Oil Question - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

Zman13 · 03-27-2025, 07:16 PM

Hello, I have a 2013 SS with the LS3 motor. Bought the car with 27K original miles and it's in mint condition (inside and out). I bought it with long tubes and a cold air intake. That's all it has. Everything else is stock.

I bought it in another state and drove 400 miles to bring it home. It drove like a total champ. Oil pressure was perfect. No issues to report. It does have HF cats on the LTH and they are clamp on style. I do notice hissing and exhaust noise and suspect they're leaking a little. I do not have ticking in the engine bay other than the usual/normal valvetrain noise.

As I always do when I get a new car, I drained the oil and put it new oil and a filter. However, I noticed two very tiny metal hairs on the dipstick. I thought maybe the dipstick scraped the tube but to be safe, I cut the old filter I took off in half and inspected the paper inside. Nothing to report but maybe 5 super tiny specs of reflective flakes (dots really).

Am I good? There was no metallic swirl in the oil or pieces of metal. Just the two tiny hairs on the dipstick and the 5 super tiny spots in the filter.

I have great oil pressure and no issues to report... motor only has 27K miles.

0stones0 · 03-27-2025, 08:27 PM

I’d bet you’re good to go.

Moto-Mojo · 03-28-2025, 08:52 AM

Never look at a pan of engine oil or ATF in direct sunlight. Especially if you're a heart patient!

J35Y2 · 07-08-2025, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moto-Mojo

Never look at a pan of engine oil or ATF in direct sunlight. Especially if you're a heart patient!

Super, super late reply, but I was gonna say just this. Since we're running ATF in a MANUAL transmission, there's a LOT more metallic debris when you drain out the trans fluid. Especially if there's been something wrong, like your clutch hydraulics not functioning properly, or your shifter feels really, really notchy; you're going to most likely have more metallic debris than normal... Mind you, most people here who don't change their trans fluid often, typically change it anywhere from every 20k to 40k+ miles.

With my engine oil, I definitely don't get as much as my transmission, or there would be something seriously wrong... And I usually run my engine oil to anywhere from 5-8k miles tops. Usually with the bright daytime sunlight, or a decent LED flashlight, I shine it into my oil drain pan and move the oil around, to check for metallic debris (and to see if there's anything else weird).

Zman13 · 08-03-2025, 10:03 PM

Thanks to you guys who replied. Much appreciated.

Just wanted to update. I drove about 2,000 miles since my original post and drained the oil. All good and no metal flake or anything. I chalked it up to just being two things; 1) my oil dipstick was scraping the tube going in. I sand the edges down so they were super smooth and no more specks, and 2) it's a magnetic oil dipstick, which I didn't realize but regardless, no specks. Car runs like a champ and no more worries from me.

03-27-2025, 07:16 PM	#1
Zman13 Drives: Chevrolet Camaro SS Join Date: Mar 2025 Location: Tennessee Posts: 6	Oil Question Hello, I have a 2013 SS with the LS3 motor. Bought the car with 27K original miles and it's in mint condition (inside and out). I bought it with long tubes and a cold air intake. That's all it has. Everything else is stock. I bought it in another state and drove 400 miles to bring it home. It drove like a total champ. Oil pressure was perfect. No issues to report. It does have HF cats on the LTH and they are clamp on style. I do notice hissing and exhaust noise and suspect they're leaking a little. I do not have ticking in the engine bay other than the usual/normal valvetrain noise. As I always do when I get a new car, I drained the oil and put it new oil and a filter. However, I noticed two very tiny metal hairs on the dipstick. I thought maybe the dipstick scraped the tube but to be safe, I cut the old filter I took off in half and inspected the paper inside. Nothing to report but maybe 5 super tiny specs of reflective flakes (dots really). Am I good? There was no metallic swirl in the oil or pieces of metal. Just the two tiny hairs on the dipstick and the 5 super tiny spots in the filter. I have great oil pressure and no issues to report... motor only has 27K miles.

03-27-2025, 08:27 PM	#2
0stones0 It don’t come easy. Drives: 2010 2SS RS M6 Join Date: May 2014 Location: WI Posts: 2,591 View My Garage	I’d bet you’re good to go. __________________

03-28-2025, 08:52 AM	#3
Moto-Mojo Fast Cars and Old Guitars Drives: 2015 2SS RS (L99, baby!) Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: N. CA Posts: 4,216	Never look at a pan of engine oil or ATF in direct sunlight. Especially if you're a heart patient! __________________ “I don’t want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.” - Groucho Marx

08-03-2025, 10:03 PM	#5
Zman13 Drives: Chevrolet Camaro SS Join Date: Mar 2025 Location: Tennessee Posts: 6	Thanks to you guys who replied. Much appreciated. Just wanted to update. I drove about 2,000 miles since my original post and drained the oil. All good and no metal flake or anything. I chalked it up to just being two things; 1) my oil dipstick was scraping the tube going in. I sand the edges down so they were super smooth and no more specks, and 2) it's a magnetic oil dipstick, which I didn't realize but regardless, no specks. Car runs like a champ and no more worries from me.