HELP! While changing the valve cover gasket on my new wife's 2005 Ford Focus ZX3 2.0L, I witnessed the worst case of crusty sludge I have ever seen on the valve train! I wish I would have taken a picture but I was in a hurry to get the car out of the auto hobby shop on base before they closed. I put the valve cover in the parts washer briefly and knocked the big/loose stuff off but I couldn't clean it completely. There are chunks as big as 1 inch and the oil was dark black. I was careful not to dislodge the crusty stuff on the head but I don't know what the best way to proceed is. Synthetics with low OICs... Mild flushes... The car has 90K on it and is located in Kansas City. She drives ~8 miles to work each day so I suspect it was caused by a combo of insufficient warming and neglecting to change the oil properly over the years. The engine also burns ~1qt every 2 wks. Thanks!
SLUDGEFEST 2012
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Depending on how bad it was you may want to drop the oil pan and check it out before doing anything further.
Change out the filter, dump in some PU and run it for 1500-2000 miles and then drain and do it again.
Give her a few long runs during on the freeway during the 1500-2000 miles.
Change out the filter, dump in some PU and run it for 1500-2000 miles and then drain and do it again.
Give her a few long runs during on the freeway during the 1500-2000 miles.
Here is a pic of my Focus with the same engine at 93K doing 10K OCIs. Now with that said your engine may be toast as the oil use is very high. Maybe remove the oil pan(not that hard on this engine) and hand clean the sludge down and out the bottom. Then reseal the pan and go with M1 5-30HM oil for several 3K OCIs and see what happens.
1qt every 2 weeks is 1qt every 136 miles given her driving. That is the most burning that I have ever hear of! Something seriously wrong with that engine.
Welcome to the board. It's time to take matters in your own hands. You might want to try a HM blend oil to see if that controls your burning issues. At the same time it will clean up any crud that's inside the engine. Slow and easy cleaning is best
Because the Duratec engines are reliable, and they don't have t-belts (so catastrophic failures are rare), these engines are really cheap in the used market, $300-600.00. I'm generally a "fix it" sorta guy, but given the physical appearance and oil consumption, I think you're way past that. I think your best bet is to swap the engine. You can clearly see through the fill-hole on these, and the valve cover can easily be pulled, so you can see what you're getting.
I think in under a year you would have spent the same amount on oil as you would have a reman engine. That is the most consumption i have ever heard of.
Originally Posted By: tig1
Here is a pic of my Focus with the same engine at 93K doing 10K OCIs. Now with that said your engine may be toast as the oil use is very high. Maybe remove the oil pan(not that hard on this engine) and hand clean the sludge down and out the bottom. Then reseal the pan and go with M1 5-30HM oil for several 3K OCIs and see what happens.
That's a pretty hole Tig!
Here is a pic of my Focus with the same engine at 93K doing 10K OCIs. Now with that said your engine may be toast as the oil use is very high. Maybe remove the oil pan(not that hard on this engine) and hand clean the sludge down and out the bottom. Then reseal the pan and go with M1 5-30HM oil for several 3K OCIs and see what happens.
That's a pretty hole Tig!
try kano labs kreen or marvel mystery oil. do a piston soak and add it to the oil for a a couple short ocis. sounds like stuck rings.
dont forget to change the PCV
synthetics are also a little better at cleaning
dont forget to change the PCV
synthetics are also a little better at cleaning
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Sludged up a 2.0 Duratec? That takes some serious neglect...these engines are pretty easy on oil.
PCV is behind the intake manifold...you may or may not be able to get at it without pulling the manifold. Depends on what parts you're willing to remove to clear the path.
But in all seriousness, with that kind of consumption, this engine is likely toast. Try the above mentioned ring soak methods...perhaps the rings really are stuck. But I wouldn't hold out much hope.
PCV is behind the intake manifold...you may or may not be able to get at it without pulling the manifold. Depends on what parts you're willing to remove to clear the path.
But in all seriousness, with that kind of consumption, this engine is likely toast. Try the above mentioned ring soak methods...perhaps the rings really are stuck. But I wouldn't hold out much hope.
Here's what it looks like through the fill hole. It is worse with the whole valve cover removed,
That's impressive. Consdering tigs 90k mile focus, or this one which was taken when the focus I had was brand new, something isn't right.
It looks like the oil has pretty much never been changed, or was the lowest quality oil you can find.
Another clean valvetrain, this is what my cruze looked like when it was new too. I can't figure out what she did to sludge up a 2.0L Duratec so badly, that's pretty hard.
It looks like the oil has pretty much never been changed, or was the lowest quality oil you can find.
Another clean valvetrain, this is what my cruze looked like when it was new too. I can't figure out what she did to sludge up a 2.0L Duratec so badly, that's pretty hard.
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Just kidding. I think a major dissasembly and cleaning then some major short pyb changes with a new filter every time. Oh and pray to whoever you pray to for some help. good luck!
Just kidding. I think a major dissasembly and cleaning then some major short pyb changes with a new filter every time. Oh and pray to whoever you pray to for some help. good luck!
Heres my take.
YOu're in it pretty deep as it is. Sludge, oil consumption, possibly a stuck PCV, etc... So heres what I'd do. Kreen the motor. Change the oil and filter. Add the Kreen and drive her balls out for several hundred miles at a time. Take some long weekend road trips for a month straight and see what happens. At this stage of the game you have nothing to lose.
I bet you'll see results. Good ones.
YOu're in it pretty deep as it is. Sludge, oil consumption, possibly a stuck PCV, etc... So heres what I'd do. Kreen the motor. Change the oil and filter. Add the Kreen and drive her balls out for several hundred miles at a time. Take some long weekend road trips for a month straight and see what happens. At this stage of the game you have nothing to lose.
I bet you'll see results. Good ones.
Originally Posted By: bustednutz
Heres my take.
YOu're in it pretty deep as it is. Sludge, oil consumption, possibly a stuck PCV, etc... So heres what I'd do. Kreen the motor. Change the oil and filter. Add the Kreen and drive her balls out for several hundred miles at a time. Take some long weekend road trips for a month straight and see what happens. At this stage of the game you have nothing to lose.
I bet you'll see results. Good ones.
dont forget to change that PCV
Heres my take.
YOu're in it pretty deep as it is. Sludge, oil consumption, possibly a stuck PCV, etc... So heres what I'd do. Kreen the motor. Change the oil and filter. Add the Kreen and drive her balls out for several hundred miles at a time. Take some long weekend road trips for a month straight and see what happens. At this stage of the game you have nothing to lose.
I bet you'll see results. Good ones.
dont forget to change that PCV
Run Pennzoil Ultra 5W-20 and a Motorcraft filter in there for a few OCI and see if it gets cleaned out.
I can't say what her OCIs were but I'm sure they were much too long. The PCV swap looks like a PITA but it is a good idea do do it. I know I have to pull the intake manifold to get at it. I think I'll start off with a few good synthetic oil/short OCI cycles and see if it looks like I am making a difference. If not, then I'll get more aggressive with the Kreen. Thanks everyone for all the awesome feedback! I'll keep you posted on my progress.
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