Metal in oil filter
Metal in oil filter
Author
Discussion

belfry

Original Poster:

1,052 posts

212 months

Saturday 15th December 2012
quotequote all
My brother in law has just got his 86,000 mile 2004 Cayenne S 4.5 back from a service at his local indie.

He was advised that there were small metal fragments in the oil filter. What does this mean? Is his engine about to implode?

Luckily, my Cayenne S is going strong at 107,000 miles

Fire_2

138 posts

240 months

Saturday 15th December 2012
quotequote all
Could be first signs of ims failure?!

steve singh

3,995 posts

203 months

Saturday 15th December 2012
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Fire_2 said:
Could be first signs of ims failure?!
+1

Magic919

14,538 posts

231 months

Saturday 15th December 2012
quotequote all
I guess some people have hit the Xmas booze a bit early.

steve singh

3,995 posts

203 months

Saturday 15th December 2012
quotequote all
Magic919 said:
I guess some people have hit the Xmas booze a bit early.
http://www.volkswagenspares.com/page.php?page=Porsche+Intermediate+Shaft++Upgr

Whilst it's a tell tale sign - i'm now assuming from your post the cayenne's do not have ims's?

tr7v8

7,623 posts

258 months

Saturday 15th December 2012
quotequote all
Nope no IMS on Cayennes! Does need investigation, piston failure is not unknown on the V8, normally starts with a tapping noise apparently.

Rockster

1,515 posts

190 months

Saturday 15th December 2012
quotequote all
belfry said:
My brother in law has just got his 86,000 mile 2004 Cayenne S 4.5 back from a service at his local indie.

He was advised that there were small metal fragments in the oil filter. What does this mean? Is his engine about to implode?

Luckily, my Cayenne S is going strong at 107,000 miles
Without knowing how much metal and its composition not much other than your brother in law's local indie is either not very good or engaging in scare mongering.

It is inexcusable for a mechanic to deliver that kind of news without providing his thoughts on what it means and what should be done.

There is often small metal fragments in the oil filter. The engine is all metal (mostly alum.) and small pieces of alum. casting flash can come loose and after going through the oil pump end up in the filter. This what the filter is there for.

There can be pieces of metal on the oil sump plate and it is not unknown for one of these to with all the sloshing about and the flow of oil into the oil intake pipe to get sucked up and go through the pump and end up as bits of metal in the oil filter.

To obtain some level of comfort things are not about to go to heck your brother in law can arrange to have the oil filter housing removed and the oil and filter dumped out into a *clean* drain pan. If there is metal in this relatively fresh oil and if it is ferrous then this is cause for concern.

There can be cause for concern if the material is not ferrous or even if it is not metal.

F3RNANDO

5,186 posts

208 months

Saturday 15th December 2012
quotequote all
steve singh said:
Magic919 said:
I guess some people have hit the Xmas booze a bit early.
Whilst it's a tell tale sign - i'm now assuming from your post the cayenne's do not have ims's?
Classic Pistonheads!!

steve singh

3,995 posts

203 months

Saturday 15th December 2012
quotequote all
F3RNANDO said:
steve singh said:
Magic919 said:
I guess some people have hit the Xmas booze a bit early.
Whilst it's a tell tale sign - i'm now assuming from your post the cayenne's do not have ims's?
Classic Pistonheads!!
Little knowledge is dangerous and all that lol !

belfry

Original Poster:

1,052 posts

212 months

Saturday 15th December 2012
quotequote all
My brother in law has just had the coil packs replaced in an attempt to cure lumpy running. However, he drove the car today and the lumpy idle became a lumpy running engine (except above 3,000rpm). And the yellow CEL light came on. He thinks that it's misfiring.

So, the coil packs have been replaced. Where should he look next. He won't be going back to the indie.

