ok i changed my oil yesterday and and i noticed metal shavings in the bottom of the old oil. the car is a 95 5 speed with 130k. anyone no where this is coming from? the car still runs great

 

Either it was in the bottom of the container you used to catch the old oil or it came from inside your engine.

 

Unless of course it was floating around in the air.

But seriously, what part of the engine would lose tiny bits of metal and still function acceptably? I've been getting bits of grit and metal in my oil for a long time now and there is no other symptom of the car having any problem. Where is it coming from?

Dave

 

bearings. shavings from cylinder walls. could be coming from anywhere. I would do a used oil analysis to see if there is a major problem (which it seems there is). too thick oil @ startup would cause it.

 

When engines fail internally it's often where the camlobe meets the pushrod or lifter. Lifter/shim in the case of the Maxima. For instance one of your two intake valves for a cylinder could be opening only halfway. In which case power loss wouldn't be noticable. You don't hear any unusual tapping or knocking?