I had an oil change done at the dealer last week. The car has 33,000km (~20,000 mi) on it. Regular maint with dealer stamps in the mainteance book every 6,000 km. They poured in regular 5w30 oil and replaced the filter. I drove on it a couple of days and decided it would be interesting to see if any metallic stuff came out with the initial few drops as I unscrewed the drain plug. To my shock that's exactly what happened. I saw a little bit of barely visible metallic, brass colored particles under very itense light with the initial seepage as I slowly unscrewed the plug. I'm worried.
Someone please tell me it's normal...
btw, I replaced the quart I drained off with Amsoil 5w30. (It says on the bottle you can mix it with ANY oil).
p.s. my car sounds like a rough-running V8 for the first 5-10 seconds on a cold start, then runs like a champ. Is that normal?
Thanks
LexiG37

 

So you knew that there was metallic stuff in the oil? I'm not sure the way it's worded, but I don't think that's normal.

 

A very fine metallic dust is normal, metal shavings are not. Sounds like you're seeing a very fine dust. You would easily notice shavings if there were any.

I wouldn't worry about it.

 

I didn't know about the metallic stuff. I wasn't expecting it either. Someone at work told me they found it their oil, so I wanted to see if my engine is OK...

 

Yeah, dust is a good description of what I saw. Anyways, I have lots of warranty left and I will only let Infiniti work on my car just in case this thing decides to eat its bearings...

 

drain your oil and use a magnet to see exactly how much metal you see then go from there.

you can clean up the metal and pour that oil back in if you want.

 

As for the rougher idling for a few seconds at cold start, that's normal.

 

Phew, that's a relief!

 

I don't know about G's. But, I used to see the sort of thing you mentioned in oil often. It would show especially when some old oil is swirled in fresh, clear oil, in sunlight.
If you are really paranoid, you can change oil filters and cut the old one open to take a look. But IMHO, I think you are okay.

 

I am a bit paranoid. I think I'll take your advice and spin a new Nissan filter on, and dismember the old one for investigative purposes. I'll report back on my findings in a few days.

 

ya my car when cold start goes to about 1.6k rpms and starts to go down as it gets warmer, or i shift into first

 

Mine too goes to 1600 rpm at first and that's pretty normal. But does yours sound rough for the first few secs?

 

If you're really interested in how much contamination you have, you could get a full used oil analysis (UOA). Catch a small sample during an oil change and send it off to allow the lab to do a full analysis. It's the only way to get a quantitative breakdown of what is going on inside your VQ37VHR.

 

Agreed. Blackstone comes to mind. Now that the postal strike in Canada is history (with the help of our gov't) I can send a sample in. My bro(industrial/mechanical engineer) can help me decipher the results.

 

An almost diesel engine sound seems to be normal for these cars on cold startup. Mine last for about 40 seconds before getting smooth and quiet. When I went in to complain at the dealership, they let me start up a couple of new Gs on the lot and they had the noise too. Oddly enough, it only happens in warm weather. In the winter, the car is much quieter on startup.