Yellow flakes in oil?

Changed the oil today on my 2010 and noticed a bunch of small yellow flakes in the spent oil. I thought they might be metal, but they seemed to be more like brittle plastic or old rubber as they came apart very easily when bent or rubbed between the fingers.

Any ideas what this is? Hoping it's not a serious issue!





*******2/7/17 edit********

Ended up getting a report from Blackstone Labs. I'm even more confident that the yellow flakes were not bearing material now - but I'm still not sure exactly what they were.

Anyway, wanted to leave this here for anyone else who might stumble on this thread with the same issue.

 

Gold

 

Eureka! There's GOLD in them thar cylinders!

 

Looks a lot like old gasket.

 

You're rich... your Tacoma is like Rumpelstiltskin. You're set for life!! Just change oil more often for more gold.

 

How many miles? Unfortunately, gold colored flakes are likely to be bearing material.

 

^^ This.

 

You, of course, must mean Bearing Sea material. OP, did you by chance purchase your truck in Alaska?

Hey, that's a thought. Maybe I should go buy a GMC Yukon. Sounds like a golden opportunity.

 

84,000. Are you aware of any way to confirm? Guessing it's a repair I'll need a professional for or is it something I could do myself as someone not incredibly mechanically inclined?

 

If it's gold, it might be a Serious issue...

 

Did you get the flakes in the oil drained from the pan, or were they in your filter? I'd cut the old filter open in any case, and look at what's collected there. I suspect a disintegrated anti-drainback valve from a filter, depending on what filters you run.

Worst case scenario I can think of is the flakes plugging up the VVT screen.

 

Are you sure that's not metal? Maybe it could be pieces from a brass bushing or gear?

 

Bearings are not made of rubber / plastic, you needn't worry about them.

Timing chain guide is another possibility of a source of plastic, not sure what color these are. @Torspd

 

Definitely looks like a gasket sealer type material, timing chain will be made of a harder more plastic like material and will not disintegrate when rubbed between fingers like a gasket material would, and if it falls apart when rubbed between fingers that is a very good sign as it is DEFINITELEY not bearing material

A big question would be if you bought this truck new, or second hand, and what parts have been serviced.

You may start by scanning around the engine with a flashlight looking for bulging gasket material of the same color.... and also as someone else mentioned maybe open up your oil filter to see how much material has been caught in there, as this looks to be just stuff that ended up in your drainage pan... There are tools designed to open your oil filter, I used an exhaust cutter I had in my tool box once.

 

Could it possibly be the filter media itself? I know there are some filter brands that are made of really cheap flimsy paper.

 

It may feel like plastic but it's very likely its not.

https://www.google.com/search?safe=...3.504...0j0i22i30k1j33i22i29i30k1.AOP-OPcKKjc

 

Send a sample to Blackstone labs. The results will tell you all you need to know.

 

Hahaha. I don't need google to know it's not bearing material. Seen enough of that in real life that it's very obvious to me from the photo.

 

.

 

I would take it in and have it checked out if you are not mechanically inclined.