metal filings in the oil... Options??

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Originally Posted by tinkabell

the filings are very small, looks to be metal, thinking bearing has gone?? No real noises in the engine, does have a little shudder at times i've noticed recently but it's very slight at best. 255*** on it, rest of car is ok, has some of the usual dints and dings and issues for it's age, but otherwise fairly normal... I just did a run from brisbane up to central queensland and back on a camping trip with 7 on board and towing a 2t camper - bloody thing never missed a beat... only discovered it during an oil change.

i find a magnet and triple check - but almost certain it's metal. The filter was full of it and the oil was all nice and sparkly with filings when we dropped it out...

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That isn't sounding real good, and the worry is that if something fails it will be instantly catastrophic .... murphys law will have it fail when you are furthest from home to cost you more too....

If you have kept some of the oil along with the filter I would send it in for an oil test - don't think it will be great news, but it is better to know as soon as you can I guess

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Originally Posted by happygu

That isn't sounding real good, and the worry is that if something fails it will be instantly catastrophic .... murphys law will have it fail when you are furthest from home to cost you more too....

If you have kept some of the oil along with the filter I would send it in for an oil test - don't think it will be great news, but it is better to know as soon as you can I guess

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Ironically, my GQ always broke down either at home or just down the road, & still managed to drive it home by patching it up.
So, I reckon my GQ is immune to Murphy's law. :)

The fact is that the OP's gota confirm the stuff he found in oil are indeed metal scrapings. It is confirmed it's not steel so far.
What are the chances it can be an alloy?
This is the only chance I can think of.
The head was machined while ago and put back on without cleaning it properly.
That's the only scenario I can think of for the origin of those metal dust.
But, he's gota confirm it's metal first.

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Originally Posted by Ben-e-boy

Personally I would put a few more km's on this oil then drop it and send it away for analysis. It's fairly cheap. You'll get change from $50
Hastings deering should do it, most oil co-ops should be able to do it.

Its like a blood test for your engine and a very good preventitive maintenance tool. The analysis will tell you what the filings are and where they came from

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Hasting Deering would do it for around $50?
That sounds pretty good!!!

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Originally Posted by dom14

Ironically, my GQ always broke down either at home or just down the road, & still managed to drive it home by patching it up.
So, I reckon my GQ is immune Murphy's law. :)

The fact is that the OP's gota confirm the stuff he found in oil are indeed metal scrapings. It is confirmed it's not steel so far.
What are the chances it can be an alloy?
This is the only chance I can think of.
The head was machined while ago and put back on without cleaning it properly.
That's the only scenario I can think of for the origin of those metal dust.
But, he's gota confirm it's metal first.

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yeah i'll take some in for a metal test - but i'm 100% confident it's alloy... there is plenty of it through the old filter and on the old oil we tipped over a piece of cardboard (to soak up the oil and leave the chunks behind) the thinking is it one of the bimetal bearings that is on it's way out... even if it is confirmed to be say big end bearing or whatever, the fact that the motor has metal running through it kinda says "ur rooted - new motor" does it not?? hence the original question about my options...

i'll certainly take some in to get tested in the next day or so just to confirm what it is that has gone - so thanks for that suggestion, it will help the diagnosis definitely!! but the overall picture is still new block?

Yeah sadly it does not look good at all.
I take it you have serviced the Patrol every 5000K
you can run a bit over or at least change the filter.
With 255K on the clock you might expect something to fail

Yeah, I would go to panic mode if I found metal dust in the oil of my car.
Since you're certain it's metal, I wouldn't wait.
I dunno enough about diesel engine bottom ends to speculate where the alloy metal scrapings would come from.
May be a diesel guru here can post an opinion on that.
Apparently there are bimetal and trimetal bearings in engine cranks.
So, it's a good thing the engine is still running but will be a bad idea to keep running it if the metal scrapings are
from those bimetal bearings.

Better to drain all the oil and change the oil and the filter while examining the metal dust in the old oil.
If it's not a left over from an old head job, then it's not good news.
I would have the old oil and the metal dust analyzed straightaway.
Putting if off can end up costing real big money.
Diesel engine bottom end rebuilding is prohibitively expensive, most of the time you are better off buying a used engine.

yeah serviced regularly etc etc and all up to date... i've had it 6 yrs and haven't done the head etc so can't be remnants of that - especially given the quantity of it.

so then given we seem to agree i'm fairly screwed lol - back to my original question...

who's done the rebuild/replace with 2nd hand/crate/upgrade etc etc??? anything to be aware of? is one option better than another??? any recommendations for any options especially around nthside brisbane?

my mechanic can install a new motor etc obviously, but anyone got any ideas on where best to get a motor from? he's checking his contacts, but he's a close mate so we spoke about posting here etc to see if you mob had better (more cost effective?) options...I don't need to drive the car so apart from moving it from it's present location further into the yard (20feet) I can leave it alone until we have a scenario that works.

cheers for the discussion thus far lads!

Fleabay has these rebuild kits listed.
If you can do the job yourself, it's a big saving.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NISSAN-PA...item234da70780

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Nissan-Pa...item23555e1d85

or used engines,

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NISSAN-PA...item4199fe3bb2

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NISSAN-NA...item3f4b6d011b

Also check Bumtree. There're quite a few people sell their stuff there as well.

BTW, it's lot easier to replace the whole engine than rebuilding the old one, labour wise. All you need is an engine crane from super cheap or a hire one.
Advantage of rebuilding is that you have peace of mind for years to come. Considering you're not desperate to have the vehicle running straightaway, I would rebuild, provided you can keep the cost to a minimum. Otherwise, engine replacement is the easy and quick solution.