at those intervals, just drain, save, & refill with the same oil. The point being merely to inspect the magnetic plug for further accumulation.)

During the above, admittedly labor-intensive but probably quite effective routine, I would either see increasing amounts of magnetic wear particles, leading me to stop driving the truck & seek further diagnosis -- or I would see no further particles, giving me gradually-increasing assurance that whatever it was was minor and probably not an ongoing concern.

The quantity of metal is small, it's possible the chips are inconsequential, coming from some area of a part that isn't critical, or it could be early damage that gets worse over time or even leads to catastrophic failure.

 

it seems gritty to me

definitely some undiagnosable oddities currently for the past few+ months
R150F transmission shifter stick vibrates like a hula dancer in 5th gear Every Time it is between 55 and 70 mph (around 2200 RPM +/- a couple 100)

 

What brand and part number is that drain plug?

 

Could it be the issues the Tundra and Lexus LX are having with metal debris in their engines.

 

I'm going to say "probably not" given that this is a 1st gen Tacoma engine:

 

it was some 8$ junk from Temu (picture in package below)
only screwed into the pan partway then Stopped and kept leaking LMAO




so i bot a different one from Amazon a mishimoto for 19$ to try out and keep this schizz from circulating through the engine hopefully

$23 Mishimoto Magnetic Oil Drain Plug M12 x 1.25, Black

Amazon.com: Mishimoto MMODP Magnetic Oil Drain Plug M12 x 1.25, Black : Automotive

 

How far is "part way"? If it was torqued very much past just a light, finger-tight cross-thread resistance it's possible the threads on the oil pan bung are damaged?

Have you cleaned and inspected the oil pan bung threads? If not, maybe those chunks are bits of oil pan thread torn out by cross-threading. Seems unlikely but also worth looking at, easy to inspect.

 

Cool. Thank you.

 

I wonder whether Blackstone analysis can shed further light on those particles, unless they just happen to be from some part with a specific high concentration of some uncommon alloy materials.

IDK enough about Toyota engine metallurgy to know whether there are major differences among several different categories of ferrous / magnetic engine components.

I.e. I don't know how different (or similar) camshaft steel is from timing-chain cog steel vs crankshaft steel vs. oil-pump gear steel etc.

 

original drain plug is original and screws in finger tight before a German Torque is applied
that cheapo Temu would Not screw all the way in finger tight and i was not going to force it!
took a measurement of the threads compared to OEM plug and there was a small difference in length, maybe about 1/8" or so

 

don't get that one in the picture it does Not fit!
i will put into this thread if the new one i picked up fits properly with NO leaks

 

Aye. I would seriously consider the exponentially-decaying magnetic plug inspection interval I described above.

A very effective way to monitor whether this was a one-off event or part of an ongoing pattern of wear / damage.

 

My thought was that these are either nothing or a symptom, and their analyses tend to be able to point out specific wear items, which might give more clues and corroborate these particles.

Either way I don’t think it’s enough evidence to go tear down an engine without something else more specific.

 

Agree completely that this quantity of wear does not justify an engine tear-down at all.

Exponential-decay magnetic plug inspection for the win. A time-consuming, messy, but highly effective diagnostic method, assuming further wear or damage (if it occurs) also happens to a ferrous-alloy part.

 

oil pump maybe