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Ok guys, what am I dealing with here? Took the ISF in for an oil change and my mechanic showed me tiny metal particles in my oil, and the color looks really weird too. The car has just over 190,000KM on it (118K miles). Any guesses??
Hopefully you're radiator isn't busted somewhere if you're running the OEM one. The OEM radiator acts like a cooler for the engine and transmission combo. Might be wording it incorrect but you night have coolant mixed in with the oil.
Yikes, if that yellowish color is what is being drained out from the oil pan, that’s not good. And…. wouldn’t the mechanic know???
Post above this one could be on the right path, coolant mixed with oil somehow, so take it to another mechanic who will diagnose it correctly vs showing you.
Step 1- get new mechanic. He should be able to diagnose this way easier then a forum online.
I can’t say for sure from my seat, but your motor looks to be in dire straights. Chunky metal pieces that are visible to the eye are never good. Those look rather large. Do you have a rod knock? Are you sure it’s metal and not plastic?
Easy guys. He's still working on it now, and he's a Lexus Master tech. I just posted the initial pictures to get some opinions, and to see if anyone else has ever run into this.
Based on Google photos of coolant mixed with motor oil, it's the same color and look as what you posted. My best guess from this end is you have coolant getting mixed in your engine oil from somewhere. I would have him check the radiator. Chances of that bad mixture made it into your transmission is high as well.
Ah, apologies.
This would probably be the first in the forum with metal pieces and engine oil contamination for an ISF.
Originally Posted by FastAsF
Easy guys. He's still working on it now, and he's a Lexus Master tech. I just posted the initial pictures to get some opinions, and to see if anyone else has ever run into this.
Based on Google photos of coolant mixed with motor oil, it's the same color and look as what you posted. My best guess from this end is you have coolant getting mixed in your engine oil from somewhere. I would have him check the radiator. Chances of that bad mixture made it into your transmission is high as well.
He's going to check the radiator to see if anything is happening there. I'm here for a transmission drain and fill too, and the transmission fluid looked fine other than being darker because of the age of it. To my knowledge it's never been changed.
If coolant is getting into the oil, wouldn't that look more like chocolate milk and foamy? My coolant resivoir is totally clean.
What oil were you running before RLI, and was this the first time you've run it?
I've been running RLI in both my 2URs without anything like this. Too bad you didn't pull a sample before it all drained out. Might have been helpful to send to Tribologik or someone on their level with ISO certification to determine what and how much is contaminating your oil. Off the cuff, it looks like coolant or possibly water. Is the engine 100% OEM? Are you running an AOS of some kind?
What oil were you running before RLI, and was this the first time you've run it?
I've been running RLI in both my 2URs without anything like this. Too bad you didn't pull a sample before it all drained out. Might have been helpful to send to Tribologik or someone on their level with ISO certification to determine what and how much is contaminating your oil. Off the cuff, it looks like coolant or possibly water. Is the engine 100% OEM? Are you running an AOS of some kind?
Im curious why you asked about an AOS? Could that be related?
There are a couple things that could be wrong here, and judging by the chunks of metal and the yellow oil color, it would look as though the oil may be diluted. What I can think of off the top of my head is perhaps a blown head gasket (unlikely, I've never heard of that failing on these cars), an engine oil cooler leak (allowing coolant to get into the oil), or as Lobux suggested, something about an AOS (you never know with AOS systems, I've heard some strange stories about those things.)
He's going to check the radiator to see if anything is happening there. I'm here for a transmission drain and fill too, and the transmission fluid looked fine other than being darker because of the age of it. To my knowledge it's never been changed.
If coolant is getting into the oil, wouldn't that look more like chocolate milk and foamy? My coolant resivoir is totally clean.
There have been 2 or 3 reports of euro spec cars that have had cross contamination when the radiator failed. However, a radiator failure is going to contaminate the trans fluid and the coolant, not the engine oil.