30,000mi oci (till the oil pressure light came on)

[parshisa]

So, my buddy stopped by today, his Mitsubishi ASX is in need of wheel hub replacmenet. Me being curios, pulled a dipstick and was a bit surprised - lower part of the dipstick was covered in varnish. Ok. Oil on the dipstick was brown, i mean not light brown, very dark and thick brown, almost like some stuff was dissolved in it. I opened the cap to look under the valve cover and oh my, nasty varnish and thick dirty oil. I asked him when was the last time he changed - he said around 500mi back or so. But...prior to that he went 30k on one oil (unknown) and hasn't changed it/checked till the low oil pressure sign came on. There was oil on the dipstick when he checked and it took him around 3 days driving the car like that...oh my, I don't feel good about that engine. Long story short, I recommend him do another change with cheapest oil as it looks like that oil he has in right now (valvoline 0W20 synthetic) is cleaning the sludge accumulated...he should be back next week and i'm looking forward for that oil change lol

Any paricular oil recommended for short clean up rub? I was thinking 5w30 valvoline or supertech. Car has around 100k on the clock

 

[CT8]

so it is not your concern, let the buddy worry about the oil because it will come back to you for ruining the engine by trying to clean it out.

 

[StevieC]

Maxlife maybe?

UOA possible?

 

[pitzel]

A HDEO perhaps? Do you have access to something like Mobil System Cleaner? https://www.mobil.com/english-us/industrial/pds/glxxmobil-system-cleaner

 

[PimTac]

Run something cheap like Supertech or Chevron at shorter oci. If that engine is really gunned up, running a cleaner or flush is asking for trouble.

 

[parshisa]

Oh no, for sure I didn't mean a dedicated cleaner. Just wonder if any oil is good at this task

 

[4WD]

Those oils, or Chevron Halvoline, Mobil Drive Clean, Pennzoil Gold … I'd get a Fram Ultra on there to manage the extra crud if the clean oils helps liberate some stuff …
Next round look at BG cleaners …

 

[AP9]

Short OCIs with a cheap HM or HDEO. I have to agree with CT8. Avoid doing anything with the vehicle yourself, because when something goes, of course he'll blame the last person to touch it.

 

[parshisa]

Man, if it was 30k oil I'd pull a sample in a heart beat! I have a spare kit but i'm not sure how useful UOA Oon current fill would be for BITOG knowledge

 

[FastLane]

TRADE IT

 

[parshisa]

He is well aware of possibile damage done to the car. Although, current oil (that he changed) is cleaning the engine anyways, so not sure what difference it would make if he changes it again?

 

[BigShug681]

The amsoil engine flush would be safe being it's not solvents but just a heavy dose of detergents, I'd couple that with any CI4 rated HDEO should do the trick

 

[parshisa]

He's short on cash so unlikely he'll go for it. He'd change the oil at most...but my advise to him was to dump it

 

[Artem]

Pour in some conventional and put a window sticker on it to come back in 30k...

 

[BobsArmory]

This is the exact reason I hate to buy used cars.

 

[parshisa]

I really cannot imagine how can you go 30000 miles without acknowledging it. I just don't get it

 

[double vanos]

If he ever gets that under control he's a candidate for Mobil 1 tri-annual protection!

 

[JAG]

Going forward, he must check oil level frequently and add when needed. Also he should change it when it gets really dark or no more than 5000 miles, whichever comes first. Since he is tight on cash, use inexpensive conventional oil like Supertech or some big-name-brand on sale. He should change the PCV valve since it's probably gunked up.

If he is good at working on cars, dropping the oil pan to clean it and the oil pickup screen would be very helpful.

 

[SirTanon]

$20 says if you start doing stuff to that engine, your buddy will start coming to you do to it in the future..

Having said that, I would probably still do it. Shell Rotella would be my go-to.

 

[parshisa]

Man, i've never seen the oil being that dirty. I mean, it's not just black, but there's junk suspended in it. It's nasty. It really needs to be changed. We shall see how he wants to proceed. But i have a feeing he'll go another 30 on it haha