[2001FZ1]

Look at this picture and tell me if this is normal. I strained the oil and found no other debris.

I sent an email with picture to the owner of the dealership we bought the car from for him to show the mechanics. We are friends with the owner so I doubt he would steer us wrong. I plan on keeping his email response on file just in case something happens down the road.

08 Malibu, 2.4liter, 1,271 miles.

 

[AGstone]

At least the filter is doin' its job.

It will be interesting to see the 'new' filter after the 2nd oil change.

 

[GTPMALIBU]

i dident even have a hair in mine when i did the first change......

 

[pwinskey]

In other threads I have read here and on other forums where people have found similar shavings. Most of these people indicated that it is somewhat normal and that the next one should be fine. The reasons given was that it was a new car and that it came from the castings and such. Don't know if this helps you or not but I thought I would let you know that I have read about it happening before.

 

[Malo83]

Normal for new cars, some will have more or less depending on the Engine build. This is why whenever I buy a new car I give it oil changes at 500,1,000 and 3,000 miles

 

[cerbomark]

Normal, my Malibu wasn t too bad my my Silverado 07 was like yours.

 

[Candybar]

I am no expert by no means but i do believe that this is normal. I work at a foundry where we make steel castings and valve bodies and we are suppose to blow out the castings before they go in to a shipping box but some come cleaner then others. By the look of that picture it is aluminum shavings which could be wear from the motor breaking in.... I just turned over 1400 on mine bu and im going to change my oil this week some time, so i'll see what happens.

 

[boricua29]

i have a 2.4 with 4200 miles and the oil life only reads 60%. i went to the dealer and asked why it read only 60% and he said the meter goes by revolutions. and he also said not to bother changing the oil until the meter hit 10%. im no expert but that doesnt sound right. any suggestions?

 

[Malo83]

If in Doubt, Drain it Out !!!

 

[Candybar]

I going to run mobile one full sythenic and will change it 6000 to 7500 miles....i know people that ue it and dont change till around 15000

 

[impacted]

i have a 2.4 with 4200 miles and the oil life only reads 60%. i went to the dealer and asked why it read only 60% and he said the meter goes by revolutions. and he also said not to bother changing the oil until the meter hit 10%. im no expert but that doesnt sound right. any suggestions?

Yes, he is right. The Oil Life Monitor uses a whole slew of engine and environmental parameters combined with basic engine cycles (revolutions) to accurately model, or "guess", when the oil needs to be changed. It is FAR more accurate than the old standard of picking an arbitrary mileage because it takes into account your driving style and environmental effects. Gone are the days of normal/severe service schedules. Just take your car in when it says "CHANGE ENGINE OIL" and Chevrolet will do the rest.

It is possible, under ideal driving conditions, to go upwards of 10,000 miles before the oil needs to be changed. This is perfectly safe on regular, regardless of what people may say. We're in the process of throwing out the "3000mile/3month" myth, but there are a LOT of uninformed people who refuse to equip themselves with an understanding of todays modern oils/engines.

 

[boricua29]

considering all the metal shavings other malibu owners are finding in the oil filters makes me nervous about not changing the oil.

 

[DOACanada]

boricua29 - Not much to be nervous about, if you think about the manufacturing process and that it is a brand new engine. Realizing that during assembly there are "additonal" lubricants and liquids added to aid in the assembly process and to ensure all parts are moving and running smoothly, finding metal shavings, and excess fluids is not uncommon at all. Heck most people don't realize you need to break an engine in and "baby" it for the first few thousand miles / kilometers. This is also another reason why until you get the first couple of oil changes done the fuel economy may not be even close to what is stated. It takes time for the car to "learn" your driving style, and calculate fuel mileage, and also for the engine to break in. I would say that if after the first few oil changes things have not dramatically improved than one of two possible things could be wrong, one could be a person's driving style, or the other could be something mechanical wrong.

 

[cerbomark]

I inquired when I saw this on my Silverado, and everybody agreed it was normal. There were some Harley Davison Motorcycle guys who said alot of shavings come out on the first change of the new bikes and no need to worry. Those metal shavings in the pic are too big to be anything but casting shavings.

 

[impacted]

considering all the metal shavings other malibu owners are finding in the oil filters makes me nervous about not changing the oil.

Metal shavings in the oil filter are just that... in the filter. That's what it's there for.

 

[boricua29]

if thats the case, im gonna save some money on oil changes on this car.

 

[Malibu Bob E]

if thats the case, im gonna save some money on oil changes on this car.

An early first one is always good though - going to do mine at 1000 miles and go with synthetic oil. Is the oil monitor % gauge hard to reset? Probably got another 2 weeks before reaching the 1000 mark.

 

[2001FZ1]

Update:

The service manager at Curry Buick/Chevy/GMC/Pontiac/Caddy called me today and said "If the car is running normally, don't worry about it. I suspect those shavings are from the manufacturing process, not from something interal to the engine breaking. Keep the filter and pictures for future reference if something does happen to the engine."