Metal shavings in oil

[Woofwoof]

Brand new Corolla (10 days old - 544 miles)

checked the oil level with dipstick and a tissue and found little metal filings in the oil.

called my dealer they’re not sure if they can provide a courtesy car but apparently it’s not meant to be like that.

what the story?

FYI the car has not been driven harshly or rapid acceleration until 400 miles

car hasn’t been above 75mph ever even

usually kept it under 60

[Tomv]

Is it not only some "metal dust" that comes from the dipstick rubbing against the wall of the tube that you put the dipstick in?

 

[Woofwoof]

10 minutes ago, Tomv said:

Is it not only some "metal dust" that comes from the dipstick rubbing against the wall of the tube that you put the dipstick in?

 

Hope it is

[Woofwoof]

Toyota didn’t seem to think that that was the story

i was wondering if it’s typical break in situatio 

[Yugguy1970]

You can get some small swarf from the engine components breaking in with each other, but I'd have thought this would be caught by the filter.

[TonyHSD]

Dipstick issue most likely. But it is a brand new car. Just enjoy it and do regular oil checks, listen for unusual engine noises, if anything goes wrong you will notice and Toyota will take care of you. What engine is btw? 

[FROSTYBALLS]

2 hours ago, Woofwoof said:

Brand new Corolla (10 days old)

Would be helpful to members to update your profile (ie. hatchback, Touring Sport, trim level, engine size, etc, and presumably it was first registered in 2022, rather than 2021 as per your profile).

[Woofwoof]

29 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Dipstick issue most likely. But it is a brand new car. Just enjoy it and do regular oil checks, listen for unusual engine noises, if anything goes wrong you will notice and Toyota will take care of you. What engine is btw? 

1.8 hybrid

wasn't there when I checked the dipstick upon delivery

checked today and it had little tiny shavings most less than a mm in length

cleaned it and checked again, slightly less but still little shavings (mainly on 1 side of the dipstick) with 1 shaving about 5-8mm in length and took a pic (above)

[Woofwoof]

32 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Dipstick issue most likely. But it is a brand new car. Just enjoy it and do regular oil checks, listen for unusual engine noises, if anything goes wrong you will notice and Toyota will take care of you. What engine is btw? 

Wdym by dispstick issue?

[Woofwoof]

Thanks for your help

[Woofwoof]

AA just came out

decided it wasn’t metal, not magnetic and didn’t look metallic

he thought it was prob paint from the dipstick tube or something 

Never heard of it but I don’t work in cars so…

[TonyHSD]

9 minutes ago, Woofwoof said:

AA just came out

decided it wasn’t metal, not magnetic and didn’t look metallic

he thought it was prob paint from the dipstick tube or something 

Never heard of it but I don’t work in cars so…

Metal shavings from the the dipstick tube which is made from soft material where the dipstick itself is hard stainless steel metal and because of the bending when pushed in. Happens to all Toyota cars. Next surprise will be difficult to read properly your oil level., best to check on cold engine without wiping the dipstick, just park your car on level ground and check next morning, pull out and read then you can wipe and put back in. 👍

[Cyker]

It might be normal? A lot of people (Who are suddenly new car experts when they hear you bought a new car  ) told me I should do an early service, as when cars are new from factory a lot of the initial running in can dump a lot of crap into the oil so after say 5k miles it'd be a good idea to change the oil and filter.

Don't know how true this is tho'... I've never had a new car before this one!!

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

14 hours ago, Cyker said:

I should do an early service, as when cars are new from factory a lot of the initial running in can dump a lot of crap into the oil so after say 5k miles it'd be a good idea to change the oil and filter.

Up to the start of the 90's, an oil change at 500-1000 miles (depending on manufacturer) was the norm. Nissan (which were our first new cars) used to use a light oil for the factory fill, that had to be replaced with standard oil around this mileage. 

All our other new cars since have just had the usual first service when it was due - ie every 12 months.

 

[Cyker]

Ah that might be where that has come from then... all the people that told me this were of the older persuasion  

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

7 minutes ago, Cyker said:

all the people that told me this were of the older persuasion  

Mind you I remember when services were due at 6 months/6,000 miles. 

Think Honda were one of the last manufacturers to move to 12 month/10-12,000 mile servicing. The Honda Concerto 1.5 we bought new in '94, had 6 month/6,000 mile service intervals.

[Cyker]

I think that's still a thing in the USA (i.e. 6mo/5k mile service intervals)

[Bernard Foy]

2 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Mind you I remember when services were due at 6 months/6,000 miles. 

