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My Sludge Adventure

losh1971

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I don't know if you could ever get it clean enough without an acid dip. If hell bent on keeping the engine in, I'd be inclined to clean it as much as possible with shitloads of kero and once reassembled driving it 1000km and pull the sump again, maybe even some diesel oil for a 100-200km, before hand. Might have to repeat that a couple of times to ensure the pick up doesn't become clogged. The issue is that muck is right through the entire engine.
 

LittleRed

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I don't know if you could ever get it clean enough without an acid dip. If hell bent on keeping the engine in, I'd be inclined to clean it as much as possible with shitloads of kero and once reassembled driving it 1000km and pull the sump again, maybe even some diesel oil for a 100-200km, before hand. Might have to repeat that a couple of times to ensure the pick up doesn't become clogged. The issue is that muck is right through the entire engine.

I hear you. I've managed to get the majority of the gunk out of the heads. It's pretty much just on the surface now. I'm attacking the timing chains today and tomorrow, I'll see how I go with that before making any more decisions.

On a side note, the bottom end doesn't look too bad. I really only need to clean the surface for the gasket.

I suspect there may be some build-up in the channels, but there really isn't much I can do about that without going to extremes. I would hope that a flush will help a bit there.
 

RiCeY

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If you can get a fitting the same as the oil pressure switch you could pump kero through the gallerys by hand
 

VS 5.0

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A timely reminder of the first rule of second hand car buying.....check service history.
 

EYY

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All surfaces of the engine need to be clean enough to eat off (oil is the exception) if you want it to last.

I’ve dealt with similar engines before - which is why I suggested finding a good second hand engine. The mess you create trying to clean it isn’t great. That sludge gets on everything. Last time we had an engine like that, the oil was solid - literally and what was worse is that it was a diesel.

That was probably 12 months ago now and I still pick up tools and end up with sludge all over my hands. Great fun.
 

LittleRed

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Whooaaa what a frgn mess
Maybe thousands to fix and you have to ask yourself is the car worth it?
Good Luck.

Yup, that is a good question. Probably not. This is why I believe it's worth attempting to revive it without just replacing everything. Give it as good a clean as I can and see how we go.

To be honest, if I really loved the car, if it was something really special, like a Manaro or something, I would definitely go all the way and make it like new or better. This however, is a rather dull daily driver, not too much to inspire you, but a nice comfortable ride none the less. I do think it's worth a bit of effort, but not really worth expensive repairs.

I will say though, that I am actually really impressed with the build quality on the Commodore. It's really well put together. My hat off to all the Aussies who made it what it is today. Such a shame to see it ripped away from us.
 

scaredyet

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Could you please take photos of how you cleaned it and progress shots
 

greenacc

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Good luck with it. I hone mine doesn't look like this inside but I'm not brave to look.
Have you checked the opening on the pcv Valve ? Was it blocked? There's a utube clip on here somewhere of a guy blaming all these sludge issues on the tiny hole in the pcv getting blocked and not letting the crank case breathe.
 

LittleRed

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Good luck with it. I hone mine doesn't look like this inside but I'm not brave to look.
Have you checked the opening on the pcv Valve ? Was it blocked? There's a utube clip on here somewhere of a guy blaming all these sludge issues on the tiny hole in the pcv getting blocked and not letting the crank case breathe.

Yeah, I did see that clip. Haven't had the chance to check it yet. Will get back to you on that.
 
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