Noob with an Explorer, 210K and need advice..

[Superbee86]

Wow.. wish I have known about this site before I poured 8 ounces of Chemtool in my old Escort and blew the motor...

Anyway..

I have a 94 Explorer 4.0 V6. It has 210K miles I purchased from an older gentleman for a pretty good price.

After running Chemtool through the vacuum line I noticed tons of sludge on the PCV valve.. Looking through the small hole, I seen even more sludge.. Decided to look through the engine oil cap and there is nothing but 1/4" of sludge looks caked to everything..

My question is.. I read some people saying it's not a good idea to run Auto-RX due to the sludge covering up some possible leaks through the gaskets.

Well, I want this thing to run as long as possible and I'm not sure if I should run the Auto-RX cleaner or not.

I went through my first oil change (oil filter was dated 05-01-2005) am using 10-30 Maxlife. Not sure if I need to be running this since it may clean out the sludge causing my sump to get clogged??

Any help appreciated.. Thanks.

 

[Rand]

It may not be that bad.. sludge can look thicker than it is. How long are you planning on keeping it?
I'd probably just change it every 3k with cheap oil and not worry about it with your circumstances.

 

[MC5W20]

If sludge is your concern do two 2K oil changes back to back. Then proceed with a normal OCI. Use a brand name motor oil for you first two changes. I wouldn't fret over the visible sludge that much. If your PCV system is gunked make sure you replace the valve, chech the hoses for leaks, clean and/or replace if necessary. If your PCV system isn't functioning properly this will contribute to the sludge problem.

On another note, why would you want to put chemtool in your oil???

 

[Superbee86]

I was told Chemtool is the best way to flush the motor. I didn't realize all the sludge has to go somewhere, in this case, gunking my sump.

I'm using 10-30 maxlife right now. I'll take your advice and change back to back @ 2k and see how that goes.

 

[C.O. Jones]

Take the valve cover off to check for sludge. It could just be the PCV valve is gunked up, but I agree with mc5w20's advice to do the quick oil changes. I always do that when I buy a used car.