Glittery Oil

[53D Scrambler]

Well, I have been looking closely at my oil since the last change and am getting the type of confirmation that I didn't want to have. Looks like there are about a dozen - 2 dozen small flakes with a couple larger slivers of silver and copper color in the oil. Largest sliver is appx 2mm long and as wide as a pencil tip and as thick as a piece of paper. The engine is a 4.2l with 205,000 on it since new and about 70,000 since the previous owner said it was "rebuilt." I can say that if it was rebuilt in the same way the rest of the jeep was "restored" before I got it then I don't expect much was done to it at all. I can't believe that it may have been more than a top end rebuild however I doubt that because there is a pretty good lifter-tap that changes with RPM.

If anyone has more specific info on what I am looking at here or what the best course of action to verify the cause, I would appreciate it. The engine runs great, 60psi oil pressure at cold idle, 25 psi at warm idle, and 50psi at operating RPM.

 

[Mancunian]

You may have binned them, it may help to know if they are magnetic. Do you have a magnet on the drain plug? Silver-copper sounds like bearing material. Purely a guess that this is a manual and the thrust bearing has worn.
Good luck.

 

[mhinchliffe]

How would material from the thrust bearing get into the motor oil?
Have you recently overheated, run low on oil or anything that could have starved/damaged bearings?
Any new noises/whines?

 

[ag4ever]

Thrust bearing is one of the crankshaft bearings, not the same as a throwout bearing.

Silver flakes usually means bearings, should not be “ferrous” thus won’t be attracted by a magnet.

Best to cut open the oil filter and see what is on the paper between the pleats. Careful when cutting that you don’t contaminate it with iron cuttings from a saw.

 

[53D Scrambler]

Thanks everyone. No the engine has never overheated or been low on oil, it has run flawlessly ever since the restoration. No guarantees on what happened before I got it though. I will do a short duration oil change in the next month or two after some driving and see what is going on that time. My wife is upset that my "Jeep may be broken," but I am already looking towards the future possibilities!

 

[ag4ever]

Blackstone Oil Test Lab

It is always good to get a baseline oil analysis, then if you see a funky oil change you can then send in a sample to see what has changed. I was doing them on a 2002 F-250 7.3 I had years ago to be sure everything was good, but I was planning to keep it a long time. (Plans changed) They use (or did) a double bottle setup for mailing it in. First bottle had the oil, it was placed (inside a zip lock bag) in the second bottle with the paperwork and your check for the service. Tape the lid shut, then a mailing label with stamps to send it via USPS. Few weeks later you would get the report.

You might send a sample in to see if there are abnormally high metal readings, might also send a sample of the virgin oil to compare clean vs used.

 

[scramcraz]

I would doubt the bearings are failing because your oil pressure is very good. But Ag4ever is correct, have an analysis done to see what metals are there in what concentrations. Change again in one month and compare.

 

[53D Scrambler]

I will be taking both your advise....Let you know what I find out in a few weeks.

 

[spankrjs]

I used Blackstone Labs a few years back to help identify what the AMC T5 lubricant actually is. I recommend them

 

[ag4ever]

I used Blackstone Labs a few years back to help identify what the AMC T5 lubricant actually is. I recommend them

So ... what was the AMC T5 fluid? I think I was running atf in mine and never had issues.

 

[barrys]

I run mercron/dextron stuff in my mustang's T5. Thought thats what they all used.

 

[spankrjs]

Post #224 has a picture of the report

https://www.cj-8.com/threads/spankrjss-biloxi-ms-83-scrambler.23045/page-12

 

[spankrjs]

I run mercron/dextron stuff in my mustang's T5. Thought thats what they all used.

World Class T5's use ATF, Non-World Class is a whole entire debate LOL.

 

[Ron84cj]

Usually if your main bearings are failing it will cause low oil pressure. Not the case with rod bearings. You could have a serious rod knock and your oil pressure could still be good. There are a lot of shade tree mechanics out there that will only replace the bearings without even having the crank polished at a minimum and call it a rebuild.