Castrol GTX to clean up sludge?

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Volv04Life

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I just bought a 1981 Honda civic with 52,000 on the odo from an estate sell. I noticed the inside of the valve cover is caked with sludge so I plan to use Rotella 10w-30 conventional at short intervals for the first few oil changes. I then plan to follow up with a normal diet of GTX 10w-40 conventional. My question is will the GTX continue to clean if I use it strictly for the remainder of the cars life or is it just a plain conventional that advertises a lot of [censored]?
 
I can tell ya from experience, 2.99 cent mobil regular oil(Target), does a very good job of deplaquing a motor from gtx use. so you make the call. to rid plaque or add plaque
 
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I didnt want to cause leaks if there is a chance the sludge is keeping some of the seals together. I dont want it spotless but I dont want it to look like charcoal all over the inside of the engine. Plus the rotella 10w-30 conventional only comes in 1 gallon jugs and cant be had at walmart. Im looking at the GTX due to higher availability and 5 quarts of oil for the same price as 4 quarts of rotella.
 
Any sn oil should clean. A diesel oil probably has more detergents to handle soot, so it should help with cleaning. In hot weather i would not be afraid to run 5w 40 rotella t.
 
True cleaning with oil alone, any oil, is slow going at best. Castrol is fine oil I've used a lot of it but would not pick it as a "cleaning" oil. Your Rotella, Maxlife or Pennzoil YB would be better bets IMO.
 
Originally Posted By: Volv04Life
I didnt want to cause leaks if there is a chance the sludge is keeping some of the seals together. I dont want it spotless but I dont want it to look like charcoal all over the inside of the engine. Plus the rotella 10w-30 conventional only comes in 1 gallon jugs and cant be had at walmart. Im looking at the GTX due to higher availability and 5 quarts of oil for the same price as 4 quarts of rotella.
Sounds like a sober plan to me. Maybe for first couple of oil changes kept the intervals shorter (drop the oil and change the filter at 2000 miles or change the filter more often in case loose debris clogs it and it goes into bypass mode)
 
I de-sludged a 1991 Accord with 5w30 GTX. I think any name brand will do, just change it every 3k. If I had to do it again I would use Mobil 5000 based purely on price.
 
I figure itll quiet down the noisy valve train but im second-guessing it since itll be winter soon. Ill probly go with 10w-30.
 
Originally Posted By: HKPolice
Is the engine spec'd for 5w30 or 40? If you run 40 in a 30 engine it'll run hotter.
Really. Got any evidence of this. I run 40 grades in my rt charger in the summer and 20 grades in the winter and I can tell you with 100% certainly that oil temps are actually lower with the thicker oil by 10-15f. So if you've got any evidence I'd love to see it. OP Unless you operate the vehicle under extreme conditions and elevate oil temps significantly there's no point in running a thicker oil than specified. For example my mustangs and charger. In the summer I run a euro spec 40 grade because I beat on the vehicles driving them significantly harder and regularily elevating oil temps beyond 275f and I've seen oil temps in excess of 300f,which in my opinion it too hot for a 20 grade to maintain film strength. I might be wrong however I'd rather not find out the hard way I'm right. In the winter I use a quality 5w-20 because rarely are oil temps elevated beyond 230f. My charger,in the summer,using a 5w-20 will stabilize oil temps of 213f. Using a 0w-40 in the same conditions,oil temps stabilize at 185-200f depending if I set cruise at 55 or 75. If anything is go a bit thinner instead of thicker. Oil pumps faster to the critical moving parts. If the engine is noisy add a can of liqui-moly mos2 and the noise will vanish within 300 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: HKPolice
Is the engine spec'd for 5w30 or 40? If you run 40 in a 30 engine it'll run hotter.
Really. Got any evidence of this. I run 40 grades in my rt charger in the summer and 20 grades in the winter and I can tell you with 100% certainly that oil temps are actually lower with the thicker oil by 10-15f. So if you've got any evidence I'd love to see it.
Clueless-Clevy, higher viscosity oils produce more hydrodynamic friction in an engine. More friction makes more heat. You haven't done controlled experiments, and oil temperature varies with conditions enough to easily fool you. Post something true for a change.
 
Originally Posted By: route66mike
Clueless-Clevy, higher viscosity oils produce more hydrodynamic friction in an engine. More friction makes more heat. You haven't done controlled experiments, and oil temperature varies with conditions enough to easily fool you. Post something true for a change.
True. But in a passenger car the hydrodynamic friction difference between a 30 and 40 grade is really down to splitting hairs on a wild southern end of an northbound person.
 
Thanks clevy. I just learned a lil more about oil. smile Ill go with 10w-30. I dont know why but I dont want a 5w.....
 
Wouldn't worry to much about sludge. If your worried throw half a pint of MMO. Or even a quarter bottle of engine flush. I wouldn't use a full bottle but every jot and then I'll uses 1/4 and let the car warm up then change. Does it work? I don't really know but I feel it might help to remove light stuff last thing I want to do is have a piece of carbon come off and block an oil passage.
 
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