PICS- 2001 Vulcan w/ 95K Intake manifold off

[volk06]

I thought I had a leaking oil pan or timing cover but due to my current situation I couldn't tell or work on it so I took it to my trusty mechanic. Sure enough the intake manifold gaskets were leaking oil and coolant so I had them replaced. . Some varnish and a little bit of crud in the corners. I bought this taurus 1K miles ago. Had 5K oci with the PO but oil type supposedly cheapest full synthetic at menards. The oil has not been changed yet, due to making sure everything seals and trying to get most of the contaminates out in 1 OCI, will be changing next weekend. Debating on doing a UOA. I have some nextgen I was gonna use but I think I want a better cleaning oil than the nextgen conventional or just do some short OCIs of the VNG.

The pics are pretty rough, they were sent to me via cell phone

 

[Clevy]

I thought a full syn wasn't supposed to varnish like that,cheap or not.
So does this mean this particular full syn which I assume is a group 3 was just run for too long or what could have been done to prevent this varnish,or is varnish such as this even preventable?

 

[RiceCake]

Picture quality makes it look like this was taken in the 1980's.

 

[javacontour]

Originally Posted By: RiceCake
Picture quality makes it look like this was taken in the 1980's.


...for a Haynes repair manual...

 

[simple_gifts]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
I thought a full syn wasn't supposed to varnish like that,cheap or not.
So does this mean this particular full syn which I assume is a group 3 was just run for too long or what could have been done to prevent this varnish,or is varnish such as this even preventable?


5K can be 2500 cold starts and a 2 mile trip to work....

 

[Zaedock]

Looks good to me.

 

[Gabe]

Interesting. It would appear - from my limited experiences - that coolant causes deposits to form earlier. Any ideas why??

I took a half golf ball sized chunk of deposit and placed it in a Snapple bottle of PP. After a week of shaking every time I walked by the toolbox, there was virtually no changes. The deposits still had the gravel texture with sharp edges; the PP darkened slightly but was tested against a different lot. I guess I was expecting it to melt or disintegrate.

 

[volk06]

Originally Posted By: Gabe
Interesting. It would appear - from my limited experiences - that coolant causes deposits to form earlier. Any ideas why??

I took a half golf ball sized chunk of deposit and placed it in a Snapple bottle of PP. After a week of shaking every time I walked by the toolbox, there was virtually no changes. The deposits still had the gravel texture with sharp edges; the PP darkened slightly but was tested against a different lot. I guess I was expecting it to melt or disintegrate.


I wonder if the engine getting hot would help dissolve the debris?

 

[Bill in Utah]

I had my Vulcan apart twice in 108k miles before I sold it and it was spotless. (both times and down to the block)

Yours is not bad and nothing there that I would be concerned with.

The myths that oil companies and the koolaid is amazing. That x will do y and you "need" this past that is a joke on us.

I'd get it buttoned back up, run 2-3 shorter OCIs with a 5w-30 and on the 3rd get a UOA to make sure they got the coolant leaks taken care of and all is good.

Coolant in oil is BAD. Period. Bad for the engine to the 9th degree beyond!

My first post here over 10 years ago was my Vulcan UOA with the coolant leak...

How time flies.

Thanks for posting the pics.

Bill

 

[Voltmaster]

Use good oil in this , if your going to keep it for a while of course.

The engine doesnt look too bad but the varnish makes me worry a tad bit.

 

[Bill in Utah]

ANY API SL or later 5w-30 (or 5w-20 if they wish) will be fine.

Vulcans are not a motor that needs anything more.

 

[bmwtechguy]

Have seen lots worse. If a cheaper full syn was used, perhaps it had minimal additives to meet spec. Several of those oils out there I would guess. It takes more than just a group III base oil to make a high quality oil that will keep an engine spotless.

I have seen several of those vulcans go 300k on cheap conventional oil changes with valve cover gaskets and tune-up at 150k....don't forget to service the transmission too.

 

[volk06]

I dont think im going to use the VNG due to its weaker additive package but not 100% sure. I need a few clean up ocis. So should I use PYB, PHM, M1HM, the sodium knocks out mobil super and valvoline oils. I just dont want to have any other gaskets start leaking.

 

[shell_user]

I would try some QSGB in 5w30 or maybe even some QSUD if you could get it cheap like at wally world. Ya could even try Kendall syn blend in it couldnt ya?

adam