Posted: Oct 25 2015 at 3:43pm | IP Logged

ngrego2 wrote: I have a 2003 nissan frontier xe with the 3.3 liter engine with 146000 miles. the past two oil changes i have found a silver colored metal in the oil pan. the pieces are small but big enough to feel like sand between my fingers. I am not very automotively inclined and other than routine maintenance i have done nothing to this trucks engine. any ideas for what this could be or how i should proceed would be very helpful. thank you in advance.

More info would be helpful;  Are you the original owner,  what region of country, oil viscosity being used, brand of oil filter used, mileage between oil change's, oil consumed between oil change's,  any trouble with the timeing belt, timeing belt changed on time?

How's the Engine Running, Any Engine Noise such as Ticking, Knocking, Rattleing?

Do what Lacota advised.

Ask the Nissan Master Tech if normal or not.

Let us know.

Posted: Oct 27 2015 at 1:10pm | IP Logged

ngrego2 wrote: I am not the original owner but bought the truck at 130000 miles. at the time i bought it and the couple oil changes before the last two i did not notice any metal bits in the oil. I live in Maryland so it is not very extreme climate wise. the oil i have been using is penzoil high mileage and the viscosity is 10W-30 as the owners manual suggests. I also change the oil every 3000 miles and have not noticed a large amount of oil consumption maybe a quarter of a quart from the amount put in to the amount out for the next oil change. As i am not the previous owner i do not know f the timing belt has been changed but as of now i have also not heard any unusually noise or felt any changes in the way the truck has run.

Knowing what I've learned about Nissan since 1993, this is what I would do.

What Lacota Said +  Talk with the Nissan Master Tech and the Service Manager, to see what they say is Normal for metal particle's in the Oil.  Your engine is starting to use a little bit of oil, some may be from leakage, but if no leak's then I would suspect maybe ring  particle's, but that's just a wild guess.

Use a Nissan Oil Filter, they cost a little more,, but on Ebay and Amazon,, they cost less than at the Dealer.  Don't take chance's with an after market Oil Filter trying to save a little bit of money.  Nissan oil filter's are not the Very Best,, but they are way above the Worst,, and are engineered for the Nissan Engine.  Correct Oil Lubrication is about the same as the Correct Blood Circulation for us.  If you've got a low end oil filter like a Fram, get that thing off ASAP, and put a Nissan Oil Filter on.

Ask the previous owner if the Timeing Belt has been changed and where at to verify.  Some engine's if the Timeing Belt Break's there is a Valve and Piston overlap, if your engine is that way serious Engine damage will likely result; ask the Master Tech if your engine is that way.  Some Engine's the Valve's and Piston's don't over lap and won't do as much damage, if the Belt Break's while running. 

Double check the Viscosity, I think that you'll see under the hood that it recommend's 5w30, but I don't know that 10w30 would be too thick, as long as the outside temperature doesn't go lower than 0 F degrees.

You might be able to find out from Nissan by the Vin #, what Service your Engine has had.

HTH, & Good Luck