Is there REALLY a way to prevent sludge in a 2.7L?

[beast3300]

Originally Posted By: 45ACP
Originally Posted By: Bamboooo
Why is this engine so prone to sludging? And what other famous sludge-monster motors are there?


Audi 1.8T from S4 of year 1999 and 2000 (Id imagine the 3k to 5k OCI advice is the same, perhaps 4k at the most)

That and the 2.7 are the first two that "jump out" at me.
I tend to agree with the "be conservative on the OCI" advice, though if you had to go on a long trip id say use a synthetic of appropriate grade before you do and change it when you get back! (Coast to coast would be about 6k miles on an OCI, maybe 7k or more)


Another one is like 98-02?? Toyota 3L and 2.4L. I don't remember exact years. Also the Corolla 1.8 was rather rough on engine oil around that time.

 

[mongo161]

Thanks for the posts.....good to know about the 2.7L.

 

[Eddie]

Sludge is formed by oil cooking in hot spots instead of draining into the sump. If I knew I had an engine prone to sludging, I would use a full Synthetic oil (heat resistance) and change it at the recommended severe interval time/mileage. From what I have read, it appears that much of the blame for engines and sludge are due to poor maintenance such as 10K oil changes with cheapest Dino oil avail.

 

[Nick R]

The 2.7 I believe has too small drain holes from the cylinder head back into the crankcase, and so oil pools. Poor cooling design compounds the problem.

 

[zyxelenator]

My plan for sludge monster is to add MMO, check PCV at least ones in 2 changes. Run dino for 3k, blend for 4k and syn for 5k. Sendt first sample to Black Stone recently of 4qt MaxLife +1 qt of Syn Maxlife fill, asked them for recommendations for sludge engine. OCI was 4050 miles.In theory oil will get thicker and TBN will drop? Engine flush sometimes.

 

[ledslinger]

I have a 2000 Concorde that I got with 58K miles and now has 81K. It is spotless through the oil fill hole and gets quality synth at 5k intervals.

A couple of the reasons the 2.7 sludges besides those mentioned, is high underhood heat due to catalysts next motor on both sides, and high oil temps. I pulled off the highway at 70mph last week on an 80 degree day and used my infrared thermo to do some tests. CCs were at 325 degrees F, oil pan 215 F. I also hear the oil return passages from the heads are small and can be blocked with oil coking.

Pretty nice car until they go TU.

 

[Bayman]

Originally Posted By: Bamboooo
Why is this engine so prone to sludging? And what other famous sludge-monster motors are there?


The 2.7L Engines are prone to sludge because they sometimes develop an internal coolant leakage that has to do with the design of the Water Pump that allows coolant to enter the engine over time and cause sludge.

Another problem is that these engines have a smaller oil pan, this engine really needs an extra quart of oil.

 

[doitmyself]

My daughter's late '04 Sebring (RIP) with 2.7L supposedly had the revised water pump to alleviate oil contamination. When her's went out at about 120,000, our "private mechanic" told us there was yet another redesign of the water pump that also required installing an all new timing chain kit (new pump gear didn't match old chain).

We paid about $800 to have this done, but dealers and independent shops were charging about $1,400! That's an expensive water pump job.