BIG GT2

348 posts

175 months

Saturday 15th December 2012
quotequote all
dont want to diagnose it on a computer but belfrys bro in laws car sounds like 2 cars ive saw over the last few years where a piston was starting to pick up on the bore. they both came in as misfires and wasnt the usual coils etc. they both had a ticking like a noisy follower if memory serves me right. i think they were both v8s but i might be wrong, have to see if the other guys at work can remember. get it checked asap

Rockster

1,515 posts

190 months

Sunday 16th December 2012
quotequote all
belfry said:
My brother in law has just had the coil packs replaced in an attempt to cure lumpy running. However, he drove the car today and the lumpy idle became a lumpy running engine (except above 3,000rpm). And the yellow CEL light came on. He thinks that it's misfiring.

So, the coil packs have been replaced. Where should he look next. He won't be going back to the indie.
Avoid running the engine. Unless your brother in law is a pretty good Porsche tech my advice is to flat bed the car to someone who is.

Without the error codes I can only guess and with them I can only guess a tiny bit better. Maybe.

Lumpy idle suggests to me VarioCam solenoid/actuator issues. But without the error codes...

belfry

Original Poster:

1,052 posts

212 months

Sunday 16th December 2012
quotequote all
He has the AA coming out this morning to read the fault codes. I will post them on here later.

But, with metal in the oil filter and a misfiring engine (that seems to get worse as it heats up) what is the worst that could be wrong. And what could it cost to rectify?

tr7v8

7,623 posts

258 months

Sunday 16th December 2012
quotequote all
belfry said:
He has the AA coming out this morning to read the fault codes. I will post them on here later.

But, with metal in the oil filter and a misfiring engine (that seems to get worse as it heats up) what is the worst that could be wrong. And what could it cost to rectify?
The worst but fairly rare occurence is piston failure which means new engine, it could be a lot of things but I'd not take the risk of using it, get it sent to someone who can properly diagnose it.

belfry

Original Poster:

1,052 posts

212 months

Sunday 16th December 2012
quotequote all
The AA came and checked the new coil packs and plugs. The OBD noted a misfire on No.6.
He ran the engine then disconnected the multi plug on cylinder 6.
No change in the way the engine idled.
He then disconnected the multi plug on number 7 and the engine note changed for the worse

So he removed the plug on number 6 and it was wet and covered in carbon (despite being new 50 miles ago) see photo

He replaced the plug and the misfire disappeared. He has suggested that my brother in law should also replace the possibly faulty, but new, coil pack on number 6 cylinder.

So fingers crossed that we have a simple and cheap solution.

belfry

Original Poster:

1,052 posts

212 months

Sunday 16th December 2012
quotequote all
Ok, so I have ordered him a new coil pack and spark plug.

anonymous-user

84 months

Sunday 16th December 2012
quotequote all
I like the gravel in that photy ^

Rockster

1,515 posts

190 months

Sunday 16th December 2012
quotequote all
belfry said:
The AA came and checked the new coil packs and plugs. The OBD noted a misfire on No.6.
He ran the engine then disconnected the multi plug on cylinder 6.
No change in the way the engine idled.
He then disconnected the multi plug on number 7 and the engine note changed for the worse

So he removed the plug on number 6 and it was wet and covered in carbon (despite being new 50 miles ago) see photo

He replaced the plug and the misfire disappeared. He has suggested that my brother in law should also replace the possibly faulty, but new, coil pack on number 6 cylinder.

So fingers crossed that we have a simple and cheap solution.
If the AA just reinstalled the 50 mile plug and the misfire went away the odds are the coil is ok it was just not connected properly at the wiring harness. Techs tell me more than a few perfectly fine coils get replaced not because they are bad but because they are not connected securely.

If the AA replaced the plug with a new one I'm impressed the AA guy carries that extensive a stock of plugs.

Gary11

4,163 posts

231 months

Monday 17th December 2012
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steve singh said:
+1
No it isnt IMS for sure!

belfry

Original Poster:

1,052 posts

212 months

Monday 17th December 2012
quotequote all
Rockster said:
If the AA replaced the plug with a new one I'm impressed the AA guy carries that extensive a stock of plugs.
I was impressed that the AA engineer decided to spend 45 minutes taking all the plastic covers off to reveal the coil packs so that he could check them.

I'm sure that most would have read the misfire code and recovered it to a dealer.

Top marks to the AA!