How long will oil be shiny after rebuild
 

Hi,

I recently had my 1985 911 engine rebuilt by a local shop.

After I drove it I drained the oil and it had a "shiny" look to it, a metallic sparkle which I assume is normal after a complete rebuild. Haven't had a chance to drive it much but this weekend I took it for a spirited drive for about an hour and found the same amount of sparkle in the oil after draining it. Thinking the worst I opened the oil filter and much to my relief found nothing in it.

However I'm concerned that with a total of about 200 miles on the engine and two oil changes the oil still has these sparkles in it. You can't see the bottom of a plastic container if the oil is about 1" deep.

Oil pressure is great. 5 bar at 3000RPM and 2 bar at idle when hot so that's also pretty good from what I read.

How long should I expect to see this? (Can't rest and the rebuilder told me this was pretty normal and that I should leave the oil in longer after that first change).

this brings up a question, which has probably answered here somewhere, does the filter take out all particals that are harmful, the ponit being all the oil should fairly quickly go through the filter

You did change the oil with non-detergent? You need to run non-detergent for 1000 miles and you will see the metalic in the oil at that change, you may see it longer.

is any of the sparkle from the assembly lube?

Subscribed! On my 3rd oil change after full 2.7L rebuild and got the same thing going on...probably 300 miles on it. Identical discription though.
Thanks,
Nabil

Hmmm, what's the micron rating on the oil filter?

The material in the initial oil changes is not necessarily metallic/aluminum etc. Assembly lube is the most likely content. The filter apparently doesn't take it out - it probably becomes less viscious when mixed with oil and warmed.

I am due for a forth oil change. I'm at about 5000 mi - 2 years.

A suggestion that made it easier for me to sleep at night - an oil analysis. It seems expensive but the report you will get is full of good information about a much more expensive investment, your engine.

I used these guys but there are others:
Blackstone Labs

It is even better if you submit several samples over a period of time because they review all your samples for trends, improvements after a rebuild, etc.

Mark

Staveleys , for me. Great oil analysis #s that are consistent. You'll get the metals breakdown that will correlate with specific component (wear)

She's gonna' want copious amounts of Zinc during her early seat-in (and oil change) period.

It would be quite interesting to get oil analysis data at tight intervals right after a full rebuild. I'd probably go anal about it and take 12 snapshots within 3K miles!!!!!!!!

Best,

Doyle

You like Staveleys better than Blackstone?

Is it recommended to add ZDDP, even to a good oil with 1200ppm, after a rebuild?

Yes.

No.

Doyle