Looking for good stories. How sludged up? What method was used to clean it? Flushes? Short oci? Brands and grades used.
Neglected Engines You've Cleaned Up
- Thread starter SilverFusion2010
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Use Kreen from Kano Lab.
I have torn apart some really nasty engines like those you see on YouTube.
I always use a flush product and fresh oil in the engine idling before taking them apart for a more thorough cleaning because any damage is already done so risking unlodging more junk isn't going to hurt it. We do keep an eye on the gauges though.
Stuff this bad...
OPE engines run to death w/o oil changes 
Usually have stuck rings. Once in a while, I'll take a chance on a good brand like TroyBuilt roto-tiller, etc. Have always had good luck with fresh oil (usually HDEO) and a big shot of Break-Free gun lube/cleaner on top of the piston. Let them soak over night and they always have some decent compression the next day.
Run for 10 hours or so, and change oil. They sometimes run a long time after that 
Usually have stuck rings. Once in a while, I'll take a chance on a good brand like TroyBuilt roto-tiller, etc. Have always had good luck with fresh oil (usually HDEO) and a big shot of Break-Free gun lube/cleaner on top of the piston. Let them soak over night and they always have some decent compression the next day.
Run for 10 hours or so, and change oil. They sometimes run a long time after that 
My oil pan had something similar after a coolant leak, not sure if that counts.
I think my FIL's Camry will have similar thing going on inside due to the famous Toyota V6 sludger and his ignorance of the CEL, and short trip. You can smell the fuel for the first 5 mins of starting.
In the oil system I've settled on Kreen and Rislone, after trying and using almost everything popular on BITOG.
The 4.3 in my truck is still a work in progress. As far as I know, it is the original engine from 1988 with 108,000 miles. I have the original window sticker and registration. It was bought new as a fleet truck for a paper company, so it was probably maintained well enough to start with. The last owner was not so nice to it, as I bought the truck sitting the guy's backyard in barely running condition. Every single sensor on the TBI system was bad, the fuel pump was weak, it had a broken power steering pump bracket, no exhaust system, non-working 4wd, no TV cable on the transmission, no HVAC, and rotten/mismatched tires. But I still drove it home. I have fixed most of it, and even had the AC working until it all leaked back out the compressor seal.
I have done some short oil change intervals with 1 qt of Marvel Mystery Magic Minty Oil and a bottle of AT-205 Reseal on the last one. It has stopped making giant clouds of oil smoke on start up, doesn't leave any drops on the ground, and has enough oil pressure with 20W-50 that I think I can go down to a 15W-40 (initially, it was barely making 10 PSI at any RPM on 10W-30). The check engine light even stays off now. It is still burning about 1-qt of oil per 1000 miles, but that is fine with me. So it is running and I drive it once a week or so. However, the engine still has some hiccups due to some kind of timing issue. I suspect either a loose timing chain or distributor shaft. If it is the chain, I will have to drop the oil pan in order to replace the timing chain. Then I can really do some cleaning.
The old F-150 was pretty messy, due to a very neglectful rebuild by the previous owner. I took a couple years to get it cleaned up, alternating MaxLife 5w-30 in the winter and Delvac 1300 15w-40 in the warmer weather. I tossed in a solvent flush before it was opened up. It was quite clean inside by then, other than a few passages that had to be manually cleaned.
The previous owner thought oil changes were optional, and a rebuild (with upside down rings) was a better idea.
People can be suspicious of rip-offs understandably.
People who eschew oil changes because they fear a rip off are "out of touch" mechanically. This is understandable.
However, when you inform someone with whom you can communicate about oil turning into sludge over time etc. and they look at you like you're trying to set them up, that's downright scary. How distrustful and stupid can people be?
Never mind, I know.
Originally Posted By: Kira
People can be suspicious of rip-offs understandably.
People who eschew oil changes because they fear a rip off are "out of touch" mechanically. This is understandable.
However, when you inform someone with whom you can communicate about oil turning into sludge over time etc. and they look at you like you're trying to set them up, that's downright scary. How distrustful and stupid can a person be?
I'm a 1.2 on a TV viewing scale of 0-10 but I've heard of it.
BUT, since I live in NJ, I have gained familiarity with a few stupid, consumeristic, fat 'n happy, superior know-it-alls.
Hope that doesn't constitute flaming.
I have a 1990 Snapper rear engine rider with a 12HP B&S engine that took about a years worth of oil changes with Rotella T5 10W-30 to finally get it cleaned up. I would mow the yard twice, then change the oil. Came out black the first 5 or so times.
bought a straight 6 jeep grand cherokee with 225,000 on it. It made it home on it's own power and used about 1 qt of oil and 2 qts of antifreeze per week. Engine was sludged so deeply that literally the valve pushrods and springs were inset in "tubes" surrounded by gently smoothed solidified sludge, 2/3 up to the rocker arms.
Over time, coolant leaks were reduced, finally by over-torquing the head after everything else was swapped.
Sludge was cleaned the old fashion way, with a screwdriver and a shop vac.
It ran best with 10-40 and a splash of 0-20. for some reason, the splash of 0-20 cut the noise in half.
When done, it used maybe a quart of AF per 6 weeks, and maybe a quart of oil per month.
It was my daily driver for a year until I got frustrated and enamored with something else. I still miss that car. I should have put the money into it which I instead put into another used vehicle which I didn't enjoy nearly as much.
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Originally Posted By: Kira
People who eschew oil changes because they fear a rip off are "out of touch" mechanically. This is understandable.
It's like arguing with a tree for certain individuals.
It's a magic box and should just work because I put gas in it. It makes me very existential.
Most 'disgusting' engine was in 1983, it was a 75 Pontiac belonging to a neighbor. Engine wouldn't turn over - we ruled out battery, starter, fuel, etc.
Drained the crankcase and as the glue oozed from the drain plug . . . several beers and a cigar later . . . we filled the crankcase up with kerosene. Alas, after some soaking, the engine budged (barely). Took over an hour of cranking and cranking before it would finally turn enough to start. Let it idle for about 20 minutes, drained batch #1 of now black paint grade kerosene. We repeated the process I think like five or six times until the kerosene would drain relatively clear. Put a new filter on it, and some fresh oil, and he went about driving it, only changing the oil like every 2000 miles (adding some brand of engine version of Drano to the fill before draining it). I cringe on how much [censored] was still in that engine.
Glad Pontiac engineers couldn't see what had been done to that engine.
Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010
It's like arguing with a tree for certain individuals.
It's a magic box and should just work because I put gas in it. It makes me very existential.
Originally Posted By: HouseTiger
Most 'disgusting' engine was in 1983, it was a 75 Pontiac belonging to a neighbor. Engine wouldn't turn over - we ruled out battery, starter, fuel, etc.
Drained the crankcase and as the glue oozed from the drain plug . . . several beers and a cigar later . . . we filled the crankcase up with kerosene. Alas, after some soaking, the engine budged (barely). Took over an hour of cranking and cranking before it would finally turn enough to start. Let it idle for about 20 minutes, drained batch #1 of now black paint grade kerosene. We repeated the process I think like five or six times until the kerosene would drain relatively clear. Put a new filter on it, and some fresh oil, and he went about driving it, only changing the oil like every 2000 miles (adding some brand of engine version of Drano to the fill before draining it). I cringe on how much [censored] was still in that engine.
Glad Pontiac engineers couldn't see what had been done to that engine.
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