oohpapi44

iTrader: (1)

Well the tranny fluid is coming out today afterwork so I'll give you an update if I can see any difference at all after two days. But the whole crap it, buy a new or used engine thought is exactly what I'm trying to avoid doing if I can, at least for now.

DASHOCKER

iTrader: (2)

How bad is it Cliff? Wish you can take a pic of the neck( where the oil goes), and what comes out so we can get an idea.

SRK

Luckily the engine doesn't know or care what it looks like inside. The only thing it does is produce symptoms, and those would be uenven compression, loss of power, and oil consumption and blowby. If those are not present to any great degree, then a schedule of shortened interval oil changes may very well fix some of the damage, if any damage actually exists. Keep changing the oil, using a good brand and a good filter, and you will know soon enough.
I mentioned the engine replacement idea only as the last resort. I would think that after several oil changes and the engine will fine. Over the last thirty-five years I have "cured" many engines exaclty this way.
Good luck. These are tough and strong engines, and I would be optimistic.

oohpapi44

iTrader: (1)

LMAO, I'm mad you felt you had to define what the 'neck' is Put it like this, when you look down the NECK you don't see metal, it looks like a sewer, just grime everywhere.... Look like it's about 1/8th of an inch layer everywhere. I'm hoping it looks a little different later on today.

oohpapi44

iTrader: (1)

Thanks, that's why I put it out on here, I was hoping this wasn't the automatic death sentence the dealer was making it out to be. He wanted $4000 on the spot to 'fix it' but was doing me a 'favor' and asked his boss to only charge me $1600..... What a great guy

Xeeeeeem

sorry to repeat myself but what are the symptoms of sludge in your engine?? How can you tell?
In my 95 gs, you can't see anything thru the """NECK""" because there is somethin in the way

DASHOCKER

iTrader: (2)

Luckily, our engines have an aluminum block and is not suseptible to rust inside. SRK is right about putting a good quality oil in there and doing changes earlier. I had that experience with the Acura I had that i bought used. It was brown when I opened up the neck. i figured it was this way because the car must have been sitting in the lot for a long time, and the oil level was low. I did oil changes for that car every 2000 miles to help dislodge the gunk. After about 4 oil changes, I did the Bilstein and the car ran like new.

oohpapi44

iTrader: (1)

Trust me, I've been looking all over the web for answers to this in the last couple of weeks and I don't think there is any specific symptoms directly besides a physical inspection. Everything I've read is pretty much a 'silent' killer type of thing where the engine siezes. The 'symptoms', low gas mileage, loss of power, engine stalling, low oil warning with no leaks, but any of these 'symptoms' could also be related to something else. Your mechanic can also drop your oil pain and see how much if any sludge has built up there that's beyond what's normal.

Vette Boy

There aren't any. Cleaning the sludge out of an old engine can be a mixed blessing. At best, your car will be the same as it was beofre the sludge was removed. At worst, the sludge damages the engine as it gets removed. Save your money for some O2 sensors

DASHOCKER

iTrader: (2)

Just stay on top of the oil changes guys

gregor4

I would try several consecutive oil changes (5 changes at 1000 miles each) using a synthetic oil that is rated for diesel service. Diesel oil has lots of detergent in it and will be many times safer for your engine than ATF. Mobil Delvac 1 has approximately 4 times the detergent as regular Mobil 1. This is because diesel engines are really sooty. It will be hard to find Delvac 1 Synthetic. Your best bet may be at a Flying J truck stop. Also, if I'm not mistaken Mobil has bottled Delvac 1 for purchase at Wal-Mart. It's called Mobil 1 Truck and SUV or the stuff that says 15,000 miles on it (BTW, I would never leave ANY oil in my Lex for 10K let alone 15K). I think Amsoil makes a similar severe service oil similar to Delvac 1, just make sure that it's diesel oil like delvac or rotella T. Other than that, I wouldn't use any other method to clean out my motor, except for a complete teardown. My grandfather had clogged arteries, the surgeon f'd with them, then he had a stroke when some of the sludge got lodged in his head. Bad stuff can happen to your motor, but I promise you that it won't seize if you keep changing the oil with high quality diesel for awhile.

audax

iTrader: (10)

I've done the following to clean up the engine of any used car I bought:

1. Drain current oil. Replace filter with something cheap but effective.
2. Refill oil with some cheap Valvoline (non-synth). Fill it 1-2 quarts short of a normal change.
3. Add a bottle of Berryman's B-12 Chemtool to the oil.
4. Start the engine, raise the RPM to 2000 and place a brick or something on the pedal to keep it there.
5. Let the engine run for 5-10 mins. Turn it off. (I've run it up to 20 mins)
6. Drain the oil, replace with new quality synth oil and replace the filter.

I've done this on several cars with excellent results. Each time, the throttle was noticably more responsive. The first time I did this was on a Nissan 240sx that had 210k miles on it. At around 230k miles I replaced the engine and sold the old engine to a friend. He torn it down and was amazed at how clean the inside of the engine was. It looked like a 50k mile engine inside... not 230k.

Benjamin T

iTrader: (2)

i second this. the guys over on the RX forum have big issues with sludge in the 3.0 6 cylinder motors, and auto-rx is mentioned as a solution as well.