more sister vehicle crud

[ericthepig]

The other thread on "sister vehicle crud" has spurred me to report my own recent findings -

I was in Oklahoma City for the 4th - offered to chg my sister's oil in her '02 Honda CRV. My sister sold her '95 Camry two years ago - she put 320k miles on it - claimed she did 3k OCIs - still running great when sold. Anyway, she bought the CRV used, don't know prev. maint.

She said she was recently a quart low and had added a quart. Looking in the oil fill hole, it was the worst varnish and black crud I've ever seen. Under the vehicle there were large hanging drops of oil about to hit the driveway. The sump holds 4.4 qts, I drained about 2 qts out of the engine. BTW, she has a long hot commute daily in OKC.

I told her it was likely doom and gloom. She didn't really want to hear it. So I let it go at "doom and gloom" and told her to keep adding oil till she got it to a mech. I don't know if she'll get it to a mech - she seems to have the attitude that you fight leaks just by adding oil and don't worry too much about it.

The end is near.

(she doesn't trust synths, and insist on Valvoline 5w30 - I'm fine with the Valv. - but it needs more than 2qts in the sump).

 

[bustednutz]

Perhaps is a pan gasket leak or a valve cover gasket leak. Throw in a a quart of MMO and the rest Valvoline. Drive it 3k and drain. The MMO will truly help clean up the internal mess.

 

[ericthepig]

If it were my car, I'd run Amsoil flush in it for 30 minutes (which probably wouldn't do much except kick-start the softening process), then I'd drop 3 qts cheap 20w50 and one qt Schaeffers Neutra in it and drive for 1.5k and repeat (she does 1.5k in a few wks). And something would probably come loose, clog an oil line and finish destroying the engine. Thus, I didn't tell my sis any of this. If that engine comes under my care (and I'm in Arkansas - 5 1/2 hrs away), and dies under my care (and it may indeed be too late) - then guess where I stand.

And the level of varnish I saw was something to behold. I don't think anything that you can buy for under $30 will do anything with that. Perhaps one of those professional pressure flushes - but I don't know even about that.

Also, after I chged the oil, I chked the dipstick - it had its own liquid bacon-strip running up thru the fresh oil - hard to explain - but another sign of a bad eventuality. And the dipstick itself was vanished. I must take good care of the engines under my care - because that's the first varnished dipstick I've ever seen.

(the oil leak is somewhere in the lower engine - I was able to examine the whole valve cover area etc - all dry.)

(btw, the flush process I mentioned above would be in addition to getting it to a mechanic - which I told my sister to do asap. we'll see)

 

[chet2]

she sounds like gramps a few weeks back not beleieving in full syn...next time she should look for crud, at least i would...so is 8 years on same antifreeze tolerable for a VW turbo?

 

[river_rat]

She must be rich to want to treat her cars that way.
I sure can't afford to skimp on maintenance.
Wow.
Your a good brother. Good luck to ya.

 

[ericthepig]

No, she has little/no disposable income, so she doesn't want to spend a dime on the engine if she doesn't have to (and as I said - in her brain she doesn't have to if adding oil keeps it running).

To her credit, she took her Camry to that 320k - I think the only maint. she did was careful OCIs - the timing belt broke at 270k miles - I doubt she had ever changed it. Otherwise that car was flawless.

 

[oilyriser]

Did you get a close look at the filter mounting area? Was the varnish thick enough that it could break loose and plug oil flow to a bearing? The goal will be to slowly loosen and clean up sludge that can be caught in the filter, then soften and dissolve varnish from the outside in, so it doesn't flake off and block up a bearing.

 

[Audi Junkie]

As the Klingons say, "ngaQ lojmIt".

-The door is locked.

(in reference to a situation with an inevitable, unavoidable outcome)

 

[speedbump47]

Wow...I thought Camry's used an interference type engine, so if the timing belt broke in operation, the valves would smash into the pistons and the engine would need to be rebuilt. She must have gotten lucky to still do another 50K miles after the belt was replaced.

 

[ericthepig]

I'll have to ask her about the timing belt - I knew that some spin free and others wipe out the valves - I'm pretty sure hers was non-destructive (perhaps she was lucky) - I would've heard something about it if it was that destructive.

