What to Do about Engine Sludge

[rovinrivers]

I just had the valve cover off to replace the gasket and the mechanic told me there was sludge down in there, paraffin build up due to inadequate oil changing over the years -- 10 year old Vibe GT with 140,000 miles.
He told me if I don't have it cleaned out I risk an oil blockage down the road and consequently engine damage. Are there any products out there that can be added to engine oil that will do the same thing as a manual cleaning?

[Rayven01]

There are all kinds of them, but the problem is if you already have a significant sludge problem and you use them, they can break up large enough chunks you could very well cause the oil blockage problem you're trying to avoid. Personally I wouldn't use them. I'd either leave it and hope it didn't cause an issue or get it cleaned out manually.

[Chiadog]

Do not use any type of Engine Flush - it will destroy your engine. Just change your oil regularly and at short intervals if you wish. Synthetic oil can clean up a dirty engine, but at 140K you may be inviting oil leaks at the engines worn seals.

[Derf]

Same problem, at 185k the previous owner either used cheap oil, or did not change enough. Switched to synthetic, Amsoil OEM 5-30 after only 900 miles did oil and filter change, starting to see an improvement looking down the fill neck. Already plan on making several quick oil / filter changes 1000 -2000 miles. Depending on what synthetic oil you go with, check the oil frequently every fill up or sooner, when it starts to get dark change the oil and filter (the filter can plug up with deposits when switching to synthetic). Agree with the previous two post, do not use engine flush... ever. Your oil pump and internal passages will thank you. Let the oil do the work, let it erode the sludge like water on a beach rather than a treatment that works like a jackhammer on concrete.

As for seals, most synthetics ( I know Amsoil for sure) have additives to preserve and keep seals from shrinking. So unless you already had a bad gasket being covered by sludge synthetic should keep the seals conditioned.

[triz]

A good quality synthetic is whats needed. Only real way to get most of that sludge out is manually. Shop vacuming out what you can. That will also require dropping the oil pan and cleaning out the bottom end. Very tedious. There are some pictures on Spyderchat of what the inside of a dino vs synthetic engine looks like and its night and day. For those interested in horror pics.

http://spyderchat.com/forums/showthread ... ght=sludge

I offer discounts and 6 month preffered membership as promos for forum members on Spyderchat. Spyderweb, and some members from newcelica. I'm trying to get the same thing here for you guys, but I dont have enough post yet to PM Mike.

Here is a link to my site. Please use ZO#5172967 I always try to encourage people to get the Preffered Customer membership since you get the dealer pricing. If anyone signs up and places a order. I will refund you 10 dollars. (the cost of the PC membership) Must be a new Amsoil customer.

http://lubedealer.com/mr2ner/home.aspx

[circuitsmith]

There are some pictures on Spyderchat of what the inside of a dino vs synthetic engine looks like and its night and day. For those interested in horror pics.

http://spyderchat.com/forums/showthread ... ght=sludge

That car had 75K miles of unknown maintenance.
That little fact wasn't revealed until the end of the thread.
Therefore, you can't blame that sludge on conventional oil.
The valvetrain of my '88 Accord was clean after 220K miles and 20 years of dino oil, various brands including Quaker State.

[rovinrivers]

Hi again, I'm the one who started this thread. I've been using Mobil 1 synthetic in this car since 2007 and still have sludge. Although I don't know its history from first 2 owners who put the first 70,000 miles on it.

I got an estimate of $1200 to do a manual clean up on it. Is this reasonable? That's a lot of dough and I'm thinking I might just continue with the synthetic oil and do more frequent oil changes and hope for the best. Basically its been a good running dependable car for the 70,000 miles I've put on it.

[triz]

There are some pictures on Spyderchat of what the inside of a dino vs synthetic engine looks like and its night and day. For those interested in horror pics.

http://spyderchat.com/forums/showthread ... ght=sludge

That car had 75K miles of unknown maintenance.
That little fact wasn't revealed until the end of the thread.
Therefore, you can't blame that sludge on conventional oil.
The valvetrain of my '88 Accord was clean after 220K miles and 20 years of dino oil, various brands including Quaker State.

That is correct. On my personal experience Synthetic wins hands down, regardless of what you Brand you use. I was a very big Mobil One fan and its a great oil. But if I wasn't running the Amsoil in my cars right now I would go with the Pennzoil Ultra. Something in the Mobil One has changed. I've run the Castrol Edge or Castrol Eurpoean formula which some on Spyderchat seem to like. I personally didn't like it.

Synthetic is better in so many ways especially when it comes to breaking down in a over heating situation. Dino oil just breaks down and literally turns to cake mix. Even running synthetic I had my AC clutch seize up on me and snapped my belt. The first thing I did was change the oil when I got back. If you maintain your car you'll get a long life from it. My brother n laws Astro is going on 250k miles. Looks ike crap on the outside but runs like a champ.

[Vulcan05]

Since the AC clutch is not lubricated in any way, I fail to see the connection. The post-lockup oil change was not needed.

[triz]

Since the AC clutch is not lubricated in any way, I fail to see the connection. The post-lockup oil change was not needed.

Not to thread drift. This was on another vehicle and the belt snapped meaning nothing to turn the water pump hence the over heating. Overheating leads to oil breakdown. There is the connection.

[circuitsmith]

Although I don't know its history from first 2 owners who put the first 70,000 miles on it.

A lot of damage can be done in 70,000 miles of neglect. I'm sure that sludge was there when you bought it.

[cmpltvertigo]

I would do as recommended first and change out the oil more frequently and make sure to use a good quality filter such as OEM.

If the sludge is severe enough you can drop the oil pan and replace the oil pickup tube. I replaced that on my GSX when I replaced the block and also on my mothers old Probe GT. After many years of use these pickup tubes start to get clogged and begin to starve the motor of proper oil pressure/levels.