996 C2 -99 Shavings in oil, but not filter?

Im a bit confused regarding my latest find on the 996. Its a -99 model with 180k miles on it. Engine was replaced within two years from new, so could be a tad less. When I changed the oil before winter hibernation I cut the filter open and looked for debris (my first oil change with this car). I also looked at the oil filter housing and the oil itself. It had 1 year and 6000miles since last oil change. The filter was fairly clean with a few small shavings (less than 10 in the whole filter) and the housing was clean. The oil on the other hand had more glitter in it. To me it seems a bit odd… If there were a lot of debris, it should be collected by the filter? How should I proceed? The car uses little to no oil and runs fine. No knocking, but a very small occasional rattle on the 1,2,3 side on hot idle that sounds like a loose variocam or maybe timing chain. 1 second chain rattle on cold startup 1 out of 5 times… IMS could be an issue at these miles even beeing dubbel row, but then again at these miles everything could be an issue My plan was initially to run it for 100 miles or so and do a second oil change, but maybe its stupid to risk it and instead prepare for a more thorough job. Engine out, checking IMS and boroscoping the liners. If not IMS, time for rebuild?

Ims is always a consideration I had one just about to destroy my engine on my old 996 luckily caught just in time so that issue is definitely real. But with the miles covered it could be multiple things. Can you get your old oil analysed?

If the engine has been replaced after a couple of years, there's a good chance the IMS bearing will be single row. Also the pistons and liners could be same as the later C4 3.4 engine so susceptible to bore scoring. Regardless of all that, everything will be worn out at 150k miles plus and the engine will be due a rebuild. You have 2 choices: 1. Carry on running it till it goes pop (might be wise to send that oil off for analysis to Millers and see what they say). 2. Get it rebuilt before any further costly damage is done. No doubt you're already dicing with crank death at that mileage.

How many miles are you on Alex without a rebuild?

I talked to a Porsche specialist and my plan is to remove the engine and check the IMS bearing before determining my next step. If the bearing looks bad, I might only replace that and drive this summer as is. He says that glitter usually is the IMS bearing unless they are copper beeing bearing material. Most likely I will still send the engine away for a rebuild. It will be easier to enjoy the car with a solid engine. His recommendation was to stick with the original displacement/bore size and not go bigger when doing new sleeves. I havent heard that before. Hartech and others seem to go big, like 3.7 from the 3.4s? I understod it beeing due to thin cylinder walls in the block. He said that it was better to start of with a later higher displacement variant. He is an experienced Porsche engine builder so I so trust his judgement, but would really want more displacement when rebuilding so I can feel that it is a true upgrade

You don't need to remove the engine to check and replace the ims bearing, just the gearbox and the ims cover plate.

Quotes source post: 2723268

Don’t you have to drop the engine if it’s a tipper

Is it a tip?

I’m just presuming it is if the engine is coming out but not sure

I hate these sort of posts, my car has just over 200k on the clock and I’m about to spend £1500 on a new clutch and flywheel and RMS. I do change my oil every 3-4k and I split the filter and check the oil, it all seems good at present.

Quotes source post: 2723293

What year is your car? If it's early and has the dual row IMS bearing the advice I found seems to be to pull a seal off to promote splash oil lubrication into the bearing (rather than the sealed for life grease that it came with). This can be done quite easily when the flywheel is out of the way. It would probably add an hour or so labour to the job, but you do need the timing tools IMS plate seal and replacement cam bore sealing caps.

My car is a manual transmission. I will need to replace RMS and most likely AOS to adress oil leaks and ”when in there” probably clutch and flywheel. The hard part is to determine when to stop. Doing all above is easier with the engine out and if it needs a rebuild then it is more or less the same amount of work preparing it. Adding pulling the accessories and leaving the unit of to the work shop. The prices for rebuilds will probably just raise so it might be better to bite the bullet and enjoy the result and if I can get a bigger displacement it will be a bit easier to decide… Has anyone heard about the 3.4 block beeing weak doing bigger sleeves?

Looking at what Hartech are doing an increase in displacement is definitely achievable

Quotes source post: 2723449

No.