Are Saturn 1.9's one of those sludge-prone engines?

[guitargeek]

I was doing some maitenance on my girlfriend's mother's SL1 today, and when I replaced the PCV valve, I noticed that there was all kinds of sludge around the valve and the grommet. Now, her car is very neglected as it is, so it doesn't surprise me, but I was curious if this was common in these motors, since it's only got about 80,000 miles on it. I plan on getting some Auto-RX and running it through a couple times. It was really nasty.

 

[MarkC]

Guitargeek, so what kind of guitars do you have? I have a nice Gibson acoustic.

 

[sbc350gearhead]

Saturn engines run kind of hot, and have a tendency to bake underhood components made of plastic or rubber (particularly the PCV tube). They are also known to coke oil in the ring pack and start to burn oil. I don't know if they are actually any more sludge-prone than any other engine of that type.

 

[guitargeek]

quote:

---

Guitargeek, so what kind of guitars do you have?

---

Hmmmm.... Fender Roadhouse Strat Hamer Diablo Ovation Ultra GP (solidbody) Aria Mac 50 7string mid 70's Fender Bronco that someone slapped a Dimarzio humbucker in Some kind of acoustic/electric classical guitar Lotus strat-copy, which is getting outfitted with a couple of hot humbuckers and a Wilkinson trem. I like guitar I'm lucky because I amassed all my instruments while I was still a teenager with disposable income, because lord knows I wouldn't be able to drop that kind of money on anything now...

 

[kev99sl]

They're not prone to sludging, but rather oil burning due to poor piston ring design. The rings bake into the grooves and let oil past. Doesn't matter if you run synthetic or dino; doesn't matter if you change every 3000 miles -- it's just a bad design. On the other hand, if well-maintained, they will last a very long time. The key is to keep the rings from getting stuck in the first place. Everyone has their advice on how to do it, just keep in mind that there's a difference between freeing already stuck rings, and keeping rings free in the first place. Keeping them free, by some accounts, is as simple as adding Marvel Mystery Oil 500 miles before each oil change. I assume something like Auto-RX or Neutra would also do the trick. Once they're stuck, they're a bear to free: Auto-RX, multiple piston soaks, Neutra, solvent flushes, etc. all will have a hard time touching it. Some have had success with multiple piston soaks using Berryman's B-12. I've had some luck with multiple Auto-RX treatments, a couple of piston soaks, and the consistent use of a thicker, quality synthetic (Delvac 1, soon to be Redline). And that's the Saturn spiel ... [ November 25, 2003, 05:23 PM: Message edited by: kev99sl ]

 

[guitargeek]

quote:

---

They're not prone to sludging, but rather oil burning due to poor piston ring design. The rings bake into the grooves and let oil past. Doesn't matter if you run synthetic or dino; doesn't matter if you change every 3000 miles -- it's just a bad design. On the other hand, if well-maintained, they will last a very long time. The key is to keep the rings from getting stuck in the first place. Everyone has their advice on how to do it, just keep in mind that there's a difference between freeing already stuck rings, and keeping rings free in the first place. Keeping them free, by some accounts, is as simple as adding Marvel Mystery Oil 500 miles before each oil change. I assume something like Auto-RX or Neutra would also do the trick. Once they're stuck, they're a bear to free: Auto-RX, multiple piston soaks, Neutra, solvent flushes, etc. all will have a hard time touching it. Some have had success with multiple piston soaks using Berryman's B-12. I've had some luck with multiple Auto-RX treatments, a couple of piston soaks, and the consistent use of a thicker, quality synthetic (Delvac 1, soon to be Redline). And that's the Saturn spiel ...

---

Hmmm... thanks for the info. It doesn't burn any oil that I can tell, and now that it's had a tune-up, it runs very smooth. The last time I changed the oil on this car, I actually did add a small amount of Marvel Mystery oil, maybe 8 oz., since there was some gunk on the dipstick when I checked it, but the sludge around the PCV valve was REALLY nasty... yuck.