Plastic Junk in Oil Filter

[jetdriven]

The OP has a K with a Continental engine...

Could be an alternator clutch...?

Interesting find 888s,

-a-

Sometimes the alternator does something then chews up the gear inside the engine then it gets a heck of a lot more expensive. To the point that many Bonanza guys pre-emptively remove the alternator for scheduled service.

[triple8s]

Just me but I'd rather turn a wrench when it might be unneccesary than to have 2 or 3 minutes IF that to find a place to land. I am one of those guys that just has to know.

[carusoam]

I read the article that BillC posted...

I believe it comes from that "other" Mooney magazine that used to be half free...

The author is Joe Frisilone. This is what he said regarding tiny orange slivers in the oil filter...

""""

While performing the pre-purchase inspection, insist that an oil and filter change be accomplished. Make sure the oil filter cartridge is examined for metal contamination. Also, if maintenance personnel find tiny orange rubber slivers in the filter cartridge tell them to suspect the alternator drive clutch is coming apart. We have seen this four or five times thus far so I wouldn't call it a chronic problem, however, it can and does occur. And when it does expect a repair bill somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,500 parts and labor!

""""

Are the slivers tiny and orange? Can you tell if they are rubbery?

Byron has made an interesting point regarding the particles... If they are soft and rubbery enough, they potentially can get squeezed and not damage things. If they are large and hard, getting jammed in gears is more of a potential problem...

As usual, I'm a PP and not a mechanic...

Interesting,

-a-

[BillC]

Nemesis,

Did you ever find the source of the orange particles in your oil filter?

[Nemesis]

Well, finally it is time to put this thread to bed.

The answer is.... that there is no answer.

 

I took my airplane up to Kerry McIntyre in Evanston WY for it's annual earlier this month. I took the next oil filter that was used (after finding the offending particles) with me and we opened it up together for inspection. As per usual with this sort of thing the filter was void of any of the little pieces of plastic. So, as of now, this was a one time occurrence.

 

Before going to WY, I had changed the oil a couple of weeks prior. I did not run the engine that day - the first time that I did not run the engine immediately after filling with oil. When I was next at the hanger, there was about 1/2 quart of nice clean oil on the floor and nose wheel. I cleaned everything up, checked the oil, ran the engine, checked for more leaks, etc. I came back the next day and with no other signs of leakage, I flew a pattern around the airport and again checked for leaks - none detected. The only thing that I could conclude was that the quick drain was not completely closed and that the heat and vibrations from running the engine closed up the quick drain just fine.

 

Kerry suggested that maybe it was a good time to inspect the quick drain valve more closely and at the very least, install a new o-ring. Hiding inside the lip of the quick drain was a fragment of the offending orange plastic material - together with a rock hard o-ring. Kerry examined that fragment for 1/2 an hour and compared it to as many orangish hard-plastic things that his 35 years of A&P / IA experience could muster before deciding that it matches nothing that he has ever seen inside or around a Continental engine.

 

So, the biggest takeaway from this thread has nothing to do with little orange plastic fragments. The lessons learned are - continue to cut and inspect those oil filters, always run the engine immediately after filling with fresh new oil, and that I hope at their next annual, EVERYBODY will change the o-ring in their quick drain valves because those things turn rock hard and create a real point of catastrophic failure if that Jolly Rancher like material is damaged in the least.

 

Dave

[carusoam]

Thanks for the follow up, Dave.

Best regards,

-a-

[N33GG]

Very interesting!

[jlunseth]

I am very glad you checked that quick drain. 

 

I have mine checked every year at annual, I have the seals replaced regularly, and I also have my A&P take it out and drain the oil out through the big hole in the crankcase just to make sure there are no swimmers.  I never in a million years thought that a sliver of plastic could bring down an aircraft, but it can.