At last oil change, I noticed very small flakes of a gold colored non ferious metal in the filter.

They appeared to look like fileings.

I am running a bronze dist gear and I hope that this is what i am seeing vs bearings.

Oil pressure is excellent.

My next plan of action in to pull the distributor and check the gear.

Those with experience please chime in.

 

Start with pulling the distributor and look at the drive gear, and then pull the valve covers and look for anything unusual. The next is to pull the pan if you hav`nt found it yet. Stop driving the car if you can until you get it fixed, it could destroy your motor. If bronze is attracted to magnets, you might change your oil and pour it through a seive/wife`s wire kitchen strainer to see what`s in it. Put a magnet on your oil filter, corner of each head by the oil return, and on the pan and get a magnetic drain plug. Overkill? New engine is more expensive. I think you will get lucky and it will be the distributor gear.

 

Bronze isn't a ferrous metal. Magnets won't help. If a bearing fails, by the time there's ferrous metal to stick to a magnet, the engine will fail.

Pull the distributor. How long has the bronze gear been on it? They're not designed to last forever like a OEM gear.

Do you still have the old filter? Cut it open. Take a section of the filter material and squish it in a vice to force the oil out of it then open up the pleats to check for any trapped metal.

 

Engine is in a road race car. 355 / AFR 195 race prep / 10:1 CR / roller cam etc.

The dist gear has about 7 hours on it. Practice and Race hours. 4,000 rpm to 7,200.

Oil is changed after each track day. Assume 1 hour avg. probably 5 oil changes total. Oil is Valvaline 20 /50 race oil. Remote filter and cooler run through 10an and 12an lines. Max Oil temp witnessed 250 deg race h2o temp 210 deg.

Motor never stressed until oil is hot. Oil pressure always good never less than 60 psi when hot. Car was spun out once. 8 qt wet sump champ road race pan. That is the only time I can think it ever could have been oil starved.

Was running strong prior to oil change.

I do have the filter. How do I cut it without the metal from the filter case contaminating the reading? I have a magnetic drain plug. No metal present.
I already have seen the "fillings".

If the dist gear is bad, should I replace and go on racing?

 

A filter cutter is the best but not always required. You can cut it open with a hacksaw if you have to. Put the filter in a vice so the opening is facing down. Cut the base off. Any filings will fall down away from the filter paper. I've also cut them open with a putty knife and a hammer.

If the gear is worn, You should check to see if there's an alignment problem. Check the depth. You may need to shim the distributor. Excessive oil pressure and/or too heavy an oil may also be wearing out the gear. The cam drives the distributor gear which drives the oil pump.

Since you run a remote filter mount, invest in a System 1 filter. It allows you to open it up, clean and inspect the stainless mesh filter, then reassemble and install again. The last oil filter you'll ever buy and something a race engine should be using so you can regularly check for premature failures.

Oil temp is a little on the hot side. You may want to install a cooler into your system. I wouldn't want to get my oil over 220. By 250, it starts to become varnish and cooks seals.

 

Thanks!

I do run a cooler and the avg oil temp is around 230. The 250 reading was prior to the cooler.

I run an agricultural oil filter Purlator L30215. It is a big *** filter. It fits the remote housing that I bought at the used NASCAR store in Mooresville. I don't know if the system 1 filter you mentioned would have an application to fit my housing. I will check on that.

Thanks for your input. I will check gear and report back.