Changed the oil in my truck today..and..

Detectorist · 05-01-2013, 22:37

The first thing that came out was a glob of black sludge. Not good. Checked my oil afterwards and it's already dark brown looking.

Is it worth it to drop the pan to see if there is any sludge to be found and if there is, clean it up?

Caver 60 · 05-01-2013, 22:57

Just a guess, How's your antifreeze level? Assuming you've been changing oil with some degree of regularity.

Mraforever · 05-01-2013, 23:03

Pop a valve cover. Less work than dropping the pan and should still tell you if your sludged up. If it is sludged you should use something like autorx to dissolve it rather than scrape it out. You risk dislodging a chunk and plugging an oil passage by manually removing it.

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md2lgyk · 05-02-2013, 09:47

Odds are, you have a leaking head gasket.

SC Tiger · 05-02-2013, 10:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Detectorist

The first thing that came out was a glob of black sludge. Not good. Checked my oil afterwards and it's already dark brown looking.

Is it worth it to drop the pan to see if there is any sludge to be found and if there is, clean it up?

This is the same truck you are losing coolant in, no? IIRC you put Bar's in it, correct? (How do I remember this stuff?)

If it is that one and is not worth fixing it "right" then drive it a little and change the oil again to see if the stuff you put in there actually worked. Sometimes it takes 2-3 changes to get all the crud out.

Dropping the pan is either easy or a pain - depends on if you can get it straight down or if there is a crossmember in the way.

Adjuster · 05-02-2013, 10:46

I had a sludgy(sp) 1979 Chevy 350 boat motor once. I did two oil flushes right after each other within an hour using Marvels Mystery Oil. Engine was clean as a whistle after that. Couldn't believe the crap Marvels broke loose into the oil. I also ran Marvels in my fuel and it appeared to really make a positive difference.

/

Adjuster · 05-02-2013, 10:51

I also remember as a kid we had a 1979 Ford LTD that smoked terrible. My mom took it to the local garage and they removed the valve cover. Everything under the cover was caked with sludge and the cover was full of sludge. They said they used a paint scraper and a shop vac to remove all the sludge from both sides of the engine. It never smoked again and ran perfectly. This car also had that crazy variable venturi carburetor.

/

BIGBEAR92314 · 05-02-2013, 10:55

You could try something like this.....
http://www.auto-rx.com/engines.shtml...FQE6Qgod1hYAiQ

captainstormy · 05-02-2013, 10:56

IIRC didn't you also have a thread about loosing coolant? If so that's probably where that sludge is coming from.

I had a 2001 grand prix once that had some sort of a gasket or seal blow and the oil and coolant had mixed.

I actually didn't notice any issues until I was about to go on a long road trip and wanted to double check the oil/coolant levels and saw that the coolant was brownish instead of orange.

Had the fixed (and got rid of the dexcool while I was at it) and that car is still doing well on the road today.

Mraforever · 05-02-2013, 10:57

I didn't see the other thread about losing coolant until now. I would get a head gasket test kit, and pressure tester before doing any work. It might not be worth messing with if the head gaskets are bad. If the test kit says no combustion by products are in your coolant and the cooling system isn't leaking then worry about the sludge.

A friend of my dads had an old crown Vic that the original owner didn't change the oil on for about the first 3 years. He used marvel and it cleaned all the gunk out. I was amazed. He put a 1/2 a bottle in with each oil change and changed the oil every two weeks for a couple months. He got the car cheap, knowing the oil change history. So if it didn't work he was prepared to stick a salvage motor in it.

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elsolo · 05-02-2013, 11:44

Everybody told him he had a bad head gasket (or cracked head) but he used a bottle of stop leak and called it fixed.

Detectorist · 05-02-2013, 11:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by elsolo

Everybody told him he had a bad head gasket (or cracked head) but he used a bottle of stop leak and called it fixed.

1. Not everybody.
2. I never said it was 'fixed'. The jury is still out on that one.
3. Sludge could be due to long period between oil changes, can't it?

audiomechanic · 05-02-2013, 12:02

3: define "long period between changes."

