Engine sludge...dare I clean?

Will Carter

Will Carter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2005
Location
Burlington
1983 Toyota pickup 22R with around 240K
So I popped the valve cover to adjust the valves on the new rig in progress to find sludge caked on pretty good. Good news is that when I swapped the oil pan from a 2wd to a 4wd the oil pickup was clear and minimal sludge in the bottom/oil pan.

My question is...If I remove the oil pan and let it all drain out the botom, do you think it would be safe to wash (brake clean) the sludge down the passages without lodging some of it in a crucial oil galley?

Only thing I've found on a quick search is everyone taking apart engines to clean sludge...I don't want to do that right now...

The motor seems to run fine...but was just a little noisy...
 
A lot of short trips over along period of time can cause that..

I'd clean the valve cover and put it back on. Drain oil put on new filter, Then run some diesel motor oil in it for 30min or so.. Drain put on new filter. Running good oil will clean it over time. IMHO trail rigs tend to get run for a nice long time in the course of a trail ride/trip. Thats what helps that crud dissolve over time..

There was a thread short bit ago about what oil to use in a high mileage engine.. Several said use diesel oil due to the higher detergents, I agree.. (but only if your prepared to spin on some new filters more often.)
 
yager said:
A lot of short trips over along period of time can cause that..

I'd clean the valve cover and put it back on. Drain oil put on new filter, Then run some diesel motor oil in it for 30min or so.. Drain put on new filter. Running good oil will clean it over time. IMHO trail rigs tend to get run for a nice long time in the course of a trail ride/trip. Thats what helps that crud dissolve over time..

There was a thread short bit ago about what oil to use in a high mileage engine.. Several said use diesel oil due to the higher detergents, I agree.. (but only if your prepared to spin on some new filters more often.)
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I'm running Delo 400 15-40w in my street-driven Sammi right now. Before the switch, it seriously looked like I was fumigating. The blow-by isn't terrible, and new stem seals did nothing to fix it. After the switch, the smoke has cleared up significantly, and my oil consumption has gone down considerably! I'm happy with the results, and the oil is cheaper. If it cleans the grime out of the old block too, I'll be tickled as punch! I usually end up changing the oil at 2000 anyway, considering most of the miles on this rig are city.

Will, as for your question, here's something else to try. I've never done it, so take that into consideration. Fill 'er up with all but one quart of motor oil. Cheap stuff, I'd say. Top it off with ATF. The detergents in that are supposed to do wonders on sludged-up motors with burnt oil deposits. Run it for about 15-30 miles, then change the oil.
 
catfishblues said:
I'm running Delo 400 15-40w in my street-driven Sammi right now. Before the switch, it seriously looked like I was fumigating. The blow-by isn't terrible, and new stem seals did nothing to fix it. After the switch, the smoke has cleared up significantly, and my oil consumption has gone down considerably! I'm happy with the results, and the oil is cheaper. If it cleans the grime out of the old block too, I'll be tickled as punch! I usually end up changing the oil at 2000 anyway, considering most of the miles on this rig are city.
Will, as for your question, here's something else to try. I've never done it, so take that into consideration. Fill 'er up with all but one quart of motor oil. Cheap stuff, I'd say. Top it off with ATF. The detergents in that are supposed to do wonders on sludged-up motors with burnt oil deposits. Run it for about 15-30 miles, then change the oil.
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don't go to the atf thing it will swell your seals.

best way- pull valve cover & clean it, Find all your oilpassegs in the top of the head & plug them with vasoline. Proceed to cleaning the crap out putty knife or whatever suits ya. When you got it clean. use q-tips to get the vasoline out of the oil ports. fill it with 15/40 rotella & a new filter & run the $hit out of it for 500 miles. Change oil again & use the 15/40 for the rest of that engines life. It will thank you :beer:
 
All you have to do is change the oil and add a quart of Automatic transmission fluid to the oil and change the oil about 500 to 1000 miles and keep doing it until its clean. The detergent in the atf will clean the engine. We do it all the time at the shop.
 
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