Oil Sludge question

[dewolf]

Took the oil cap off the work hack today and noticed sludge on top of the rockers. It's an I6 Ford Australia motor. My question......best way to remove the sludge without pulling the motor apart? Friend reckons drain a liter of oil and drop a liter of engine degreaser in there and run it for about 20mins then drain. I think degreaser is quite combustible so not to sure about this idea. Any body got any suggestions?

Scott

[wdfifteen]

That cure may be worse than the problem.
You don't want to loosen that stuff up with the engine running, if it makes it past the oil pickup screen without clogging it up, the nasty crap will go to filter and clog it, when the filter goes to bypass the crap goes straight to the bearings. Myself, I'd take the pan off and clean it out and make sure the return oil passages from the head are clear. Put in new oil and new filter, change the oil and filter after a few miles of driving.

[1990C4S]

I would use an additive, run the engine and then drain the oil. But only as a last resort.

[hardflex]

I'd just put synthetic oil in and change the filter in a couple thousand miles.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by hardflex

I'd just put synthetic oil in and change the filter in a couple thousand miles.

Agreed. Just because the commercials that sell oil and additives say that a little sludge build up will hurt your engine does not make it true. These are the same folks that say you need to change your oil and filter every 3000 miles, which we all know is BS.

Just run a synthetic oil and change it again after a short time.

[M.D. Holloway]

The synthetic oil you should run in it should be ester based not PAO based. The ester based oil will dissolve the deposits.

Where you are at I think you can get Motul 300V, a 100% Ester Based Racing Oil or Motul 8100 100% Ester Based Street Oil. Check this site. EuroSyntheticOils.com carry ELF and Motul Synthetic Lubricants.

[EarlyPorsche]

I've solved many a problems like this with a quart of marvels mystery oil. The only thing is that I don't know if you can find it in Australia. If not I suspect you can find a thin engine cleaning detergent oil similar to marvels.

[sammyg2]

Oh, ya gots to be careful nowadays iffn you have a catalytic convertor.
Some stuff that used to get put in oil might destroy a cat now.

[kaisen]

Old farmer fix was to add a quart of kerosene or #1 diesel fuel to the crankcase and let it idle for a few minutes before an oil change.

[porsche4life]

A little ATF works well too....

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

That cure may be worse than the problem.
You don't want to loosen that stuff up with the engine running, if it makes it past the oil pickup screen without clogging it up, the nasty crap will go to filter and clog it, when the filter goes to bypass the crap goes straight to the bearings. Myself, I'd take the pan off and clean it out and make sure the return oil passages from the head are clear. Put in new oil and new filter, change the oil and filter after a few miles of driving.

Exactly.

don't use anything in the above posts yet - just change the oil and filter several times, running the car 100's or 2,000 miles each time until the oil appears clean - use a non-detergent or low detergent or mix of the two oils

THEN & ONLY THEN use an aggressive, get the sludge out technique.

[Evans, Marv]

I'd listen to Mike (Lubemaster) and Sammy. There are quart sized additives you can buy to add and run your engine only about a few minutes to clean the engine out. That sounds nice but I don't totally trust their claims. I would be afraid of chunks of gunk clogging up my filter with a quick treatment like that, if you truly have a significant amount of sludge in there. That would seem especially true with any treatment if you have a full flow filter on the engine, which is usually the case. If that kind of filter gets clogged from a large amount of sludge, just think of what can happen. I've seen filter canisters break from the pressure, not to mention what can happen inside the engine.

[M.D. Holloway]

if you put ATF or fuel in your crank you will f*** up your engine worse than a soup sandwich.

[EarlyPorsche]

Originally Posted by LubeMaster77

if you put ATF or fuel in your crank you will f*** up your engine worse than a soup sandwich.

I don't think ATF or fuel have the lubricity needed to keep the bearings from overheating and spinning on the crank. At least marvels is designed to be installed in a crank case. Google: Marvels Mystery Oil or MMO and you'll see the product I am referencing.

[RWebb]

looks like you should add a soup sandwich to your oil; run it briefly and then drain

[GH85Carrera]

What type of soup do you use for the sandwich? Whole wheat or white bread?

[RWebb]

in your digestive system, fiber helps prevent problems

but in your car's oiling system, fiber can clog it up

[M.D. Holloway]

buncha kunckleheads I tell you what...

[sammyg2]

Yep.
uh-huh.
Yep.
Hey where's boomhauer?

Bobby! Get off the lawn with that bike!

[dewolf]

Thanks for the replies gents, but engine is cactus. The oil galleys are full of sludge and the top end of the motor is dry. Took the rocker cover off and......holy crap.