Think Honda were one of the last manufacturers to move to 12 month/10-12,000 mile servicing. The Honda Concerto 1.5 we bought new in '94, had 6 month/6,000 mile service intervals.

As you mentioned Honda, the little Honda 50 was a tiny four stroke engine and didn’t have an oil filter but oil drain bung was magnetized and captured the minute particles of metal in the oil during the running in period.

[Saxmaniac]

9 hours ago, Cyker said:

It might be normal? A lot of people (Who are suddenly new car experts when they hear you bought a new car  ) told me I should do an early service, as when cars are new from factory a lot of the initial running in can dump a lot of crap into the oil so after say 5k miles it'd be a good idea to change the oil and filter.

Don't know how true this is tho'... I've never had a new car before this one!!

 

Car care nut channel in USA is a Toyota master tech giving loads of advice, he's recommending break in oil change at 1000 miles plus adamant about 5k oil changes unless the car does nothing else than starting every day and running long distances which is not the norm for most people. He's advising for people who want to keep the car long term, and the manufacturer recommended intervals are partly driven by marketing concerns and are the minimum needed to get the car through the expected lifetime. It's up to you whether you regard this as OTT, and if you simply keep a car a few years and move it on, it's not your problem if it's burning oil at 150k. So it's up to you in the end. Years ago,on new cars and bikes with magnetic sump plugs it was normal to see iron filings on the plug, this reduces with every oil change as parts bed in

[Yugguy1970]

I'm a slightly obsessive checker even of new cars and I've not seen stuff like that often.

[FROSTYBALLS]

1 hour ago, Saxmaniac said:

Car care nut channel in USA is a Toyota master tech giving loads of advice, he's recommending break in oil change at 1000 miles plus adamant about 5k oil changes

You have to bear in mind that he is in the US and there Toyota recommended servicing is every 6 months/5,000 miles, so he isn't offering anything new - 

"In most cases, Toyota recommends that Toyota owners schedule a service appointment every six months or 5000 miles, whichever comes first."

https://www.toyota.com/owners/parts-service/maintenance-schedule

[Rambler56]

Just get a sample of oil analysed to prove/disprove any issues rather than just talking to the dealer/service dept.  Millers are UK only but no doubt other countries have companies that offer a similar service.  You tell them how many miles the oil has done and they give you a complete breakdown of the sample, levels of each/any contaminants, and whether the oil is still within tolerance.  I had to use their services for a new Disco Sport with rampant oil dilution problems (a known problem on transverse Ingenium engines) to ensure I wasn't fobbed off at the dealers.

 

[Snowstorm3611]

Just sat here reading this topic & having a little chuckle to myself. My Corolla is 11 months old & has 6500 miles on the clock & I’ve never so much as located the bonnet catch 😳. It’s in for it’s yearly service next month & I will let the garage worry about it. Am I bad?? 

[TonyHSD]

32 minutes ago, Snowstorm3611 said:

Just sat here reading this topic & having a little chuckle to myself. My Corolla is 11 months old & has 6500 miles on the clock & I’ve never so much as located the bonnet catch 😳. It’s in for it’s yearly service next month & I will let the garage worry about it. Am I bad?? 

Well opening bonnet once in a while to check out all fluids level and appearance along with tyre pressures should be a part of the regular care and inspection every driver can do to maintain a healthy condition of its car regardless of her age.  How often will depend on personal circumstances, mileage, how and where the car been used. I personally do once or twice a week in case anything abnormal been happening I can see it earlier and deal with accordingly. This 1.8 Toyota engines are bulletproof and there is no need for any worries., plus you can see these are very tiny hair like shelvings most likely from the dipstick scratching  inner wall of the tube. I also found these previously plus when the car gets older like 5 years or so and accumulate a bit of carbon you may also find some hard black particles, also not an issue, they will come off the sump with your next oil change. 👍

[Cyker]

I normally check at least once a month although I've been slacking with the Mk4 (To balance that out I was checking every week with the oil-guzzling Mk2!).

I did today tho' just to add some pressure to the tyres (All the potholes and terrible roads seem to be making me lose about 5 psi a month!). No oil used at all which is still a nice novelty compared to the Mk2! All fluids still at the optimal level, cleaned out a few spider webs, everything peachy!

There was one weird anomaly tho - For some reason there is a metric buttload of sand on everything in the engine bay! Every crevice and nook had sand in it - Where did it come from? How did it get in there?!

I tried to vacuum it out but there are a lot of places just too tight so I had to resort to compressed air to try and dislodge most of it (esp. under the AC pipes where the engine mounts are.)

I really don't understand how so much of it has gotten in there tho'! I know we've had gale force winds lately but even so...!