View under the valve cover 180k 1992 Accord

[spinfire]

I did a valve adjustment recently and took some pictures with the valve cover off. This engine has been run on Castrol GTX 5w-30 since I bought it off of my parents at 140k. Prior to that I don't have records of every oil change and some were done with 10w-30. After purchasing the car I ran it through a double Auto-RX cycle. Always use NAPA Gold filters. After the Auto-RX treatment was complete I've changed every 5000-6000 miles. Two oil analysis have reported slightly elevated lead, but this may be due to hard driving. About a year ago it had a lot more short trips
Valves were tight.

 

[daman]

Holy cow can you resize them pics just a bit????

 

[xxch4osxx]

Pics look fine here.

 

[beast3300]

Originally Posted By: xxch4osxx
Pics look fine here.


+1

It looks like your getting some of the doo doo out of there.

 

[spinfire]

I resized them down for folks with slower connections and smaller screens.

You can check out the original sized ones here: Pics

 

[daman]

Thank you, i have DSL high speed and it was time consuming.

lots of varnish yet,could use more cleaning.

 

[expat]

Very unremarkable.
Kind of what I would expect to see.
Did you expect something different?

 

[JHZR2]

Kind of dirty, IMO. Residues exist, though they may have no effect.

Take a look at pics of my MB OM617 engines from 160-230k miles... spotless.

The difference? The run an HDEO, perhaps that is it.

My wife's integra wa cleaner under there at 180k than the pics.

Not to be offensive, just saying your lubes arent up to snuff, IMO, for my liking of cleanliness. You could do better if you wanted to. I dont think what you have there is a big deal though...

 

[spinfire]

I expected it to be a bit cleaner, especially after the Auto-RX. The only other vehicle I've seen in person under the valve cover in person was the Golf TDI during the tbelt change at 95k (always Rotella T or Mobil 5w-40 10k interval) and the TDI was absolutely spotless. But, of course, we've owned that car since new. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture under the valve cover before beginning the Auto-RX treatment at 140k, so it is hard to judge the effect.

For the Honda, I suspect the oil change interval was pretty variable during some of the first 140k so I guess it doesn't surprise me that there is some gunk. Plus after my mother retired (~120k) the car was probably driven on a good number of short trips.

 

[hominid7]

Thanks for posting. Nice pics. Engine looks healthy.

I wonder if a slightly shorter OCI of around 4,000 miles might help even more, due to the spirited driving the engine sees.

 

[finalyzd]

What if he used a synthetic, would things be a lot more cleaner? To me that looks dirty

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: finalyzd
What if he used a synthetic, would things be a lot more cleaner? To me that looks dirty

It would help sure...

 

[qship1996]

Castrol gtx and auto rx did you no favors.

 

[mcrn]

Originally Posted By: qship1996
Castrol gtx and auto rx did you no favors.


SO you know what they looked like before?

 

[ARCOgraphite]

OP said car was run on castrol since new. So much for castrol's sludge ads.

 

[spinfire]

No, car was not run on Castrol since new. I'm not sure where you got that. The car has been run on Castrol GTX 5w-30 since 140k. Prior to that a mix of dealer changes, independent shop changes, and jiffy lubes... and probably some unintentional extended drain intervals.

The car is certainly running fine, oil analysis is fine, and it gets great mileage (I beat the EPA estimates with spirited driving). I wouldn't consider this a sludge issue at all. The engine will likely outlast the body.

 

[mcrn]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
OP said car was run on castrol since new. So much for castrol's sludge ads.


Wrong.

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: spinfire
No, car was not run on Castrol since new. I'm not sure where you got that. The car has been run on Castrol GTX 5w-30 since 140k.

So in 40,000 miles castrol did you no favors.

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
So much for castrol's sludge ads.


i agree^^^

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted By: mcrn
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
OP said car was run on castrol since new. So much for castrol's sludge ads.


Wrong.
Ooops - my bad. Cross-eyed from doing taxes! I should talk, I've never got a car past 50K from new.

 

[oliveoil]

This honda will be running fine 10 years from now with 5-7k oci's, doesn't matter what oil is used. Good for you to adjust the valves and Auto RX it! You may be able to give this to your kids. People are to picky about a bit of varnish and crust on a hard driven engine.