Under valve cover pics

[OVERKILL]

Maybe but the cam lobes look in very good shape. Would you expect the ring land area to not be in good shape but the cam lobes to be in very good shape?

Yes, because the ring lands are what tend to crud up, hence the piston deposit cleanliness claims by both Mobil and SOPUS. That area is one of the most difficult to keep clean because it isn't pressure fed and gets insanely hot.

 

[cbrf3]

Yes, because the ring lands are what tend to crud up, hence the piston deposit cleanliness claims by both Mobil and SOPUS. That area is one of the most difficult to keep clean because it isn't pressure fed and gets insanely hot.

Overkill. Will anything clean the ring pack short of disassembly?

 

[OVERKILL]

Overkill. Will anything clean the ring pack short of disassembly?

Valvoline Premium Blue Restore was claimed to do it using esters, so I assume it's possible using AN's or Esters, but it's going to be a slow clean.

 

[BigShug681]

This is almost what it looks like through the fill port on my 2010 Crown Vics 4.6l V8 I’m going to eventually tear the valve covers off to just do an inspection but I’m hoping a strict diet of HPL 15w40 will get things looking like new in a year or so

 

[xspeedy]

2009 Mazda 5 with the 2.3L And 146K. Had to replace the valve cover because the plastic surrounding a threaded insert for a coil pack bolt snapped when trying to remove. Old plastic is fun! Anyway, I have always run synthetic but the OCI was twice a year with varying mileage.

 

[edyvw]

Needed to replace brake hardline (broke while installing stainless steel lines). Since line is behind valve cover , decided to do it although no leak. Found small leak at cyl 5 spark plug. For 131k, gasket was actually in good shape.

 

[wpod]

I don’t think it looks terrible given the age and mileage.

I’ll add: “if” I owned it though I would be doing shorter oil changes with a top-tier synthetic to try to at least make it somewhat cleaner visually, I don’t think any of that varnish is going to affect performance or engine longevity though.

As is the engine will probably make it to 350,000 miles.