Peter Duniho wrote:

Presumably if the engine truly were on the verge of coming
apart, it'd be shedding at least some metal into the oil, right? Or wrong?

Probably not. While there are a few problems that will shed metal particles into the
oil (a disintegrating bearing, for example), most will not. For example, a valve
that's beginning to stick will not.

George Patterson
None of us is as dumb as all of us.