Metal in oil - what next?
 

I’ve got a 2014 86 I’ve had for 10 years since it was new. Engine mod wise it’s got headers and an ecutek tune and a water/oil style oiler cooler but engine is otherwise pretty stock. From time to time over the years I’ve seen very small amounts of metal in the oil but nothing concerning, a tiny fleck here or there. About 1000km ago there was a bit more that usual that had me concerned.

I do the occasional track day, once or twice a year, and I’m pretty careful with the car. I always use full synthetic 5w-30 on the track, and even mostly driving around town.

Photos are here: https://imgur.com/a/z5xSJjm

I opened the filter and it was clean, I changed the oil, drove it another 1000km, changed the oil again (this time by a mechanic) and have got an oil analysis done. The oil analysis came back normal.

Where to from here? Anyone experience similar issues? I’m at a loss on what to do?

Used oil analysis would be a good idea.

Keep driving and submit another sample from the same fill after a few thousand miles. Look for changes.

Do you mean with more than 1000km on it? I’ll change it after a bit longer next time an do another one.

Put some time on the current oil change and do one like Ultra said above. It doesn’t have to be an end of service interval change but you want some miles. They will be able to tell you what kind of metal is in it and if it is higher then it should be.

You might use a magnetic oil plug too.

5w30 seems a little light to me for track use, even though you have an oil cooler.

What would you recommend?

I`m sure he will say 5w-40.

Is it the JR radiator, by chance?

No it’s just the Cusco GR86/Forester style cooler.

I think some use straight 40w. I haven't tracked mine so I can't speak from personal experience. Is that forester cooler as robust as something like a Perrin? What temps are you running on track?

The 2 in 1 temp and pressure gauge I’ve got codes show a straight temp reading, just a light bar around the circumference of the gauge in green, orange and red. I’ve got it set to 120 degrees Celsius for hitting the red, so I know when I hit that, I’ve got about 1 lap before a cooldown but I understand a good synthetic oil will be able to handle that pretty well. I’m really monitoring the pressure more than the temp. I’ve never noticed any issues with pressure.

As for the robustness of the cooler, I think it’s probably good for about 5 degrees Celsius cooler temps overall based on manufacturer spec. The reason I got it was because I didn’t want to have to block the radiator or cut out the fog light in the bumper for an air oil cooler.