What oil & how to clean...

[sasilverbullet]

Good morning everyone!

My sons 90 Grand Marquis w/5.0L and 165,000 miles on it...

I'm replacing the water pump and timing chain, the rest of the engine is in great shape. He's been changing the oil every 3k miles with Castrol GTX 20w-50. He's owned the cars since it have just over 100k on it.

My question to everyone:
1. Should I keep using the same oil, or change to Chevron Delo like in my other older car?
2. Would you recommend running some sea foam in the oil to do a cleanout?
3. Any other recomendations?

Here's a pic of what the gunk on the timing chain looked like...

 

[VR1]

Wow with Castrol GTX every 3K? You sure it wasn't Pennzoil or QS? Anywho probably kerosine or something along those lines for dissasembled parts like that. Thats the first time I have seen a dirty part with Castrol. 20w-50? Why so thick? Maybe a 5w30 or 10w30 would be a lot better for it. Unless you have a air cooled Harley I can't think of anything that needs 20w-50.

 

[VR1]

Try some Maxlife or Valvoline conventional next go around. But, pick a brand and stick with it changing brands is not good to do.

 

[simple_gifts]

VR, you missed the

Quote:

He's owned the cars since it have just over 100k on it.


I don't see 3K OCI causing that unless something "going on" inside the engine. Remember 1990 car received 1990 oil at one time.

 

[spasm3]

I'd use mobil clean 5000 5w 30.

 

[mongo161]

Your Son has owned the car since it had just over 100K. Maybe the burnt on crud is from the PO and not from the Castrol 20W-50.

For cleaning, IMO, I would use some Mobil Delvac 15w40 and 20% Marvel Mystery Oil in crankcase for a few 4K -5K runs to see if it cleans it up a bit.

Some posters to the Forum have had great success with a product called KREEN for cleaning up engines with varnish.

After the cleaning is complete, I would suggest to stick using any High Mileage Motor Oil from Walmart SuperTech or any of the major brands in 10w30 weight.

 

[barlowc]

Originally Posted By: VR1
pick a brand and stick with it changing brands is not good to do.

Come on... we know that's not true. Switching oils is fine and doesn't hurt anything at all. The key is to use a good oil that meets the specs for the application.

 

[Jakegday]

another vote for getting that thick oil out of there. my sister has the same car, except hers is an 89. she went from 15w40 to 10w30 and noticed a small improvement in city gas mileage

Originally Posted By: VR1
changing brands is not good to do.

Humor me. Why not?

 

[Steve S]

Originally Posted By: VR1
Try some Maxlife or Valvoline conventional next go around. But, pick a brand and stick with it changing brands is not good to do.
why is changing brands not good to do?

 

[OldCowboy]

Originally Posted By: Torrid
Originally Posted By: VR1
Wow with Castrol GTX every 3K? You sure it wasn't Pennzoil or QS? Anywho probably kerosine or something along those lines for dissasembled parts like that. Thats the first time I have seen a dirty part with Castrol. 20w-50? Why so thick? Maybe a 5w30 or 10w30 would be a lot better for it. Unless you have a air cooled Harley I can't think of anything that needs 20w-50.


{removed post}


+1

Anyone with a lick of sense knows the only way an engine could get gunked up like that would be to use Valvoline.

 

[Steve S]

I wouldn't worry too much about cleaning the engine.

 

[SLCraig]

Originally Posted By: OldCowboy
Originally Posted By: Torrid
Originally Posted By: VR1
Wow with Castrol GTX every 3K? You sure it wasn't Pennzoil or QS? Anywho probably kerosine or something along those lines for dissasembled parts like that. Thats the first time I have seen a dirty part with Castrol. 20w-50? Why so thick? Maybe a 5w30 or 10w30 would be a lot better for it. Unless you have a air cooled Harley I can't think of anything that needs 20w-50.






+1

Anyone with a lick of sense knows the only way an engine could get gunked up like that would be to use Valvoline.


Haha.. But in all seriousness, hating on any of the major oil brands is pointless. They all work well in the proper application in this day and age.

 

[cmf]

I would not run Seafoam through the oil. Seafoam is an aggressive solvent and the sludge it freed up could clog oil passages.

The coating on the timing chain/gears looks like it's only slightly too hot in the engine. It's a very uniform coating and doesn't look too thick (as far as I can tell). I would make sure the cooling system and PCV system are functioning properly. I don't have any experiences with older cars or clean-up so I'm sure someone else can better lead you in the direction for mildly cleaning it.

 

[spasm3]

That was unnecessary.

 

[cp3]

....and a happy Sunday morning to all!!

I'm in the camp that doesn't believe the brand was responsible for this. I gotta think the weight would have more to do with it.

As far as the switching brands goes....I like to stay with one brand but that's me, isn't part of certification being mixable?

Maybe pull a valve cover to decide if a clean up is warranted. Then maybe a lighter weight of something with a high detergent add pack.

 

[Torrid]

Originally Posted By: cp3

....and a happy Sunday morning to all!!

I'm in the camp that doesn't believe the brand was responsible for this. I gotta think the weight would have more to do with it.

As far as the switching brands goes....I like to stay with one brand but that's me, isn't part of certification being mixable?

Maybe pull a valve cover to decide if a clean up is warranted. Then maybe a lighter weight of something with a high detergent add pack.


I agree. 5w30 Mobil 1 High Mileage comes to mind. The last few VOAs I saw showed calcium in the 3200ppm area. That should help clean things up.

 

[rg200amp]

Originally Posted By: VR1
changing brands is not good to do.


False.




I think I would try Rotella T6 5w40.

 

[VR1]

Well you can switch brands all you want but,you stand the chance to have your engine start using more oil because of the different base oils and additives between brands of oil. I would pick one and use it. Switching brands all the time is the worse thing you can do to an engine oil wise. If you were in a pinch and had to use a quart of something else thats one thing. Oils are compatible but, that doesn't mean mix them all together or go back and forth under normal circumstances. I'm not a moron I will forget more than you will ever know about an engine.

 

[robertcope]

Originally Posted By: VR1
Well you can switch brands all you want but,you stand the chance to have your engine start using more oil because of the different base oils and additives between brands of oil.


I think most of us are wondering where your citations are. Got a link to a study or something?

robert

 

[JOD]

well,with 100K of unknown service history, who knows what it looked like when he got it?

He's gotten 65K out of it so far. I'd just stick with any conventional oil and change it regularly, but I'd probably do two things differently: extend the OCI out a little, and investigate using a thinner oil. Any modern oil at 5K is still going to be cleaning throughout the OCI, and at this point I don't see the need for anything drastic.