metal shavings in g/box oil

[rparobi]

Hi all, what is an acceptable level of metal particles in your gearbox oil when you drain it.Today when i drained my gearbox oil i found a couple of fine slivers of metal almost like pieces of swarfe about 0.200" long and about 0.015" thick , should i be concerned about these pices. I also usually find a small amount of small metal flakes which appear like glitter floating in the bottom of my oil drain container which i would assume is normal ( correct me if im wrong ). The bike is an 08 yz250 with 40 hrs on it , no gbox problems yet.

[bikedude127]

First few oil changes will yield some metal.. How many changes have you done?? Chunks are bad, shavings are usually ok... Likely just some debris from the clutch...

[honda_best_789]

shavings are fine, if you want you could probably find a magnetic plug which will catch most shavings and hold them until you remove the plug for an oil change

[FPMXer]

You have to reinstall the drain bolt straight or it will cross thread and make shavings.

[rparobi]

You have to reinstall the drain bolt straight or it will cross thread and make shavings.

I never thought of installing the plug straight, i thought installing the plug crooked was the correct way ( HAHA ) !

[RCannon]

On my 06 I used a magnetic drain bolt after the first oil change. I still pick up metal.....maybe "pick up" is too strong. I can still "wipe off" metal from the magnet. I believe it comes from the clutch plates. The pieces are very small.

Even the first oil change showed few metal particles. Much less than I expected.

[rparobi]

Thanks for the replys , another question i have is how much if any wear would you expect to see on the primary drive gear that is attached to the clutch basket after about 40hrs of use ( you can see the teeth of the gear when you remove the oil filler cap ). I have a liitle bit of wear showing on the teeth , just not sure wether this is normal or not.

Thanks .

[honda_best_789]

i have an 03 and have little wear, of course it is normal for a gear inside an engine to wear, anything moving will wear overtime... unless you have broken teeth or rounded teeth it should be ok

[espkul]

I've just changed the oil, and some pieces (4 or 5) of the size TS describes came out (0,2" long and 0,015" thick). The surface is smooth, so I quess they are from worn teeth or something. My bike has run about 170 hours. Is this wear normal? Should I maybe split cases soon? This is my first change using a magnetic plug