First Oil Change - Sorry but another IMS?

I've only owned my 996 for 2 weeks and I'm already tired of all the IMS questions and concerns. Yet...here I am asking for your expert IMS advice. Just installed new motor mounts and changed the oil. I inspected the oil filter and found two metal pieces. One was shiny and thin, ~3/16" long, the other was dark and a small chunk, ~1/16" in diameter. Pics attached. I also placed a large, crazy strong rare earth magnet in the oil pan to see if anything came out the drain hole. It was clean. Should I be concerned? Sorry for the question, All this IMS talk has got me a little freaked out...and here I am perpetuating the concern. Thanks for your thoughts!!

It is common to have aluminum particles in the oil, Steel particles not so good , if they stick to a magnet you may be concerend . I'm just relaying what I've read on this in the past couple years

Both are steel. The smaller thin one seems more magnetic than the darker chunk. Could just be the weight difference.

It is common to get plastic chain guide material in the oil. Someone else with more experience should chime in

drop pan and inspect...hoping no more metal there

If you only got two little pieces, I wouldn't worry. Was there anything in the filter? Drop the oil pan in 3k miles if you're concerned and have the oil tested. The small piece looks like plastic from the chain guide.

No idea if tis bad, but not IMS related. Here is the pics from my failed IMS. Engine was running perfect and no engine damages was done, but the IMS was toast. The first pic is a magnetic drain plug with the metal everyone talks about. The second is the IMS with more metal flakes. So to summarize. Doubt IMS related. No idea if you should be concerned.

Doesn't look scary to me. Are you sure both pieces are ferrous? Do not judge by weight. Use a magnet but be sure the magnet and metal fragments are oil free. For real light fragments an oil film can have the fragment of metal stick to the magnet from the oil film not from magnetic attraction. BTW, when you drain the oil filter dump the oil into a clean drain pan and run a magnet through the oil. If the magnet comes out fuzzy with tiny metal particles on it, that generally ain't good. When the engine mounts were changed was the engine moved around, lowered, tipped forward, backward, or sideways? Any movement of the engine can have particles/pieces in the oil sump moved about and upon engine start running after these particles can get sucked into the oil pick up and end up in the filter. My usual advice if you are that concerned do the oil change and then start and run the engine up to temperature. Shut the engine off and remove the filter housing and carefully -- the oil is *hot* (but you can let the engine cool too) -- dump the filter housing oil and filter element into a *clean* drain pan. If you do not see anything then replace the filter element top up the filter housing with fresh oil and install the filter housing and resume using the car. Whether at some miles afterwards you follow up with another inspection of the filter and filter housing oil is up to you. I do not expect it but just to be safe if at any time the engine starts acting up, running rough, noisy, shut off the engine ASAP and do not attempt a restart. Get the car flat bedded to a qualified Porsche shop for diagnosis and repair. It is probably too late now but if you suspect an internal engine problem capture some oil as it drains out the sump and send this in for an oil analysis. If the bearing is starting to come apart/fail the analysis will turn up ferrous metals.

Thanks for all your comments…much appreciated. I will check the filter after a few hundred miles and see if I find any metal. If not, then I will wait and drop the pan at the next oil change.

I would be more concerned about how that dime got in there!

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Dropping the pan is probably going to scare you even more and for probably what would be a false alarm. The pan/sump can accumulate a bit of trash, metal bits, plastic bits, camshaft cover sealant flashing, as the new engine sheds particles of metal and plastic. The larger stuff ends up in the sump where it will remain forever. The smaller stuff gets picked up through the oil intake pipe and gets pretty much pulverized in the oil pump then it is routed to the filter. The filter captures this stuff either holding it the filter element or it remains trapped in the oil filter housing oil until you change the oil and of course pour it out with the filter housing oil. 'course it is up to you if you want to drop the oil sump plate. But if the engine is suffering from some kind of internal engine problem like a failing IMSB this would manifest itself by stuff showing up in the filter element and filter housing oil. Also, the engine would likely be making disturbing noises.

Here is a strategy built on Macster's sage advice. Drop the sump plate but clean thoroughly it because you plan to drop it again in future for inspection. So you'll have a clean base line for comparison over a period/miles. Ask here what sealant to use because removing the sealant next time is a very tedious task that if done carelessly will cause leaks. Apply the absolute minimum of sealant. It is a tedious task to do this correctly. If you are worried, ask here about the wisdom of adding an LN full flow filter adapter kit(or similar generic?). Know that the OEM filter is not very effective- search here for details.Possibly find a competent Indie and do a Durametric(search) test ? Understand that the M96 collateral damage(search) is a serious issue and the filter issue is significant in that regard. If you are anywhere near a clutch change, plan on an RMS(updated ptfe),IMS ,AOS ,DMF (search)job?Now you really need a competent Indie or a very good home diy set-up.Ask here for an Indie in your area. Most important if you want further help -let us know what happens so we can keep improving our community knowledge base.Hopefully you are now feeling part of that?

How does the Durametric factor into this discussion, Schnell Gelb? Note - I'm not being argumentative, just curious.

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That's pretty funny!!

Macster and Schnell, Thanks for your comments and ideas. It's a fantastic community and I greatly apprciate the sharing of knowledge. I'll check the filter in a day or two to see how it looks and then inspect it again at 3K miles. If all looks good I'll stop worrying...maybe.

Use the Durametric tool to check for any variation between the two cam sensors...

Yup- exactly. My vote for Durametric guru is JFP.Ask him? I suspect that if the IMS bearing is so worn that it shows up as substantial ,erratic Durametric readings, you are seconds from disaster!

Well I just pulled the filter after 150 miles and it all looked good and clean. I'll check it again at the next oil change. Until then, I'll just enjoy the drive!

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Good to read. I would be remiss if I didn't mention this, while you can of course resume enjoying the car you can't totally shut out the engine. You have to pay attention to the car, to the engine, for any sign of trouble. Because cars have become so good, and generally reliable, we take them for granted, and that is a good thing. But they are still complex systems and things can go wrong, especially as the car accumulates time and miles. While your car's engine may not ever manifest an IMSB failure it could still develop a water pump problem, an idler or tensioner roller bearing problem, a noisy wheel bearing, and so on. Many owners espouse the desire to be involved in driving a car and that is why they opt for a manual transmission. But there is much more to driving a car than the shifting, and even those owners who drive a Tip equipped car are not exempt from still paying a reasonable amount of attention to the car and the engine, and what the car the engine may be be trying to tell one. Now this doesn't mean every time you are in the car you assume the worst and drive with a sense of pending doom. All it means is the "monitoring" of the car and engine is a background task to the task of driving and enjoying the car..

Macster, Thanks for the advise., I compleatly agreed with you. I will definitely stay tuned into the car.

I had a Boxster with the M96 and just thought it prudent to replace the IMS as a matter of routine maintenance. At least that way you know it's done. It's a Porsche and not to many things are cheap but for the cost of the IMS change it is a small price compared to a new motor. I'm looking at a 996 at the moment and just factored the cost of that into the price. Nice car btw.