Metal shavings in Oil

[Nevermind]

Did a oil change on my 2005 2.3 L with 110,000KM. When I emptied the used oil into a container from my catch pan I noticed a lot of metal shavings at the bottom. I always start with a clean catch pan. Never noticed this before. Is this the beginning of a bigger problem? Has the early 2.3 engines have any issues, read about bearing failures, cylinder starvation.
Always change the oil and check the level regularly.
Thanks

[silverstarmazda]

how was the oil filter?

[krimsalt]

Metal shavings are odd indeed... What grade of oil do you normally out in?

[silverstarmazda]

hats very strange.... i always though the oil case would have a magnetic donut like the trans pan has. must be A LOT of metal shavings. can u describe what they like? is it like sand or like after lathing something??

[slam525i]

Dig the filter out of the trash, and the cut it open. Spread open the filter stuff inside and see if you can find metal in there.

Based on experience with airplane engines, if you find metal shavings in your oil filter, you're basically done (sorry!). If there isn't any in the filter, then the metal wasn't being circulated in the oil and must have come from somewhere other than the engine internals, in which case, I'd start trying to figure out where the metal came from.

[krimsalt]

a bearing most likely is wearing away quickly... have you noticed a loss in power? If so your variable cam gear could be severely worn out or your cam bearings could be worn too

[Nevermind]

Thanks for every bodies feed back, I use 5W20 dyno oil. Going to remove the filter in a few weeks and open it up to see if there is any metal. Again thanks