Just found metal Shavings in oil at 82k miles

[Aclosefriend]

I bought my 2008 HB 1.5 years ago with 65k miles. When I bought it I immediately changed the oil to mobil 1 extended 5w30 while using Toyota filters. I have been changing myself ~every 5k miles.

3k miles ago I was in a pinch on a long road trip and got it changed at a quick oil change place. They wanted $100 for synthetic which was outrageous so I decided to be a cheap ass and just pay $50 for their mobil High Mileage dino oil.

I put 3k miles on it since Christmas, mostly highway. The majority of the driving was probably 75-80 mph which is way more than the car is accustomed to. The thing has been running like a champ as far as I could tell.

I changed the oil today (82k miles) and it wasn't sparkly, but when I poured the drip pan out I noticed a few shavings in there at the bottom. Like 6 or 7 shavings that were maybe 1/4" long.

Is this a cause for concern?
How bad is it that I changed to synthetic, to dino, then back to synthetic? I've read that it is fine to do it, I've also read that it is not fine.

[tmontague]

First of all, why the hell are you changing extended change syn. oil at 5k miles?! If a $100 oil change is considered too much then you obviously care about where your money goes so stop changing your oil in perfectly good condition, or give it to someone else who can use it for another 5k miles.

Now that that is out of the way, you are fine going from a dino to syn oil and vise versa. I used to do it in my '02 Echo every winter and never had any leaks from it at 380k km.

I'd personally be concerned about the metal and would run a used oil analysis on the oil to see what that's all about. Are you sure the drain pan was completely clean before hand? Your be surprised how crap in the drain pan hides until it discovered in shiny oil.

Fwiw I am running Mobil 1 0w30 synthetic (not extended) at 15k km oil change intervals and according to oil analysis it is not an issue.

[Aclosefriend]

I started using extended performance right off the bat and wanted to get a few cycles through before going 10k miles on it. Obviously that logic is flawed by letting someone else put dino in it....

Its the same price as any of the other Mobil 1s so there is no waste of money there. Have you ever gone significantly more than 5k miles on synthetic in the yaris?

One thing I just remembered is that I did jack up the driver side of the car really high after most of the oil was out to make sure and get it all. A decent bit more came out after I did this. Maybe it just captured some junk that was sitting in the pan from a while ago.

[CoryM]

Originally Posted by Aclosefriend

Like 6 or 7 shavings that were maybe 1/4" long.

I would guess those are the threads from the drain-plug and/or the oil-pan. Typically very sharp, and rough. Means the bolt has been overtightened and thread damage has occurred. Engine wear tends to be just little sparkly bits that you can't even feel, and if they are big enough to feel it's usually obvious elsewhere there is a problem.

[bronsin]

+1 to above

[malibuguy]

I immediately thought drain threads too.

I would not be too alarmed...and obviously you were able to tighten it back up.

[dogsridewith]

There are wheel cutters to open the oil filter...don't want to introduce hacksaw chips to the reading.

[SirDigby]

Originally Posted by Aclosefriend

Its the same price as any of the other Mobil 1s so there is no waste of money there. Have you ever gone significantly more than 5k miles on synthetic in the yaris?

that's funny about price. I needed a filter a week ago. I went to autozone to get a bosch filter. filter was $15. (!? Toyota one is like $7) it was $16 more for 5 quarts of extended syn. so now I have a cupboard full of oil! (12 qts)

going more than 5000 miles is ok, but it depends on the time frame. I would recommend changing your oil at least once a year, regardless of millage. (blow-by, moisture, gasoline, etc.) if you do cross country treks, you could push this oil to 15,000 and beyond, especially if you use BG MOA. (I would not. I don't want any issues)