Ive only had my 996 C4S for since march, bought it with 42K miles on it, single owner, purchased from san diego Porsche after they gave it a clean bill of health. Did my first oil change last night, took apart the oil filter to check for anything out of the ordinary, found nothing. Let the drained oil sit in a clear container covered all night, then drained into gallon jugs this morning, only to find all these tiny black specs in the bottom of the clear container I drained the oil into on the bottom. nothing metallic anywhere, car runs fine... but can you say WTF? anyone have any idea's?

 

What material are they? How do you know they're not metallic?

There are a lot of plastic parts in the oil system. It could be bits and pieces of any number of things. If you don't have any leaks, then I'd just continue to monitor the oil at each oil change to see if they increase/decrease.

 

Maybe chain tensioner paddle shavings.

The timing chains run along plastic guides. In some cases they will break, but
the amount (or lack there of) in your oil doesn;t look too bad.

I would monitor it -- you can even send it off for analysis.

Mike

 

send a sample to blackstone labs.

 

After giving it a closer look it appears to be Carbon... the previous owner wasn't known for being a spirited driver, since I have taken possession of the car I drive it much more in the way it was intended, LOL, possibly clearing everything out... I will drive it another 5000 miles and check it again and see what I find. Thanks fella's.

 

Why not send it in for analysis? It's cheap peace of mind.

 

When I dropped the sump while doing the IMS Guardian install, I found some very small black granules in the sump. I could crush between my fingers. My mechanic buddy said he thought they were carbon and need not worry about it.

 

Sounds exactly like what this material is... crumbled between my fingers easily. thanks

 

Without thinking about it I cleaned it all up, nothing to send for analysis.

 

Drive a few thousand miles and change the oil again. See if the particles return.