The other day, I did a quick inspection of my girlfriend's 03 Saturn ION (38000 miles) the other day. When I pulled the dipstick, I was treated to a reddish colored oil. Stunned, I pull the oil fill cap and saw sludge on the bottom of it and in the valve cover. This engine has had the oil changed every 3000 miles by the Stealer and I am bracing for a fight.
My plan is to first make sure we have all of the oil change receipts with no gaps (she swears she does), head down to the dealer, have them take an oil sample and ship it off to blackstone for analysis. I will ask them to seal the remaining oil and store it in case we need to reference it later.
I have never seen reddish oil before - is there a common symptom that causes this problem? I haven't read that the Ecotec 2.2 is a sludge prone engine - is it? Wouldn't you think that the dealer would see this condition and say something about it (or were they just waiting for the warranty to expire)?
I do not want to play with any additives until I get the oil analysis back from Blackstone, but if she decides to keep the car, this will be a good ARX test case. I will likely pull the valve cover and really find out what it looks like under there.
This car has been to the dealer with transmission trouble, starter replacements, and ignition switch replacements. I replaced the front brakes at 30k, and now the suspension is hitting hard and knocking.
Here are a couple of photos. Any advice appreciated. I'm not a happy camper.