Debris in oil filter

[355]

I did the first oil change on my '24 A-Spec and found this when I cut open the oil filter and examined the filter media.

I have never seen anything like this in any filter I have cut open in the past much less one from a new car with only 1,000 miles on it. Have any of you seen all this debris in their oil filter before and what do you think all those blue flecks are? The entire filter was full of this stuff along with a fair amount of aluminum particles but thankfully no steel bits. At least the OEM Honda filter appears to be doing a good job of filtering the oil.

The oil was also very black and smelled heavily of fuel. I have been driving this car with mixed throttle openings, rpm and engine loading but not lugging, hammering it or running it to red line throughout the 1,000 miles. Is this normal for these 1.5L turbo engines? Seeing as the oil life minder says the original oil still has 90% life remaining, if I hadn't changed it now who knows how bad the oil would have been by the time Acura would have allowed me to have them change it with their free service and then they would have left the old filter in place. With this much debris at 1,000 miles by the time the filter got changed with their free service after two oil changes it would be plugged up and the bypass valve would open so it would have offered no oil filtration at all.

 

[jayy_swish]

Although A service is only an oil change in the books, I have yet to see an Acura dealer (at least in my experience) only do the oil change without the filter, that’s even with the free 2yr service.
As far as the contaminants can be hard to determine what it is, without some sort of analysis. Could be assembly lube but again just guesses at this point. As far as fuel smell in the oil that is common on a DI vehicle. Just cause it smells like fuel doesn’t mean it’s bad, only an oil analysis would tell you how good/bad the oil is. There is an “acceptable” amount of fuel that can be in the oil. A smell test & black oil color won’t do you much. Seeing how you only have 1,000 miles on the engine you would expect a lot of engine wear and metals as the engine breaks-in, as well as fuel. Driving it short trips as well as not getting the oil up to temps will only increase your fuel % in your oil. That is why I recommend driving the car hard every now and then to get the oil temperature hot enough where it can evaporate the fuel that is in the oil.

 

[355]

I have been driving the car far enough each time to make sure the oil gets good and hot so I don't think it's short trips causing excess fuel contamination and yes, I agree that black oil is to be expected along with some aluminum bits during break in.

Those findings aren't bothering me but all that blue crud is. I have removed some of it from the filter media and rubbed it between my fingers but still have no clue what it is. It doesn't feel rubbery like RTV gasket maker and is most like paint chips or plastic shavings. It's very thin, flat and does not easily crush into smaller pieces. My fear is if all this small stuff is in the filter there's a good chance larger pieces are trapped in the oil pick up strainer in the sump and could eventually cause oil starvation.

I have sent in an oil sample for analysis and expect a fair amount of normal break in contaminants and will do it again with the next oil change. Hopefully the contamination levels will drop with more hours on the engine.

Of course, when I bought the car and asked about the oil service, the dealer told me these engines are already broken in from Acura and don't need the oil changed for 8,000 to 10,000 miles, but this oil filter media says otherwise.

 

[crepr12]

I have never cut open a filter in my 45+ plus years of car ownership...what is the purpose of it?

 

[355]

It's common practice with aircraft engines whenever changing the oil. If gross amounts of metal are found in the filter the A&P mechanic will start checking various parts of the engine for abnormal wear and failure so as not to put the aircraft back into service and have the engine fail in flight.

It's just something I do with all my oil filters now after years of maintaining my old airplane engines and is a good indication of the health of the engine.

 

[jayy_swish]

I have been driving the car far enough each time to make sure the oil gets good and hot so I don't think it's short trips causing excess fuel contamination and yes, I agree that black oil is to be expected along with some aluminum bits during break in.

Those findings aren't bothering me but all that blue crud is. I have removed some of it from the filter media and rubbed it between my fingers but still have no clue what it is. It doesn't feel rubbery like RTV gasket maker and is most like paint chips or plastic shavings. It's very thin, flat and does not easily crush into smaller pieces. My fear is if all this small stuff is in the filter there's a good chance larger pieces are trapped in the oil pick up strainer in the sump and could eventually cause oil starvation.

I have sent in an oil sample for analysis and expect a fair amount of normal break in contaminants and will do it again with the next oil change. Hopefully the contamination levels will drop with more hours on the engine.

