sort of like.. glitter? in my oil...

X

XCastleXJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Firestone Colorado
just did an oil change on my 2000 xj sport aith 86xxx miles on it.

when i was pouring the old oil out of what i drained it into, and into some empty oil jugs, as i got the the last bit of oil it looked like there was glitter in the old oil! ive never seen this is any of my 3 XJ's, and i think i remember reading something about it a while back but my searching gave me nothing.

input? please?
 
Definitely not something you wanna see.

How long have you had the XJ? How many oil changes have you done to it since owning it?

I'd invest in a magnetic oil pan bolt. That way you can actually put your fingers on the material to see size and composition of the material, and it keeps the stuff from recirculating.

Many times, a very light amount of sparkly stuff is common in the first 2 oil changes from a new/rebuilt engine, but after 86K, all the break in debris should have been purged.

You might consider letting the oil filter from this oil change drain out and then cut it open and look through the filter material to see what's caught up in it.
 
ive had the jeep since november. this is the 2nd oil change ive done on it. using 6 quarts of 10w-30 red top mobile oil and a K&N oil filter.

as far as the size goes, its not big. almost like dust. or the kind of really fine shimmer/glitter that girls wear.

material... idk. ive never seen steel dust before. but the color seems similar to a magneisium fire started i have (the kind you shave off and spark)

i tried to take some picture of the oil, but the clairity or the shimmer in the pitures is zero.

i havn't heard anything in the engine. no nock or tap or anything unusual. and it doesnt seem to run rough at all.

i'll try and dig out the old oil filter to cut it open and see whats inside.

im a bit terrified of driving it now. and this is my DD so i'll be in quite a bind if this is a huge issue and needs alot of work.




would it be worth it to do another oil change in a couple weeks (next warm weekend) to see if its still there and to put in a magnetic bolt?
 
Meh, put a NAPA Gold filter on, run a good quality 10w40 and drive it 'till it drops.
 
More than likely by the color you're describing, it's aluminum from the rod and cam bearings, steel dust would be shiny chrome-ish, aluminum will look like the gray metalic flake in a metalic paint job if you get what I'm saying.

Sparse amount throughout the oil is not likely a big deal, but if it's fairly thick in the oil, it may be a hint of a problem.

Keep an eye on the oil pressure gauge - might not hurt to invest in a new sending unit just to be on the safe side that the reading is accurate. Should run between 30-40 at idle, 50-60 above that.

Doing another oil change could never be a bad thing I don't think, but probably unnecessary. If you're quick, you shouldn't lose that much oil swapping out the oil plug bolt.
 
Bearings probably...... just a hunch
 
Would it be a good idea to attach several large magnets to the outside of your oil filter?

.
 
my oil pressure has been at +/- 40.

when i got in the jeep and started it last night i thought i heard a a little bit of a nock so i got out, opened the hood and tried to listen for it closer and couldnt hear anything when i was outside the jeep. when i got back in it sounded the same, like a bit of a nock. idk, maybe im just imagining it.
 
I would save a bit of the oil and get it analyzed. They can tell you exactly what you are seeing.

I also suspect bearings. Before driving it that much further, I would pull the pan and pull the rod and main caps to check for a galled bearing. It is pretty cheap to fix it now and damned expensive to fix later.
 
As far as the magnetic bolt, I have yet to change my oil (1990 bought in July08) but I have these really strong magnets that my dad gets from trashed harddrives at his work. These things can seriously hurt you finger if they pinch you. I put one on each drain plug (tranny, t-case, oil pan) so that i can trap any steel flakes. I think these magnets are way better than anything you can buy. just my 2 cents​
 
I'm not bragging, just saying that if you have any old computers (or you can ask your computer savvy friends for their old harddrives, lol), take the magnets out of the hard drive and use them. I would send some for free but dont have that many. They would also be great be for welding with heavier metal like for bumpers and stuff.

And if you get some dont let them touch any painted sheetmetal, it will be scratched by the time you get the magnet off.
 
Determining whether the material in the oil is steel is easy, put a small rare earth magnet (you can get a 10 pack, (HF) small and super powerful, at HF for around $2.00,) into the oil. When you pull the magnet out, steel particles will be attracted to and remain attached to the magnet. Most other stuff will run off.

If the shimmering material generally isn't attached to the magnet, it's either aluminum or more likely babbitt (wikipedia) from the bearings. Now, the bearings can be the cam bearings or main journal bearings. A problem with main or cam bearings won't manifest quickly if you have only one going bad because the sturdiness of the cam and crank will add load to neighboring bearings. But, if it's a rod bearing, you'll know soon since it can't share the load. It's not something you should disassemble the engine for this early on, I'd keep an eye on the oil, the oil pressure, etc. If you pick up a knocking noise that changes with revving the engine, it's probably a rod. If that happens, fix it early or you'll toss the rod and be replacing the engine!

Now, if it's steel.... You could have any number of things happening. A couple of which can be diagnosed with a compression/bleed down test including ring wear and cam lobe wear. You could have a problem with the distributor shaft or the actual gears within the oil pump.

Best of luck. Search online for motor oil analysis testing. (google) A hundred bucks for testing your oil could save you from having to replace a $2000 motor!

Rob
 
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