Debris in oil filter

[355]

I just did the first oil change on my '24 Integra 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.

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[TypeRD]

Oil is black after only 1000 miles? That’s kinda crazy. Using the stock air filter? How does the air filter look?

 

[355]

Yes and yes. This is the first thing I've done to the car so everything is stock including the air filter. I checked and the air filter and box is spotlessly clean. I've only owned the car for a month now.

 

[TypeRD]

What do those blue particles feel like? They’re difficult to see in the pics. They look like plastic.

I did a Google search for “plastic particles in engine oil filter” and it brought back a lot of info. Might need to narrow the search to “…Honda engines.” Sorry, that’s all I have. I’ve never seen this sort of thing before today and I’m afraid its going to take quite a bit of research to come up with a possible explanation.

 

[355]

They look and feel like thin plastic shavings or possibly paint. They do not crush easily or turn to powder when pressed and rubbed between my fingers.

My biggest fear is that there are larger pieces of this stuff that are getting caught in the oil pick up strainer in the sump and could eventually clog it so the engine would get starved of oil.

 

[355]

Does anyone know the color of the plastic timing chain tensioner pad or the chain guide in these engines? I'm just trying to think of plastic parts in the engine that could be getting chewed up.

 

[TypeRD]

Just for due diligence, have you talked to the dealership about your findings? You never know. Maybe they’ve seen this before and can provide some help.

 

[CTR]

Why are you changing your oil at 1000 miles and cutting apart the filter? Honda specs a certain factory fill oil that helps with break in that shouldn't be changed too early. Those are most likely pieces of silicone/RTV and the filter did its job of stopping them from going through the engine and turbo.

You have a brand new car with a warranty. Stop looking for problems.

 

[chopsuey34]

Why are you changing your oil at 1000 miles and cutting apart the filter? Honda specs a certain factory fill oil that helps with break in that shouldn't be changed too early. Those are most likely pieces of silicone/RTV and the filter did its job of stopping them from going through the engine and turbo.

You have a brand new car with a warranty. Stop looking for problems.

Do you have a source for this? I hear this a lot, but haven't found any separate part numbers for the break-in oil in my research.

 

[chopsuey34]

They look and feel like thin plastic shavings or possibly paint. They do not crush easily or turn to powder when pressed and rubbed between my fingers.

My biggest fear is that there are larger pieces of this stuff that are getting caught in the oil pick up strainer in the sump and could eventually clog it so the engine would get starved of oil.

I agree with CTR, you are probably overthinking this. There will be some minor debris that is caught by the oil filter during the first 1-3 oil changes. Less of a concern with the 1.5T since they are not known to have RTV issues, however, if you were driving a BRZ/86 with the 2.4, I would start being concerned.

"You have a brand new (Honda) car with a warranty. Stop looking for problems."

 

[Ultimateone]

Why are you changing your oil at 1000 miles and cutting apart the filter? Honda specs a certain factory fill oil that helps with break in that shouldn't be changed too early. Those are most likely pieces of silicone/RTV and the filter did its job of stopping them from going through the engine and turbo.

You have a brand new car with a warranty. Stop looking for problems.

I think for the last 20+ years many car enthusiasts do oil changes at around 1k miles, this is not anything new at all.

 

[355]

I appreciate all the comments and I am not looking for problems, just trying to verify this isn't a problem. I tend to keep my cars for a long time and doing maintenance on them with my old school methods has made sure they were all in excellent condition throughout my ownership and didn't cause me any problems.

I also believe these new engines do not come with any special break in oil or additives because if they did Honda would specify an oil change at 500-1000 miles to remove that contaminated oil and replace it with their regular oil. Also there is no way these engines are already broken in or don't need to be broken in. The amount of metal trapped this filter media is proof of that.

My main concern right now is finding out what that blue stuff is and if it is normal. When rubbing it between my fingers it does not break down into smaller pieces and does not feel rubbery like RTV. It resembles plastic shavings or paint more than anything else.

I am also sending in a sample of the oil now so once have the oil analysis back I will take the filter media and the analysis to my dealer to at least get it into the records on my car that this was found early in case there are issues with the engine in the future.

 

[TypeRD]

Correct, engines are not broken-in at the factory.

Break-in Period for the K20C1 :
1000 km (~620 mi). I’d assume the 1.5 turbo is similar, but check the owner’s manual.

First oil change recommendation : After break-in. YMMV based on driving habits, tracking, etc.

 

[CTR]

I kept my factory fill oil in my FL5 until about 4000 miles. From everything I’ve seen and heard (I don’t have a source) Honda fills the engine from the factory with a special blend intended for the initial break-in period which isn’t necessarily the first 600 miles. Unless you are going to the track right after break in I don’t really understand why you wouldn’t trust one of the largest and most reliable ICE manufacturers in the world. Their engineers have probably spent hundreds of hours researching and testing which oil additives are best for that first 5000 miles.

20 years ago it might have made sense to change the oil early but now with modern engine manufacturing and the knowledge gained in this time period I think it’s probably more of a detriment to change it early.

You can do what you want with your car but you might be the first customer to walk into a dealership with a cut open oil filter on a brand new car.

Just out of curiosity, how did you cut open the filter? OEM filters are blue.

 

[355]

I used a standard oil filter cutter with cutting discs that slice through the can and don't leave metal shavings or paint residue. I had initially thought that I had possibly contaminated the media with paint from the can but once I saw how the majority of the blue flecks were on the inside creases of the media I knew it wasn't paint from the can. I also checked the can and cutter and it was a clean slice with no paint flaking off the can or paint particles left on the cutter wheels.

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