Metal in Oil 123k 14' 2.7

Hello, my 2014 2.7l I4 manual 4x4 pickup had metal in the oil. Serviced every 5-8k. Metal is non-metallic and soft, malleable. Some has a bronze ish color to it. Some larger chunks, seems to be bearing material. Changed oil again after about 50 miles and then at 1000, neither had metal. Have let the truck site since then. Wondering what to do. I'm not opposed to pulling the motor to put a new one in and diagnosing on a stand. Or could I drop the front diff, drop the pan, and try to replace main bearings from the bottom?. Or since metals been in there should I assume damage elsewhere, even though its soft metal? There's only a slight knock at very cold temperatures, around 0 degrees, otherwise sounds good. Only thing I can think is larger than stock tires + high RPM shifts with the manual over the life have grenaded the motor before its time. Any advice is appreciated.
Thank you.

 

You could get the oil analized, see what the material is but it sounds like you probably called it right.

 

If the chunks are large enough to see, you'd hear severe knocking at any temp or RPM if it was main bearing material. Bearing material is usually thin and ''squished'' as both sides of the rod ride very, very close to the crank counterweights and caps. It also is on it's very last legs if it is actual bearing material as the oil holes are smeared over and/or the bearing/s have actually spun. You'd never get another 1000 miles out of an engine with that much bearing damage without it seizing or making an incredible racket.

 

Yea it still sounds fine, runs good, any thoughts on the source of the metal if its not main bearings? Timing chain? or something else top end? Should I just start using thicker oil and run it till she dies? I mainly use it for hunting/ whenever I need to go off-road so wouldn't be an ideal place to blow a motor.

 

Where I said non-metallic I meant non-magnetic

 

Not sure why one would run a thicker oil.

if an engine calls for 5w30 it gets 5w30. Or something similar to that. Generally doesn’t matter unless an engine is specifically designed with a spec in mind such as for a VVT solenoid passageway activation. Which tends to be a finicky modern German performance thing.

The first number in oil is for handling cold start protection. The second number is for handling heat during operation.

which there is not much of considering it is not an M3 on the Nurburgring.

usually you have an issue with the vehicle and diagnose it. Such as a rod knock. If one gets rod knock they may inspect the oil circuit and find shit in it. Which does not change the fact they have rod knock.

replace what needs to be replaced according to maintenance.

 

Why would you do anything? You said the oil has been clean correct ? Keep checking it and drive the truck if not knocking . That 2.7 is a very stout motor and I don’t think the bottom end is damaged , and if something sheared off somewhere it could have missed everything and not done any damage . Gasket material …. Who knows

 

Are the bits metal or plastic? If plastic/nylon could they be bits of timing chain guide? I seriously doubt it's bearing material so it needs to be determined if it's aluminum if not steel, or plastic. Are there any smooth surfaces on it or is it more of a casting swarf type chunk?

 

Tried uploading a video but it won’t work. There are some chunks, or slices had some curvature to them. Thin long pieces maybe 1/16 or less wide and 1/8 long. It’s definitely metal glittered in the sun. But not magnetic. Most of it silver and smaller, glitter in the oil. A few pieces copper/bronze color. It won’t let me upload the video though.

 

Still have the filter? Open it and check the pleats for metal bits.

 

Here’s a screenshot of the video, can see one of the bigger pieces

 

WTF? Is that erl?

 

I honestly don't like the color of that oil. I'd fish out the pieces and if you have any oil left, that is one I'd send to a oil lab and have them run a metals check on it along with any contaminants like antifreeze. Money well spent. Antifreeze is hell on lubricated engine parts.

 

Don’t bother sending the oil in if it’s been contaminated in another container/catch pan with other oil or fluids

Id run it for 1k miles and send in a sample to Blackstone
Make sure to follow their directions on how to collect the sample

 

That oil looks like what came out of my engine after I did a crankcase flush. If that's from a typical oil change the engine is running really dirty internally.

 

for an off-road hunting truck I'd change oil sooner like every 3-4K miles.

 

Yeah, this is what I would do just for peace of mind. Or a feeling of impending doom.