Sludge under valve covers

[Otto]

So I went to change the valve cover gaskets because had a small leak, when I removed the valve covers discovered sludge bulit up in some locations 1/4 inch thick. If it looks like this under the valve covers, can't picture what it looks like inside the engine. I bought the truck with 56,000 miles and immediatly switched to moble 1 oil. I am wondering what I can do to dissolve the sludge in th engine without causing damage. I don't want to clug up any openings by loosing up the sludge. I am wondering if there is any product that will completely dissolve sludge small enough to pass small openings and flush out the drain plug. Anybody have any suggestions?

[Joe_Black]

Mobil-1 will get rid of that over a short period of time, so not to worry. Just be very diligent with your oil and filter changes. Whenever I get a high-mileage vehicle and switch it to Mobil-1 I'll do a "short" oil and filter change at 1500 - 2000 miles.

[Otto]

I bought the truck with 56000 miles and now it has 82500 miles, I assumed by now it would be cleaner then what I saw. Changed oil every 5000 miles. I was surprized to see that much sludge.

[JHarris1385]

While on this subject and just a yes if possible will do. I would like to switch to Mobil full synthetic. Im running normal oil in there right now as far as i know. Not had the VX for more than a month. The question is could I just drain old oil and then put new oil in? Is there any other proceedures i need to do before transferring to the new oil?......5x30right? southern indiana climate...

[Chopper]

10/30 is probably a better choice in an older engine. Just swap juice and filter like usual.

[JHarris1385]

its a 2000 with 40,000 miles so 10/30 mobil 1?

[IndianaVX]

jharris,
i would tell you to do as joe mentioned, in your situation. after changing to full syn. change oiil, and filter again in 1000 to 1500 miles. this should "clean" the old oil outta there. im a hoosier also. started with the 10-30, but im running 5/30 now.
take it easy
david

[IndianaVX]

jharris,
one more thing, i replace one quart of oil with a quart of lucas synthetic oil stabizer. so, 4 qts of oil, and 1qt of stabilizer. some people poo poo this product, but im a beliver in it.

[Tone]

Use a quart of engine oil flush avail at any autoparts store before you drain the oil - follow directions, do not drive with this in. I run a qt of diesel through before every other oil change as it is cheaper and accomplishes the same thing. You might want to do it every time you change your oil to clean away the excess. sludge.

[1CROSS]

When you put 1qt of diesel in.Do you drain a qt of oil out before you add it?

[Joe_Black]

I run a qt of diesel through before every other oil change as it is cheaper and accomplishes the same thing. You might want to do it every time you change your oil to clean away the excess. sludge.

Do not do this without removing your coilpacks and plugs completely as you could seriously damage your engine, but better yet don't do this at all. This is an "old school" technique and is correctly done using kerosene which is an "engine wash". Believe it or not, it's actually detailed in my Caterpillar manuals from the 30's and 40's and is how I clean the transmission and clutches on my crawlers. However, diesel and kerosene can do some very nasty things to the inside of a modern engine, so if you want to go to the extreme of an engine flush then use modern off-the-shelf products.

[Otto]

I want to use the engine flush you can buy at the auto parts store, but I hear you have to be carefull not to clog the oil pump screen which could cause major damage to the engine. I hear it's recommended with heavy sludge to drop the oil pan & clean the pan & pump screen with a major flush, is this true?

[Joe_Black]

Use of a good quality synthetic like Mobil-1 or AMSOIL will remove most build-up over time with regular oil & filter changes thanks to their excellent detergent qualities. The amount of "sludge" starting this thread is relatively insignificant compared to that encountered in extreme service environment engines with high mileage and exclusive petroleum lubrication. In that instance a more thorough cleaning of the block and oil galleries can produce enough material to pose a problem to circulation or even blockage.

The area underneath the valve covers is a unique "in engine environment" as the build-up there comes from a combination of oil vapor, oil splash (from valve train) and water vapor produced by normal engine condensation. So what you see there isn't necessarily indicative of what the rest of the engine is like, and being valve covers you can just scrub with a stiff brush and degreaser followed by a good hosing off.

This will be a much more relevant topic for those VX owners not using synthetics as we start getting more machines with 200K miles and higher.

[Otto]

Thank you Joe for your help,I feel much better driving my VX knowing my engine is not a sludge bucket waiting to die. I will follow up with more oil changes and keep up with Mobil 1. Thanks everyone for there thoughts on this subject.

[Tone]

Joe, you amaze me again. I recommened an off the shelf product, the base of which is diesel. Do tell what you think these nasty things d and k can do inside an idleing engine?