Have not seen metal like that in any outboard in 10 years unless there was Trouble
Past marina owner
Howdy, Captain Dan,
I am assuming your talking Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda etc. 4 stroke outboards, correct?
And you are also talking the first, maybe second oil change in a new engine, correct?
From my Yamaha colleague David Meeler, Yamaha Marine Procut Information Manager, who wrote and article on the subject:
Even with a modern engine and oil, it’s critical not to over-shoot that initial oil change.
Think of it as the first pit stop of a long race. For Yamaha outboards that’s at 20 hours, and draining that oil will get any possible debris out of the engine. One also has to remember that larger "chunks" like in that photo which (I assume) were in the bottom of the pan were not necessarily floating around in the oil but are just remnants of the engine build, and considering that, I would share those photos with CFmoto. I have read that they are eager to see such things where they may see room for improvement. I know they did improve their brake squealing pretty quick.
And again like I had mentioned, that one may or many not "see" metal in the oil on first, and maybe second oil change but it is not rare to see it.
And with all due respect to CFmoto, perhaps their acceptable tolerances, and cleanliness is not up to parr with the outboard motors mentioned herein, That too has an effect on how clean that first oil change may "look".
Nonetheless, I still encourage folks to spend the extra buck at oil changes, and have the analysis done.
This can be said for any lubricant used in the machine.