OCI for sludged Altima

[Swift101]

A friend of mine bought a 97 Altima with 164k on the clock for $400. I changed the oil for her yesterday and not even a quart came out! The dip stick has burnt oil on it and needless to say the engine is caked in sludge. I poured some fresh Quaker State Conventional in but it almost instantly got dirty.

Should she do 3k intervals? Or perhaps shorter ones at first?

She won't be keeping the car more than a year or 2, it's only meant to get her by.

-Thanks

 

[Phishin]

Any cheap oil and add a quart of MMO. Run for 1000 miles, change filter every 200 miles. Tear apart filters. That's an easy engine to remove valve cover too by the way.

PCV is almostly certainly plugged. Bad news is...it's a PITA to remove.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

500 to 1000mi on the first oci then possibly go up in 1000mile intervals with a new filter each oci. Otherwise, and probably more appropriate, a partial teardown is in order. An Unfortunate and troubling situation she be in. What happened to "pull the dipsticks" before purchase?

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: Swift101

Should she do 3k intervals? Or perhaps shorter ones at first?

She won't be keeping the car more than a year or 2, it's only meant to get her by.

-Thanks


Ok go to Walmart and get a few purolator oil filters and some Supertech 5w30 synthetic oil or Pennzoil 5w30 conventional which ever is cheaper. Run the first fill for 1,000 miles and see how dirty it gets on the dipstick at 500. Like others said, cut open the filter and see how much goo is in there. (If the dipstick gets gooey at 500 miles change it then)

Next change go 2000 then 3000 and stick at 3000.

I would not tear it down. Our babysitter ran her corolla like that while in college for several years. She would come over and I would check the oil on her car and there was never any on the dipstick. So, I would toss 2-3 quarts (4qt sump)

of synthetic in and she kept going. The car got handed down to her sister and clocked over 250k before retirement years later.

 

[Zaedock]

It's a $400 car.

Change the oil and filter every 3,000.

The cleaning ability of a modern motor oil doesn't magically stop at 1,000 miles.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: Zaedock
It's a $400 car.

Change the oil and filter every 3,000.

The cleaning ability of a modern motor oil doesn't magically stop at 1,000 miles.


Yeah but the filter may fill up with goo. The first 2 OCIs are testing how much sludge will get liquefied. If you get the initial goo out you have a good chance of making it the 2 years. If the sludge is caked on then a 3000 OCI is probably fine.

 

[Zaedock]

The filter hasn't filled with goo yet while being neglected. Running oil for a couple of hundred miles in this thing is a waste. I see neglected engines all the time. Change it and drive it.

If the original owner didn't give a [censored] about the engine, Id be more worried about the other neglected components such as the front end and steering.

 

[bigt61]

Originally Posted By: Zaedock
It's a $400 car.

Change the oil and filter every 3,000.

The cleaning ability of a modern motor oil doesn't magically stop at 1,000 miles.


I agree, but maybe the 1st change should be at 2000 or so and see how bad the filter looks. Then go to 3000 OCI on cheap dino in the future - the worst thing you can do is to try and "clean" the engine too fast with some miracle in a bottle additive. It's a beater, who cares if the engine is clean. You just want it to keep running.

 

[Zaedock]

Realistically thinking...it's not even the OP's car - it's his friend and she didn't even check it when she bought it.

Any bets as to when it actually sees another oil change? LOL

 

[accent2012]

Originally Posted By: Zaedock
The filter hasn't filled with goo yet while being neglected. Running oil for a couple of hundred miles in this thing is a waste. I see neglected engines all the time. Change it and drive it.

If the original owner didn't give a [censored] about the engine, Id be more worried about the other neglected components such as the front end and steering.



Yeah, Nissan's front ends do wear out considerably.

 

[Ram01]

Throw a bottle of seafoam in there and use pyb

 

[drolds]

Lots of good responses received. The immediate oil change w/ inexpensive oil is step one. The PCV valve is a definite replace. The best fix is to remove the oil-pan and clean it. The job is simple and most parts store stock the gasket or you can use a high quality RTV for your gasket. I bet the pan will be nasty looking and really gummed up so be prepared to scrub it a lot. Be sure to check and clean the oil pick-up tube. If it gets plugged you could get oil starvation- not good. Then, Re-assemble and let the RTV set for a couple hours, fill with new oil & filter and drive it. A new valve cover gasket would be a great idea too. Who knows, if you are getting to this soon enough, your friend may be able to sell this car later for a small profit. Keep us posted.

Dr. Olds

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: Zaedock
Realistically thinking...it's not even the OP's car - it's his friend and she didn't even check it when she bought it.

Any bets as to when it actually sees another oil change? LOL


+1 LOL yeah he will do one OCI and she will say "Thanks for fixing my car"

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: Ram01
Throw a bottle of seafoam in there and use pyb


I would be afraid to do that.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: drolds
I bet the pan will be nasty looking and really gummed up so be prepared to scrub it a lot.


Agreed, I have done a couple of sludgers and find that sometimes the sludge (if it is still in gel form) in the oil pan will liquefy with new oil and you can drain most of it out in 1-2 lower mile OCI's. If you get lucky and it doesn't clog the pickup.

 

[salv]

Great car. I miss my 97 Altima. It is a really small sump. I always changed my oil every 3-5k with Mobil Clean 5000, and later Mobil Super 5000 with an e-core filter. Car ran as quiet as can be with 195k on it until some old lady t-boned it. I would still be driving it today.

 

[donnyj08]

I'd take the valve cover off and oven cleaner the [censored] out of the head and let it sit over night. Then I would pressure wash the head clean. Then remove the pan, do the same to the pan, with it off the car. Replace the pickup tube and screen while in there. put it back together and fill it with any decent oil and drive it until it died.

 

[strat81]

I'd keep away from it, lest you be blamed for ruining her awesome purchase.

 

[badtlc]

Just run Maxlife at 3k OCIs and call it good. It will get her by and hopefully improve things as she goes.

 

[ABerns]

I'll throw in another vote for change the filter after 1000 miles, see what it looks like inside. If it's OK, just run shorter (3k?) OCIs. If it were me, I'd avoid any additives.