Of course, when I bought the car and asked about the oil service, the dealer told me these engines are already broken in from Acura and don't need the oil changed for 8,000 to 10,000 miles, but this oil filter media says otherwise.

I would just wait and see what the oil analysis says and then going from there.

Yeah that last part is a lie there is a 500mile engine break in period. That oil interval is a bit excessive and more of a ball park as the oil life changes depending on your driving habits, start/stops, etc. I think I got 15% in a little over 6,000 miles.

 

[355]

Yes, that's my plan and really about all I can do with it. The car has a powertrain warranty so the engine is covered and I'm sure Acura could care less until it blows up so I will just keep monitoring it.

My main question is whether anyone else has seen this blue colored debris with their new Integra and if they have, do they know what it is?

 

[Xcfool]

I observed an Acura dealership change the oil on my Aspec and leave the filter on my first "free service". I went to another dealer well before the monitor said it was due(around 15k) for the second change and fought with them to get the service done. Only after I told the GM another dealer didn't change the filter last time did he oblige me. But insisted the oil monitor knows best. Last month at 23,300 miles and 30% life 3 dealers refused to service it under warranty before it expired at 24k. So I happily did it myself as I had for 30 yrs prior.
Now I wish I had cut the filter open. Next time maybe.

 

[355]

Your experience with the included oil service is exactly what I was afraid would happen if I had just followed the oil life monitor and their maintenance schedule. I'm still an old school guy and believe there is no such thing as a new car from a volume manufacturer that has an engine in it that is already broken in or does not need to be broken in. I'm also sure they do not put any special break in oil in new engines these days and the factory fill is simply the same thin synthetic oil that they recommend for all the oil changes. The manufacturers that state these long oil service intervals can say it because they know exactly how long their engines will last with minimal service and by the time they go bad, the powertrain warranty will have expired so then they can sell you an expensive new engine or a new car.

 

[Fred 930]

I have never cut open a filter in my 45+ plus years of car ownership...what is the purpose of it?

Common practice for all race engines. Basically, you are visually looking for tiny bits of bad stuff - like bearing material or other "metal" deposits. You always hope to find nothing but oil. Oh - there are tools (with a cutting disk, not unlike a large copper tubing cutter) for opening up the filter without sawing it apart (which would obviously introduce metal fragments).

 

[355]

Yes, that exactly describes the oil filter cutting tool I use. It cleanly cuts the base of the filter off the can without producing any metal shards or paint flecks that might contaminate the filter media.

 

[lumper]

I have been driving the car far enough each time to make sure the oil gets good and hot so I don't think it's short trips causing excess fuel contamination and yes, I agree that black oil is to be expected along with some aluminum bits during break in.

Those findings aren't bothering me but all that blue crud is. I have removed some of it from the filter media and rubbed it between my fingers but still have no clue what it is. It doesn't feel rubbery like RTV gasket maker and is most like paint chips or plastic shavings. It's very thin, flat and does not easily crush into smaller pieces. My fear is if all this small stuff is in the filter there's a good chance larger pieces are trapped in the oil pick up strainer in the sump and could eventually cause oil starvation.

I have sent in an oil sample for analysis and expect a fair amount of normal break in contaminants and will do it again with the next oil change. Hopefully the contamination levels will drop with more hours on the engine.

Of course, when I bought the car and asked about the oil service, the dealer told me these engines are already broken in from Acura and don't need the oil changed for 8,000 to 10,000 miles, but this oil filter media says otherwise.

I think someone read in their manual or service book about the Acura break in period conditions, not to rev over 4k rpms within the first 1k miles no hard breaking etc.. so there are printed break in period things to do and watch for according to Acura's literature.

I have also heard others say that these engines come pre broken in, but I feel like, why take a chance, I enjoy breaking in a new motor and then doing the oil at 1k.
I know the 1.5 turbo motor is prone to oil dilution and carbon build up over time due to no port injection, but on a new motor I wouldn't expect to see signs of any of that already.
I wonder what the blue stuff is too, hopefully closer examination of it can reveal the source.

 

[355]

The more I examine the blue particles the more they seem to be blue plastic. I have been thinking about plastic internal engine parts Honda would use and the most likely to shred plastic parts in there would be timing chain guides or the face of the timing chain tensioner shoe. I have tried to look up photos of those parts, but can't find any for a 2023 or '24 engine. All of the ones for the older engines are a brown/tan color.