**Fine metal flakes in Engine Oil***
Thread Starter
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Stage IV
Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
From: San Diego
**Fine metal flakes in Engine Oil***
Hi everyone,
I'm pretty concerned, so I changed my engine oil and after a couple of rides I checked the level and noticed it was a little high, I proceeded to drain a little and noticed a big amount of metal particles, I had a high intensity light and was able to clearly see it. The particles were very fine just like gold dust. is this something I need to be concerned? should I have to take immediate action? Does anyone have an idea what could it be?
I'm pretty concerned, so I changed my engine oil and after a couple of rides I checked the level and noticed it was a little high, I proceeded to drain a little and noticed a big amount of metal particles, I had a high intensity light and was able to clearly see it. The particles were very fine just like gold dust. is this something I need to be concerned? should I have to take immediate action? Does anyone have an idea what could it be?
Thread Starter
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Stage IV
Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
From: San Diego
Unfortunately I did not take pictures but it looked like glitter, I drained a half a qt. only and it was all over. I did not see how the plug looked like since I put it right back, I noticed the metal particles as I was emptying the oil into a container, it was night time and I had a pretty bright light, so as it shined the oil that's when I noticed. Should I have to entirely drain the oil and get a new oil filter?
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 4,440
Likes: 148
From: Northwest
Or are you really saying, "I changed my oil, and noticed after a couple of rides, that I over-filled it"
On to the particles... were they the color of gold dust, or were they bright like silver?
Thread Starter
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Stage IV
Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
From: San Diego
I originally changed my oil as part of the 10K maintenance, but I drained it because I did overfill it by less than a qt. I didn't have time to drained the same day so after a couple of rides I drained and that's when I found the metal particles, the color is silver, I will put a magnet and determine if are magnetic.
Road Master
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,023
Likes: 138
From: here
I think what the guys are trying to tell you is gold-ish is probably brass = bushings etc. more than likely normal unless it's excess as in leaving sediment in the bottom of your pan. Silver-ish = metal = steal or aluminum = bad. Steal would stick to the drain plug magnet, best bet if you're really concerned is sacrifice the oil and see if there's anything sticking to the magnet on the drain plug.
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Novice
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 17
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From: lula GA.
I went through the same thing with HD synthetic oil. I drained it out of the motor cycle and changed it again and check it after a couple of hundred miles and could see like glitter in the oil. So I used a clear container and checked a new quart of HD oil and sure enough it is an additive they put into their oil. I do not know the purpose of this, but it is scary to see at first.
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From: SWFL
I went through the same thing with HD synthetic oil. I drained it out of the motor cycle and changed it again and check it after a couple of hundred miles and could see like glitter in the oil. So I used a clear container and checked a new quart of HD oil and sure enough it is an additive they put into their oil. I do not know the purpose of this, but it is scary to see at first.
