Wow...
Since birth was a way of saying since the original purchase at the dealership in April of 1999.
And, was maintained on M1 for it's life.
(Except, probably, any dealer oil changes coincident with other service - mostly plate.)
Not a discussion: I (and it) have been M1 only since before I bought this truck - probably 94 or so.
Many vehicles are still pretty on M1.
All my other vehicles stay pristine.
I agree there's something about this one.
These motors spent time with leaking plenum plates before repairs.
Which would / could be like a PCV failure.
...trying to figure out why things look so bad... is a good place to start
Being clear with your language is beneficial in discussions like these, using phrases like "per my ownership" are needlessly vague and encourage alternative takes, like you not being the original owner.
What was the average oil change interval that you ran?
Varnish, and sludge, are the result of things like the breaking down of a lubricant's constituents and that product's contaminant carrying capacity being exceeded, allowing those byproducts of operation to plate-out on metal surfaces. Sludge will form in areas that aren't exceedingly hot, and will have a moisture component, while varnish will happen on areas that get hot and does not have a moisture component. If you have sludge, it's pretty much guaranteed that you'll have varnish, but varnish doesn't mean you'll have sludge.
So, how do we get here?
The reason you get varnish, as I noted, is because the contaminant carrying capacity of the lubricant has been exceeded. These products are:
- Combustion byproducts (blow-by and PCV vapours for example)
- Fuel dilution
- Oil breakdown (VII polymers, oxidation of the base oils)
I'm sure there are other mechanisms that I've not mentioned.
With an appropriate OCI for the conditions, one shouldn't get much, if any, varnish. What an appropriate OCI looks like will depend on both the lubricant and condition of the equipment and the amount of contamination it generates. Since we are seeing considerable varnish here, clearly something was resulting on those parameters being exceeded. Yes, a faulty PCV system, blow-by or some other mechanism where significant combustion byproduct makes its way into the sump will more rapidly degrade the lubricant.
My take on your bearing wear is likely similar to yours, and that it is the result of the pick-up being plugged, starving the engine of lubrication. I'm not sure how you would have avoided this if you were running reasonable OCI's. An analysis of the constitution of those blocking deposits would be interesting, it's possible that it could be foreign to the oil, perhaps from a very small coolant leak, but I expect that's beyond the scope of this project.
I still recommend a pulling of the engine, which would allow you to send out the crank to a machine shop to be checked and bearings properly sized as well as provide the opportunity to clean things up more with it on a stand.
The man is a walking Mopar encyclopedia.
.