just changed oil noticed shavings

[jordanv3122]

my 08 wr250x has just over 2k miles and i just changed the oil and filter and noticed in the old oil there is a few very small silver shavings... is this something to worry about?? it seems to run fine. i just happened to notice it when i was pouring my old oil in a jug and the very last bit of oil in my pan had the small silver shavings in it.

[tdreyer]

Probably just leftover junk from the engine wearing in and assembly. Did you buy it new, does it still have a warranty? 2k is just beginning to get the thing broken in.

My .02¢

[jordanv3122]

i think the warranty is expired. i bought it from a dealership im the second owner the first guy bought it from the same dealer and swapped off for a yz250. i have all his the receipts the dealer did all the oil changes.

[GOLDS]

Are they magnetic? if not, they are probably aluminum from the clutch, nothing to worry about, lots of bikes do it.

[jordanv3122]

im not sure i can find out. just use a regular magnet and see if they stick? i couldnt find my drain pan i used a regular little bucked so they are easy to find lol.

[450XSM]

It's normal for any bike to have fine shavings at virtually every oil change. You only need to worrry if they start becoming larger chunks. I still get a few fine silver savings on my '05 450X and my transmission is just as smooth as ever.

[JSLincks]

Ditto on the small shavings ... not a concern
Large chips ... usually means bearing material ... that I would worry about.

[jordanv3122]

how big do they need to be for me to worry? the biggest on i have is probably the size of the tip of a very sharp pencil or maybe ball point pen tip.. just a rough estimate im not good with sizing things up that up that small lol kinda tricky

[manganos]

You are fine.

[uberninja]

You're good.

But if you're really paranoid about this... make sure you drain your next batch of dirty oil into a spotless container. Pyrex or glass pitchers work well. Drain the oil, making sure it doesn't touch anything contaminated (dirty motor cases, etc) then pour the oil from one super clean container, through a filter (coffee filters work ok) set up inside a super clean funnel, into another superclean glass container. Examine the residue inside the first container. Examine the residue inside the filter. Run a magnet through all, and see what turns up. Slivers are ok, 3 deminsional chunks of almost any size are not. Send the whole mess to an oil analysis lab and have them tell you exactly what has happened (there are .03 grams of bronze, 1 gram of aluminum, and the oil has degraded from a XYZ weight to a ABC weight in service. All of your anti-wear additives are depleted, and your detergents are still intact..... blah, blah, blah.)

You'll drive yourself crazy if you spend any time thinking about oil. Just keep doing what you're doing, and take a peek at it every now and then.

[Goosedog]

Get a magnetic drain plug if the bike doesn't have one already. That will show you just how much debri is not aluminum clutch slivers. You can also dissect your oil filter by cutting off the metal ends and rolling out the paper element on your work bench to get a better idea of what's going on. Like everyone else said though, don't sweat the small stuff.

[Orangeshirtdude]

First time I noticed very fine flecks on the bottom of my oil drain pan after changing the oil in my zx10r, I freaked out a little. However, everyone told me it was typical and nothing to worry about. One benefit to changing your own oil all the time is that you can monitor for these things. Any sudden changes in how much, size, or how magnetic could be a warning sign.

[uberninja]

One benefit to changing your own oil all the time is that you can monitor for these things. Any sudden changes in how much, size, or how magnetic could be a warning sign.

D Skippy on that. And you don't have Mongo the shop gorilla putting your filter on at 1billion FT/LBs.

[jordanv3122]

D Skippy on that. And you don't have Mongo the shop gorilla putting your filter on at 1billion FT/LBs.

i actually had to tap my drain bolt with a hammer few times to loosen it up to get it off. the guy before me had the dealer do all the service work and they must have had mongo tightening up the bolts haha.