Dropping sump because of sludge (pic inside) [update, more pictures]

[commodore665]

the Haynes book says the timing covers have to be removed to drop the sump but looking at the underside that doesn't seem right. I just spent all night getting to the valves I'd love to not have to pull apart the front of the engine as well.

I was just planning to jack the engine from the trans, not bothering with lowering the kbar. Will that work?

An example , of why some people should not be allowed to have cars , good luck cleaning it out , I'm curious to know if the previous owners ever serviced it , and if so , who serviced it , because they deserve a bullet .

 

[NU13]

Right, i'm booking my SS in for a service next week. Been putting it off so i can spend money on other things.

 

[commodore665]

Right, i'm booking my SS in for a service next week. Been putting it off so i can spend money on other things.

my plan is to do mine over Easter , going to do the plugs as well , happy days . :dance:

 

[Late arrival]

Bad sludge indeed.
Can you tell us how often the oil and filter were changed, and what oil was used please? I would hate mine to get like that, so I'm interested in learning.

No sorry, however there are two 70000km gaps in the log books, but I dont think it would still be working with that sort of service interval. To prevent it happening to your engine run a full-synthetic oil with a high detergent content, and drop the oil every 5000 to 10000 kms depending on your driving style. Definitely dont do the dealer-recommended service interval of 15, 000km.

 

[Late arrival]

Here's some further reading on the subject (see attached PDFs below) :

Thanks a heap mate.

 

[Late arrival]

OK replying time.

I just brought this car last friday, it runs 100% fine 99% of the time. I only noticed something wrong with it when I had been low-speed driving for a few hours then was idling for an extended period, got a low oil pressure warning and the top end started sounding like a diesel. Cut it, turned it back on again, and I guess the **** dropped away from the pick-up cause it worked fine. That was enough for me to pull it apart to have a look tho and suspicions were confirmed. Previous (2nd) owner says the car has been running fine, and Im inclinded to believe them because 1) I know them 2) two weeks ago the mech ran an oil flush, which would have done nothing good with that much **** in there. Either lazy or bad mechanic, I mean, you could see the sludge by taking the oil filler cap off.


Considering the only problem Ive had with it is the pickup getting blocked after extended idling, Im just gonna give it a real good clean top and bottom (dont have the tools to take the front end off), then MAYBE flush it 50/50 oil/diesel but maybe not because that could just strip more stuff from the front end and block small galleries, Id like to hear some opinions on that. Then Im gonna run full synthetic with the best filters I can find and change every 1000km or so for a while and that will wear down the sludge, rather than just stripping it all.

Screw getting a new motor, if it ain't broke why fix it.

 

[gossie]

Thanks. As you say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
If it seems to be running okay then as you say a clean up and a good flush out several times, and your luck could well be in. So good luck and keep us informed please.

 

[Late arrival]

Will do. Gonna get stuck into it tonight.

 

[XUV]

OK replying time.

I just brought this car last friday, it runs 100% fine 99% of the time. I only noticed something wrong with it when I had been low-speed driving for a few hours then was idling for an extended period, got a low oil pressure warning and the top end started sounding like a diesel. Cut it, turned it back on again, and I guess the **** dropped away from the pick-up cause it worked fine. That was enough for me to pull it apart to have a look tho and suspicions were confirmed. Previous (2nd) owner says the car has been running fine, and Im inclinded to believe them because 1) I know them 2) two weeks ago the mech ran an oil flush, which would have done nothing good with that much **** in there. Either lazy or bad mechanic, I mean, you could see the sludge by taking the oil filler cap off.


Considering the only problem Ive had with it is the pickup getting blocked after extended idling, Im just gonna give it a real good clean top and bottom (dont have the tools to take the front end off), then MAYBE flush it 50/50 oil/diesel but maybe not because that could just strip more stuff from the front end and block small galleries, Id like to hear some opinions on that. Then Im gonna run full synthetic with the best filters I can find and change every 1000km or so for a while and that will wear down the sludge, rather than just stripping it all.

Screw getting a new motor, if it ain't broke why fix it.

actually , just run a diesel specific oil (they have a detergent in them) in it and change it at 2500 kays a couple times.

 

[Tasmaniak]

Playing with fire by saying this... but run a fair amount of ATF with a high viscosity engine oil and you'll clean it out pretty quickly. ATF has an extremely high detergent content. Average weight of ATF is 5w20 so combined with something like 15w50 or something similar you'll find yourself running a nice viscosity when up to running temp and change that for 1,000 intervals.

Probably wouldn't hurt to swap out your filter every 500km for a few times either. THere is going to be a lot of **** moving around quickly and last thing you want is a clogged filter.