How Worried Should I Be?

2016 Sequoia Platinum 5.7 (3UR-FBE)
68,911 miles (bone stock)

Owned this truck only a short while since March. Bought it with 63k miles. Carfax showed oil changes all at one dealer every 5k miles since new.

Changed oil myself at 64k miles and noticed no metal in the filter or oil that drained from the filter.

Changed it again tonight and noticed a lot of small flakes (they are metallic and can be picked up by a magnet).

The filter media itself didn't pickup very much metallic flakes. The drain pan pictured was only used to capture the oil that was drained from the bottom of the filter housing. I have a Stahlbus drain plug valve with a hose adapter so the oil pan gets drained straight into jugs.

This truck runs great. I let it idle after the oil change for about 5 minutes while listening with a stethoscope up against the block and heads and heard nothing obviously abnormal.

I have noticed it seems to get lower fuel mileage than id expect. My wife drives it daily and averages ~13.5 MPG (50% city/50% HWY) on stock size highway tires. Meanwhile I can manage 14.5 in my 2018 Tundra with 35" ATs driving a very similar city/highway route. Should I chalk that up to the silly Flex Fuel Alcohol % Estimation system? Or should I assume the worst (excessive bearing friction in the bottom end causing poor efficiency)?

Should I be overly worried about the long term health of this motor?

 

What a bummer. We looked forever to find such a clean low mileage 2nd Gen Sequoia in our price range. Maybe now I can talk my wife into selling it and buying a 7.3 Excursion as our kid hauler

 

Definitely a mystery, but I don't want to keep it long enough to find out.

 

Might be worth asking those dudes over in the general supercharger thread....

Seems like they've pretty much seen everything!!

 

While thats not a huge amount of metal shavings, I've seen much worse at the shop, it is a little bit... what oil and filter are you running? And from where?

maybe you should do your next change into a pan instead of the jugs so you can see how much is actually in the oil; you could also get a drain plug with a magnet on the end of it to capture more of the shavings (if there are any)

Secondly, are you doing the MPG calculations by hand? Or lettings the built in computer do it?

 

I've been running Valvoline 5w-30 High Mileage (since I already buy that for my 2 other vehicles), and OEM Toyota Oil filters (purchased from my local dealer parts counter).

The MPG calculations are by hand. I have my wife take photos of her odometer and the pump every time she fills it up. To me it always seemed off that my 2018 Tundra on 35s (with the 5.7) was consistently getting slightly better MPGs.

The magnetic drain plug idea is a good one. Unfortunately I'd lose out on the convenience of the drain plug valve I'm using now

 

If only. Even if they made them now with the 7.3 Godzilla gasser they'd sell like hot cakes.

 

I mean lose out with the drain valve or actually see how sparkly your oil is, kind of no brainer

 

Yea I get it. I'm honestly leaning towards going and offloading it at a dealer. Thankfully the wife and I have 3 cars so we could afford to sell it, but that would mean I'd be driving the 2003 Xtra Cab Tacoma (hunting truck) and dealing with car seats in that aint ideal.

I'm not sure I'm willing to spend thousands on a crate motor or gamble on a junkyard motor.

 

You’d be lucky to find a junkyard used motor for that, gonna be crate from the dealer or Jasper

if it were me I would look at the next oil change and see what it looks like, make sure your oil stays topped up

 

Hear nothing? Not sure what it is? I’d run it another thousand miles or so on this oil change but pay attention when you do the oil change. Make sure your pans are clean as you drain and pull the filter. Grab an oil sample and send it off for analysis. it’s very odd you find metal but not in the filter. Is that the stock plastic filter housing?

 

Trade for a clean 5th gen 4Runner. Not a hot rod, but pretty decent overall engineering and safe for the kiddos.

 

Yup stock plastic housing. And I'm kicking myself for not having meticulously cleaned out that drain pan prior to use. But at the same time I can't come up with a good alternative explanation for where else all the glitter could come from if not from the vehicle.

While I'm inclined to take the watch and wait approach (because the wife and I really do like the car), I'm just worried that if I go that route and it starts Knockin' on Heaven's Door, then I'm stuck likely buying a reman motor because selling it with a knocking engine would mean a greater loss than an $8500 crate 5.7.

 

Not a bad idea, but honestly at that price point we'd probably prefer another Sequoia, or maybe a Sienna/Highlander Hybrid. We've got 1 toddler, 1 baby due in September, and plan to try for a 3rd. 2-3 car seats in a 4runner would get tight, especially with two tall parents

 

Sounds like you should look into a used school bus and save your cash for diapers, car insurance premiums, and a tuition fund! Enjoy the ride!

 

The forbidden glitter
The real questions are:
How much do you owe on the vehicle?
Did you get an extended warranty?
Any chance it might be the valve getting ready to drop?

Regardless it'll probably have to come apart.

 

some thick lucas additive would cut out the knocking if it did start, not saying its morally right but...

 

Own it free and clear

No warranty

No clue if a valve may drop soon. Car hasn't been moved since I pulled it back into the garage after the oil change

 

I won't sell it private party if I offload it.

 

I'm not familiar with the Sequoia, but if the bottom layout is similar and you're willing to risk some time/effort on diagnosis here's what I'd try next. I'm starting from the perspective that these engines don't usually grind themselves up without obvious issues (failed valve springs and such).

Put a strong magnet on the outside oil pan extension near the bottom/side area (metal pan that hangs down assuming your truck is like a tundra underneath), and run it for 1-2K miles. Drain the oil and inspect, drop the pan and check around that magnet. If you're not getting more metal (good sign) reassemble and leave the magnet there and repeat at the next 5K interval. Basically, just keep an eye on it. If you're still getting shavings, either offload the vehicle or maybe opt for oil analysis for more clues if you want to keep going.