How many oil changes after a rebuild until metal shavings disappear?

[Sintek]

'02 Tahoe, 5.3 flex, full engine and transmission rebuilds ~1500 miles ago. Being OCD, I have done 5 oil changes (Mobil1 full synthetic 5w-30) in that time and every one had some shavings in the old oil.

Is this normal after a rebuild or does it indicate a problem?

Thanks for any help.

 

[rockola1971]

Depending on how much "metal shavings", sounds like maybe the engine didnt get thoroughly washed after machine work or some tolerances are too tight.

 

[SnowDrifter]

Small shavings in the filter will persist to 5-8k miles

Wear levels in the oil will normalize after 20-30k miles

I'm also curious how many metal shavings you're talking about though

Oh yeah.... And in the future, run the break in oil. High ZDDP / Moly / other anti wear helps with easing clearances in. Change the filter if you see fit, but let it eat.

 

[MassHoe04]

'02 Tahoe, 5.3 flex, full engine and transmission rebuilds ~1500 miles ago. Being OCD, I have done 5 oil changes (Mobil1 full synthetic 5w-30) in that time and every one had some shavings in the old oil.

Is this normal after a rebuild or does it indicate a problem?

Thanks for any help.

When you said shavings were found "in the oil" every oil change, were you talking in the oil inside the filter or in the oil drained from the oil pan? @SnowDrifter mentioned normal to see inside the filter for a while. If referring to the oil from the pan... Is that normal to see metal there?

 

[Sintek]

Thanks for the responses. I should have used a word more accurate than "shavings." It's closer to specks shining in the drain pan.

 

[rockola1971]

Thanks for the responses. I should have used a word more accurate than "shavings." It's closer to specks shining in the drain pan.

Glitter is normal. The engine is still breaking in. Ive taken apart 5.3L's with just less than 120k on them and the crosshatch is still plainly on the bores. You just would never see that on a Gen 1 engine. The Gen 3/4 engines take awhile longer to break in than the old Gen 1's did.