Hey, folks, not new to wrenching and I'm usually careful with my additives. Maybe not today, though. Or maybe I got lucky
I just finished an oil change in a 2012 Grand Cherokee (5.7 Hemi) that had an oil pressure/flow issue, with an aftermarket rebuilt engine with 35k on it. The oil issue appears gone, but I need some advice on whether I have too much LubeGard in there.
Here's a little history.
There was a fairly substantial valvetrain "tick" at idle, along with startup clatter, but no indication of bearing issues in the low end. This of course is the 3rd gen Hemi with (in some but not all cases) a history of lifter roller bearing/camshaft failures, a non-perfect upper end oil distribution system, and VVT & MDS in place. None of this scares me, but maybe it should, haha! I've done a decent amount of research on oil vs lifters in these engines, and in a nutshell Redline is usually pretty successful, along with putting in a decent 5w30 (not 20) plus LubeGard at a ratio of 3oz per quart of oil.
I just recently bought the vehicle, and knew about the noise. It was priced very fairly, so I pulled the trigger. It had a non-functional oil pressure sensor. PO gave me the sensor - he hadn't installed it & was tired of working on it, and he had a new truck, so I got it cheap. It just felt like it was something fixable. Two engine codes were present: 0520 (oil pressure signal out of range) and 1521 (ECU thinks that the wrong grade of oil is in the system).
With that background, here's what I did: I installed the new sensor first, then checked the oil pressure with the old oil (looked fine, actually) and filter still in place. It was pretty low, even at the high end where the pressure relief valve does it's thing.
So, I then did the oil/filter change, filling with 6 quarts of oil, filling the filter before installing - and not adding the LubeGard, but checking the oil pressure numbers again. It was the same; low pressure and noisy at idle.
I decided that I would put the whole 32oz of LubeGard, to really up the amount of protection (because it looked like really low oil pressure) and also to see if the additive cleaned anything out. Apparently it might have.....
I cleared those two codes (0520 and 1521) from the ECU, started/stopped the engine a couple of times and very carefully drove around the block, with the oil pressure displayed in the dash. This model has a center display and oil pressure can be monitored - the data is from the same sensor that I replaced. After doing all this, my oil pressure is reasonable at idle when hot, and goes up a little higher than it did before at speed.
It sounds like a success story, but I'm going to give it time before relying on it.
So, I now have a nicely running engine with minimal upper end tick (sounds like a normal V8), decent oil pressure numbers, and 6 quarts of Mobil 1 EP 5w30 and 1 quart of LubeGard in the sump. And this is real real early, but no CEL or codes so far.
Should I expect any short term problems with that much LG in the oil? I mean significant problems, in terms of hard damage like bearings & other metal surfaces, and possibly a clogged lifter and the like.
I have no issues draining some oil/LG mix out & putting in more oil to reduce the concentration. Just looking for a little advice or experience.
I just finished an oil change in a 2012 Grand Cherokee (5.7 Hemi) that had an oil pressure/flow issue, with an aftermarket rebuilt engine with 35k on it. The oil issue appears gone, but I need some advice on whether I have too much LubeGard in there.
Here's a little history.
There was a fairly substantial valvetrain "tick" at idle, along with startup clatter, but no indication of bearing issues in the low end. This of course is the 3rd gen Hemi with (in some but not all cases) a history of lifter roller bearing/camshaft failures, a non-perfect upper end oil distribution system, and VVT & MDS in place. None of this scares me, but maybe it should, haha! I've done a decent amount of research on oil vs lifters in these engines, and in a nutshell Redline is usually pretty successful, along with putting in a decent 5w30 (not 20) plus LubeGard at a ratio of 3oz per quart of oil.
I just recently bought the vehicle, and knew about the noise. It was priced very fairly, so I pulled the trigger. It had a non-functional oil pressure sensor. PO gave me the sensor - he hadn't installed it & was tired of working on it, and he had a new truck, so I got it cheap. It just felt like it was something fixable. Two engine codes were present: 0520 (oil pressure signal out of range) and 1521 (ECU thinks that the wrong grade of oil is in the system).
With that background, here's what I did: I installed the new sensor first, then checked the oil pressure with the old oil (looked fine, actually) and filter still in place. It was pretty low, even at the high end where the pressure relief valve does it's thing.
So, I then did the oil/filter change, filling with 6 quarts of oil, filling the filter before installing - and not adding the LubeGard, but checking the oil pressure numbers again. It was the same; low pressure and noisy at idle.
I decided that I would put the whole 32oz of LubeGard, to really up the amount of protection (because it looked like really low oil pressure) and also to see if the additive cleaned anything out. Apparently it might have.....
I cleared those two codes (0520 and 1521) from the ECU, started/stopped the engine a couple of times and very carefully drove around the block, with the oil pressure displayed in the dash. This model has a center display and oil pressure can be monitored - the data is from the same sensor that I replaced. After doing all this, my oil pressure is reasonable at idle when hot, and goes up a little higher than it did before at speed.
It sounds like a success story, but I'm going to give it time before relying on it.
So, I now have a nicely running engine with minimal upper end tick (sounds like a normal V8), decent oil pressure numbers, and 6 quarts of Mobil 1 EP 5w30 and 1 quart of LubeGard in the sump. And this is real real early, but no CEL or codes so far.
Should I expect any short term problems with that much LG in the oil? I mean significant problems, in terms of hard damage like bearings & other metal surfaces, and possibly a clogged lifter and the like.
I have no issues draining some oil/LG mix out & putting in more oil to reduce the concentration. Just looking for a little advice or experience.