Extreme Sludge, 305 SBC Engine

[Madmax908]

The last filter is from the second treatment of BG109.
This time though, I let it "clean" or run for 15 minutes.





More granules, but the oil itself was pretty clear.

I get the feeling I should have let the BG work longer, as in for a couple of hours/days/miles.
The instructions were clear though at 10 minutes.

 

[Madmax908]

I'm sure you guys know this already, but I realized the NAPA ProSelect 21060 is the same exact filter internally as the Walmart SuperTech ST5.

 

[OPR4H]

Nothing worked enough.

 

[KL31]

How much are those cans of BG109 costing you? And the filters and oil? Money down the toilet.

$350 for a good used engine? I'd say go have a look at a few used engines, pop the valve cover and see how they look. Pick the best one. $350 is so cheap for an engine. You probably spent 1/3 of that on oil, filters and stuff that doesn't work

 

[cronk]

I had a 1993 C1500 with a throttle body 305 that looked similar inside when I got it.
The PVC passage under the throttle body was plugged, and the engine had obviously not been well maintained.

I scrapped as must as I could loose from the heads and sucked it out with a shop vac.
I was also doing a timing chain replacement, so while I had the oil pan off, I cleaned that and installed a new oil pump and pickup tube.

The engine was by no means clean, but I had the truck for 6 or 7 years, put about 50k miles on it, and it ran well until the transmission went.

I ran Rotella T6 5w40 in it after that and always found flakes of sludge in every filter similar to the OP.

 

[gallydif]

People keep saying get a new engine, rebuild this one blah blah blah. I say put some valvoline maxlife and run it and enjoy it!

 

[KL31]

Originally Posted By: gallydif
People keep saying get a new engine, rebuild this one blah blah blah. I say put some valvoline maxlife and run it and enjoy it!


Just need to use 1 quart every 500 miles. Do 6000 miles a year? That's 12 quarts.... of top up oil

 

[cronk]

Originally Posted By: KL31
Originally Posted By: gallydif
People keep saying get a new engine, rebuild this one blah blah blah. I say put some valvoline maxlife and run it and enjoy it!


Just need to use 1 quart every 500 miles. Do 6000 miles a year? That's 12 quarts.... of top up oil

Inexpensive set of valve stem seals would likely reduce consumption considerably.

 

[FCD]

Originally Posted By: cronk
Originally Posted By: KL31
Originally Posted By: gallydif
People keep saying get a new engine, rebuild this one blah blah blah. I say put some valvoline maxlife and run it and enjoy it!


Just need to use 1 quart every 500 miles. Do 6000 miles a year? That's 12 quarts.... of top up oil

Inexpensive set of valve stem seals would likely reduce consumption considerably.

Yup, my car used to drink 20W-50 and smoked on start up and when accelerating hard, i changed the valve stem seals in august and now i haven't had to add oil in months and the engine doesn't smoke, not bad for a 120k mile, 37 year old engine.

 

[andyd]

I would get a handle on any possible coolant leaks then R+R the valve seals whilst cleaning out the oil drains and removing as much sludge as possible. Mebbe use a gallon of diesel instead of BG stuff.

 

[rrounds]

If you have the room use a 2 qt. oil filter like a Baldwin B7, Wix 51794 or Fram PH373.
That way you have a lot of media so it won't go into bypass if what ever you use does start to clean it out.

I used a B7 on my '89 Camaro drag car, so if my drag car had room for it your truck should have even more room. When your cleaning an engine as dirty as yours is, you can't have a filter thats to big.

ROD

 

[Madmax908]

Advice taken!
Installed the 195* thermostat today.
I'll put on the longer filter when I see the oil darken a little.

 

[BrocLuno]

Keep on, you'll get there

 

[Rob_Roy]

I agree with the others. Just change the oil regularly and drive it. 15w-40 HDEO would be my choice for the months ahead.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: andyd
I would get a handle on any possible coolant leaks then R+R the valve seals whilst cleaning out the oil drains and removing as much sludge as possible.


I agree. I would do the valve seals after I was comfortable with my cleanup job. Why expose the new stem seals to all that solvent?

 

[novadude]

25 years ago, it was really common to see that kind of sludge under the valve covers of 100k mile small block Chevy engines. Even engines that saw routine 3000 mile oil changes. That doesn't mean that they wouldn't go another 100k miles without problems.

Nobody would have even thought this was unusual in the old days of API SF oils and short-trip carbureted engines. In fact, it more unusual to find a 1970s era 100k mile engine that looks better than this.

 

[BigLee]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: Killer223
interesting, i thought lots of sludge could be a coolant leak. i might be wrong though,
and i've never seen a 305 with under spark plug exhaust manifolds, all the ones i've ever seen were above the plugs and the 350
s were under... again i could be wrong again.
it'll be interesting to see the other thoughts on this one.
cars had them.over the plugs. Trucks had them below.

Not all trucks had them below the plugs.
My son's 85 C10 305 has over the plug manifolds. Was all original, still had air injection system on it.
Also had a 78 Firebird W/(Chevy)305 2bbl tat had below the plug manifolds

 

[BigLee]

Agreed.
High mileage Chevy 305/350's from the 70's-80's were legendary for brittle, crumbled/broken valve stem seals.
It's pretty much the norm for these engines.
A new set of valve stem seals may completely solve the problem.

 

[Madmax908]

I had the valve cover off again today in an effort to change the seals.
The piece of junk valve compressor I bought did not work well for my application and I was unable to pull the springs & change the seals.
I did take off the #2 rockers/pushrods in trying to get at the seals, and cleaned them before re-installing.
I did vaccuum up any sludge that was in the lifter valley, and the oil returns.
I say sludge because the "granules" are now gone and oil doesnt collect and sit in the head.
The oil is now a slightly darker amber color so I think there is more dirt in the suspension of the oil.

Is the BG, is it the Rotella? I don't know, but the valvetrain did look cleaner to me.
What do you think?

Before:


After:

 

[demarpaint]

It's a little cleaner. I wouldn't change the seals until you're done with flushes, cleaners, etc. Then take it apart, do the final cleaning, install the new seals and call it a day.