Small metal chips in motor oil

[fsh4eye]

I have me a 2007 Mercury 115 EFI 4stroke motor that I got new last year with my boat. This weekend I changed the oil for the first time. Motor has 27hrs on it. I noticed 2 small metal chips about 1/8” by 1/16” in my oil when was dumping the old oil from my catch pan to my storage jug. I also noticed some real small metal particles in the oil also. Not very many just a few. Has any one else noticed this when changing oil for the first time on a new outboard? Could this have been some particles that did not get cleaned out of the block when the motor was fabricated? The 2 bigger chips look like something that was created by a tap when you tap a hole in metal.

[Pooch]

Take the used oil to your dealer. I wouldn't start or run an engine that had any metal or even a hint of metal in the oil.

Pooch

[Flip Silverlake]

Finding a small amount of machining chips in the oil on the first change is not unusual. Finding chunks as large as you have is a bad thing. That motor needs to be opened up prior to starting to figure out where that stuff came from. I would have the dealer give you a complete report on where that stuff came from before you turned the key on.

[Burr]

If you can, collect an oil sample and have it sent in to a lab for analysis. Your dealer should be able to help in accomplishing that - if not, post back, I'll get info for ya.

The lab analysis will report what you can't see, and expose if you have an issue that needs attention - prior to burn down.

[big_crappie]

Not sure about Merc but Yammie and Honda have a 10 hour break in period that requires an oil change after 10 hours. You said 27 hours. Hope that don't come back to bite you!

[fsh4eye]

My Mercury manual states the first oil change is do when the motor hits 100hrs or 1 year what ever is first. The chips I found are not sold chunks but long thin spiral chips. They kind of look like when you drill in to metal and you get the spiral chips coming out of the hole. I showed these to the dealer and he said it looks like some metal chips or shavings that did not get cleaned from the factory. Not sure how the internal parts all work on this motor but I would think that if these chips were picked up by the oil pump that they would get stuck in the filter.

[Hot Runr Guy]

I couldn't find a Mercury, but here is the oil pump and strainer view of a Yamaha F115. Item #9 is listed as a "strainer" which may indicate that it has a screen on it, to keep the bigger stuff out of the pump. Also, this strainer may not sit all the way down in the oil chamber, but may be elevated up a little bit. I'd ask your dealer to show you the oil pick-up for your motor, and if it has a similar screen on it, then it did it's job in protecting the bearings and such. Obviously, nobody wants to find any chips in their motor, but these castings are pretty intricate units, with lots of nooks and cranny's.
HRG

[staylor]

...on a new motor with it's first oil change. They're left over from machining and the filter/screen system in the motor keeps them down in the sump or stuck in the filter. This is why I've never bought into waiting the 5000-15,000 mile oil changes some of the car makers are pitching over the last few years. I have a new Chevy that I brought in for its first change at 1000 miles and had the GM service manager tell me he would not change the oil until 7500 miles since the oil was synthetic Mobil 1. I told him the brand makes no difference if the filters loaded with chips and left over sand from the casting process- and to change the darned oil or I'll change dealers. I figure oil's cheap compared to a new engine.
Doug

[Terroreyes]

My Mercury manual states the first oil change is do when the motor hits 100hrs or 1 year what ever is first. The chips I found are not sold chunks but long thin spiral chips. They kind of look like when you drill in to metal and you get the spiral chips coming out of the hole. I showed these to the dealer and he said it looks like some metal chips or shavings that did not get cleaned from the factory. Not sure how the internal parts all work on this motor but I would think that if these chips were picked up by the oil pump that they would get stuck in the filter.


I've done lots of analysis at work on wear debris and haven't seen anything spiral shaped to date. Definitely something left over from machining. My concern would be that it scored a surface before it was collected in the filter or pan. Do any of the pieces look like they've been flattened or distorted in any way? If so, it probably scored something. If they're still perfect spirals, you should be fine.

[fsh4eye]

I've done lots of analysis at work on wear debris and haven't seen anything spiral shaped to date. Definitely something left over from machining. My concern would be that it scored a surface before it was collected in the filter or pan. Do any of the pieces look like they've been flattened or distorted in any way? If so, it probably scored something. If they're still perfect spirals, you should be fine.


The pecies are still spiral. They are shinny and show no sings that they got hot. My dealer is aware of them and agrees that they are probably from when the motor was fabricated. I am going to change the oil agian after another hour of use on it and strain the oil to see if any thing else shows up. I am going to send some of the oil from the next oil change in for testing.

[big_crappie]

My Mercury manual states the first oil change is do when the motor hits 100hrs or 1 year what ever is first. The chips I found are not sold chunks but long thin spiral chips. They kind of look like when you drill in to metal and you get the spiral chips coming out of the hole. I showed these to the dealer and he said it looks like some metal chips or shavings that did not get cleaned from the factory. Not sure how the internal parts all work on this motor but I would think that if these chips were picked up by the oil pump that they would get stuck in the filter.


So are you saying Mercury does not have a break in period?

[fsh4eye]

So are you saying Mercury does not have a break in period?

Mercury does have a break in period for the 4 Stroke EFI motors. This is over the first 10 hrs of motor use, I can not remember exactly what they say in the manual on break in. You can not go over a certain RPM for an X?? amount of Hrs and you are not supposed to maintain a set rpm for more then an x? amount of minutes. I can not remember the details I would have to look in the Manual.

[Dacotah Eye]

The pecies are still spiral. They are shinny and show no sings that they got hot. My dealer is aware of them and agrees that they are probably from when the motor was fabricated. I am going to change the oil agian after another hour of use on it and strain the oil to see if any thing else shows up. I am going to send some of the oil from the next oil change in for testing. My Merc 4 stroke didn't need an oil change until 100 hrs according to the owners manual. I changed oil at 20 hrs because that is what the mechanic suggested. I visit the Verado Owners Group website fairly often, and this is what the owners on there suggest also. My mechanic told me that it isn't unusual to get some metal in the first oil change, but the second one should be pretty much cleared up.