I didn't notice anything unusual concerning the filter area. Perhaps it's just a matter of the engine getting a recent leak, so now she's been running around low on oil more than not, and the crud is starting to build - but perhaps it's not catastrophic yet. Just hoping/wondering.

The OC was July 3rd. I'll chk on the status soon.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Sounds like a candidate for adding your old oil as top-off.

 

[chet2]

my bro in Law pulled same stunt on his camry, never changed belt till it broke at 220k...does 25k oci on the oil burning camry..he doesnt even add unless i tell him there is no oil on dipstick ( 3 different times)

 

[BrianWC]

Eric, I, too have an 02 CR-V. The leak may be something as simple as the crush washer. I've found I can't reuse them on the CR-V like I can on other cars. Also, my CR-V consumed about 1 qt per 4k miles for a couple of years. It finally just stopped. Don't know if it was the oil I was using or change in driving style or what. However, inside my fill hole there's nothing but bare clean metal in most spots to a very, very light golden varnish on others.

However, I would point out, my brother has an 05 Accord with the 2.4l. He's got over 300k miles on it and for about the last 100k, he's added around a quart every other week. He's got a bit of a drip and like your sister's, when I looked in the drain hole, there was a good collection of crud inside. It may be something as simple as a stuck PCV.

 

[ericthepig]

Brian, what's a "crush washer" ? Her consumption is very significant - a whole cluster of fresh (big) drops hanging from the undercarriage. Probably using a qt in a week or less.

 

[BrianWC]

I just meant the washer around the oil drain plug. I've never really had any significant issues, myself, with this engine, so I'm sorry I'm not of more help. If it does end up being the valve cover gasket, it looks fairly easy to replace. The PCV should also be pretty simple to test and/or swap out on this car.

Now, there's something to point out. This is probably not the issue, but since it's someone near and dear to you, you may want to keep it in mind. There was a problem early on with these CR-Vs when the oil filter was put on without lube at the factory. As a result, careless techs were not noticing when the gasket seperated from the filter upon doing an oil change. This resulted in a significant leak whenever a fresh filter was put on over the old gasket, often resulting in engine bay infernos as the oil sprayed right onto the catalytic converter in some instances.

Of course, this could happen anytime a filter is put on dry and they carelessly replaced.

 

[Familyguy]

Originally Posted By: BrianWC
I just meant the washer around the oil drain plug. I've never really had any significant issues, myself, with this engine, so I'm sorry I'm not of more help. If it does end up being the valve cover gasket, it looks fairly easy to replace. The PCV should also be pretty simple to test and/or swap out on this car.

Now, there's something to point out. This is probably not the issue, but since it's someone near and dear to you, you may want to keep it in mind. There was a problem early on with these CR-Vs when the oil filter was put on without lube at the factory. As a result, careless techs were not noticing when the gasket seperated from the filter upon doing an oil change. This resulted in a significant leak whenever a fresh filter was put on over the old gasket, often resulting in engine bay infernos as the oil sprayed right onto the catalytic converter in some instances.

Of course, this could happen anytime a filter is put on dry and they carelessly replaced.


If this was the case, you'd lose most of the oil in the crankcase in a relatively short timeframe (probably less than a few miles driven with a doubled filter gasket).

Best,

 

[berniedd]

In my earlier Honda, I had what looked like a leak from the oil pan gasket. Replaced the gasket but engine still leaked. The real problem was a bad O-ring at the oil pump.

 

[oilyriser]

If the sludge is only in the slow moving parts, then the bearings may be safe, and it's worth doing some work to find the leak, or at least putting a tiny pan underneath so it doesn't make too many driveway stains.

Does the engine drip while it's running?

 

[FastSUV]

Is she cute??? If so, I'd be glad to top off the Honda or change the oil for her since you are so far away LOL. j/k

 

[ericthepig]

If I'm not going to risk messing with the engine, then I'm certainly not going to risk the whole matchmaker thing.

Leak is not from filter area. Leak is not from top of engine (valve cover). Leak is "from below". Not sure about leak when engine running/not running.

I'll try to get an update tonite. Morbid curiosity.