Do my filings look big in this?

[88V8]

Gearbox & J-type working fine, no funny noises.

57,000 from new, of which 10,000 over the three years of our ownership.

 

Renewed the oil as soon as I bought the car of course, now drained it for the second time.

Not that all the oil has been in there 10,000 miles, it self-refreshes by a healthy rate of leakage.

 

Anyway, here's 10,000 miles worth of filings.

Normal, would you reckon?

 

Ivor

 

 

[rpurchon]

yes looks usual. when the oil turns grey its bad news.

richard

[john.r.davies]

Ivor,

If you wash that plug gently in degreaser and then rub the 'filings' between your fingers, you will find that what appears to be jagged swarf is the finest dust, like talcum powder. The magnetic field makes the steel dust form the spikes and makes it look much more fearsome than it is.

 

Here's mine after rather longer.

 

John

[88V8]

Here's mine after rather longer.

 

Fantastic - only needs a broomstick

 

Ivor

[Nick Jones]

Looks ok to me. Stray ball bearings or half-rollers are not a good sign.......

 

Nick

[88V8]

Looks ok to me. Stray ball bearings or half-rollers are not a good sign.......

 

First time I drained the box in my previous Landy, half a tooth fell out. Hadn't noticed the ticking noise in 2nd before that, couldn't stop hearing it afterwards....

 

Ivor

[RogerH]

Hi Ivor,

as John suggests wash the plug tip, I use petrol (hold hexhead and gently wave plug through the liquid) allow to dry.

You can then stick the filings to the glue side of some Sellotape.

This can then be viewed through a modest microscope. Again, as John says it will be dust like particles.

If you happen to have an X-ray spectrometer you could assess what type of metal it is and from where (perhaps not!!).

 

Roger