Sent from my orifice.

Detectorist · 05-02-2013, 12:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiomechanic

3: define "long period between changes."

Sent from my orifice.

15,000 miles

elsolo · 05-02-2013, 12:06

nevermind

John Rambo · 05-02-2013, 12:08

If it was his headgasket it would be milkshake color. You don't mistake coolant in the oil for black sludge.

You could throw some Seafoam in the oil, but you risk messing up a lot of stuff by doing that. You could also drop the pan and manually clean the sludge with high-pressure liquids, but that would be damn near impossible unless you want to make a huge project out of it.

If the vehicle wasn't worth more than a bottle of leakfix for a blown headgasket, I wouldn't worry too much about the dreaded 'sludge'. Its not going to kill your engine.

audiomechanic · 05-02-2013, 12:08

15k will do 'er if running dyno oil. Not so sure if full synthetic.

If you're positive the coolant leak has stopped, then like others have suggested, put Marvel Mystery Oil or Seafoam or something like that in the crank, drive it a couple hundred miles, change the oil again.

Sent from my orifice.

Detectorist · 05-02-2013, 12:14

I'm trying to see if my intake gasket job has a warranty. It's just one possibility.

Oil looks like oil. No white smoke out of tailpipe. No moisture at all in the mornings under the oil cap.

Don't know if the Bar's leaks has worked yet. Haven't driven it enough.

Caver 60 · 05-02-2013, 13:07

My brother gave me a V6 van that had the oil pressure light coming on at low RPM and was loosing coolant. Pulled it down and the lower intake manifold gasket was quite severely deformed and dumping coolant straight into the tappet galley and on into crankcase. It had quite a bit of sludge and of course the bearings had been ruined.

I miked everything and the crank shaft, pistons, and cylinder walls were still in good shape. I overhauled (did not bore it) the engine, rings, bearings, valve job, etc. I've now got over 100K on the overhaul job. Still running good.

boxer01 · 05-02-2013, 14:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Detectorist

3. Sludge could be due to long period between oil changes, can't it?

Absolutely!! That's what I believe it is. If you had a bad/leaking head gasket, you'd also have coolant mixing in with the oil and it'd have a darker/lighter mocha coloring (depending on how much coolant got mixed in the crank case) on the dipstick when you pull it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Rambo

If it was his headgasket it would be milkshake color. You don't mistake coolant in the oil for black sludge.

You could throw some Seafoam in the oil, but you risk messing up a lot of stuff by doing that. You could also drop the pan and manually clean the sludge with high-pressure liquids, but that would be damn near impossible unless you want to make a huge project out of it.

If the vehicle wasn't worth more than a bottle of leakfix for a blown headgasket, I wouldn't worry too much about the dreaded 'sludge'. Its not going to kill your engine.

Pretty much what Rambo here said.

mcknife · 05-02-2013, 15:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Detectorist

15,000 miles

My B-I-L (RIP) use to change his oil at every overhaul. He was lucky once but the garage asked if they could keep his car overnights to flush and drain it.

mc

Geeorge · 05-02-2013, 16:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adjuster

I had a sludgy(sp) 1979 Chevy 350 boat motor once. I did two oil flushes right after each other within an hour using Marvels Mystery Oil. Engine was clean as a whistle after that. Couldn't believe the crap Marvels broke loose into the oil. I also ran Marvels in my fuel and it appeared to really make a positive difference.

/

Marvel mystery oil is good stuff to desludge an engine.,never used it in the gas.

Dump a bottle in the oil and run it for a week or so then change the oil,repeat until the oil is clean

LippCJ7 · 05-02-2013, 19:20

What I do is pour a quart of Tranny fluid in the motor the day before I change the oil and it works great for desludging my motors, i do it every third oil change in my Diesels

Detectorist · 05-03-2013, 19:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by LippCJ7

What I do is pour a quart of Tranny fluid in the motor the day before I change the oil and it works great for desludging my motors, i do it every third oil change in my Diesels

A local mechanic I know also gave me this suggestion.