Neglected car- oil? Engine flush? valve cover pics

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Orlando, FL
Vehicle: '95 Chevy Caprice 5.7L LT1
Mileage: 56k
After I bought it, I had the valve covers resealed due to an oil leak. Leak was fixed and car does NOT use up or burn any oil now. Upon taking the valve covers off, there was sludge. I recently got the oil analysis back from the oil that was in when I bought the vehicle. It had a JiffyLube sticker so I'm assuming it was their house oil. Anyone know what it is?

Full report can be seen here: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4207811#Post4207811
Summary- high in Aluminum, chome, iron, and silicon. Wear at pistons, rings, and steal parts such as cylinders.

I'm planning to do 2k OCI's. Should I go with diesel oil since it has more detergents? Cheap dino (currently have Havoline, Chevron Supreme, and maxlife in my stash)? Let it naturally clean slow and steady. Or take a more drastic approach and do an engine flush such as LiquidMoly or MMO. With the drastic approach, I'm scared of a big chunk of that black sand getting loose and then getting stuck on the oil pump screen frying the engine.







PCV valve was all clogged up. It was changed.

 
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Change the oil and drive on. It hasn't blown up yet, no reason to think it will in the near future (or ever) with regular changes.
 
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I would do a 5 minute idle engine flush then use oil from your stash since u already have it. 2K-3K mile OCI sounds good for now. Then switch to 5K after a while.
 
56k miles and 21 years old. This is why id rather have a car with an average amount of miles per year than super low on a vehicle that had an old change once every 6 years or whenever they remembered.


Clean as much as you can with a flathead, carefully with out scoring surfaces. Then 4-5k on 5w30 Maxlife to hopefully recondition seals that have been sitting for a while. Skip the flush, its just a waste. Cleaning it slowly and carefully with a good quality oil and DRIVING it at good hot temperatures is your best bet.
 
Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
Change the oil and drive on. It hasn't blown up yet, no reason to think it will in the near future (or ever) with regular changes.


Look at the pic's and think about what will happen if you just just changed the oil or used a drive around flush like Marvel MO. My guess is that the oil filter would block and it might even block or restrict the oil pump intake.

I would drop the sump pan and clean it and the all important oil pump intake screen. Rinse it through with diesel, top up with a cheap 5w30, add a can of a major brand oil flush designed for use at idle only (10 or 15 mins) just before an oil & filter change. The flush might need doing twice until the oil stays fairly clean.
Then use a major brand oil that has a lot of detergents (Mobil 1, Amsoil or Ultra all clean well) and the correct API spec but do a short first OCI of 2 or 3000 miles unless the oil turns black before that.

Liqui Moly, Amsoil and Lubegard all make idle use oil flush additives that will clean up sludge and varnish, but as this case is so bad removing the sump and doing 2 flushes would be a real good idea.
If you clean up an old sludge monster it does not matter how it is done, if the seals or gaskets are bad it might leak due to the false oil seal effect where sludge is helping a worn seal work. So it might be necessary to change to a HM oil or use a can of oil stop leak additive. The best one is Liqui Moly Motor Oil Saver.

Finally make sure the crank case vent is clear (Google balloon test) as they often block up in a black death case. I would also keep a regular check on the condition of the oil as the top end oil flow was probably rather slow which overheats the cylinder head and that can cause a premature head gasket failure. So check for Mayo or coffee cream on the dipstick and keep an eye on the coolant level.
 
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tough call.


I guess I'd do the short intervals like you said with a high mileage or HDEO and if the valve cover is easy to remove maybe check to see if there is progress.


maybe even change the filter halfway through the short oci and cut it open to see how much garbage is coming loose.
 
That mess should be cleaned manually. I'm sure there's a big or even bigger mess in the pan. Once you get as much of that mess out from under the valve covers and in the oil pan, then try something to clean it up.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
That mess should be cleaned manually. I'm sure there's a big or even bigger mess in the pan. Once you get as much of that mess out from under the valve covers and in the oil pan, then try something to clean it up.


The previous poster did say there might be an issue with removing the sump. Some modern cars have stupid engine installations that mean the engine has to be lowered or the box removed before the sump can be. Others are not quite so bad as they just involve removing a cross beam or exhaust downpipe. Luckily both my cars allow direct access to the sump pan.

If you can't get the sump off easily, then I would just rinse it with diesel before using an idle flush, as that might save doing the flush twice.
 
I wouldn't do anything other than run PYB for 5,000mi OCI, changing a new Wix oil filter each time, and enjoy the car as it cleans itself well enough to keep on going.
 
I would use Amsoil flush with low cost (but name brand) diesel 10W-30, new cheap filter each time, new oil 3 times in a row, same sitting. Follow the instructions to the T, don't drive the car. On the final flush cycle allow to drain overnight. Then fill with a decent oil and drive gently for a 1000 miles or so and change oil and filter.
 
Pull the oil pan and clean the sludge out. I saw a Ford engine years ago that had sludge like yours and the new owner fried his engine when the oil pump screen clogged up. Of course, clean the sludge on the head as well. Then I would use M1 10-30HM and do short oil and filter changes. But do not try and clean this mess up with HM oil alone without the manual cleaning I mentioned.
 
Originally Posted By: UltrafanUK
Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
Change the oil and drive on. It hasn't blown up yet, no reason to think it will in the near future (or ever) with regular changes.


Look at the pic's and think about what will happen if you just just changed the oil or used a drive around flush like Marvel MO. My guess is that the oil filter would block and it might even block or restrict the oil pump intake.


Yeah, I looked at the pictures. If it was my car, I would change the oil and drive on. I might scrape some off with a screwdriver and a shop vac.

I never suggested a flush, I suggested he change the oil and not worry about it.

This is not severe sludge. Plenty of engines have run with nuch worse for much longer.
 
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