Cleaning sludge on 97 Accord 2.2L?

[Matt]

I’ve got a pretty bad oil leak down in the spark plug galleys on my 97 Accord that I just bought (111k miles, 2.2L non-VTEC engine). I just pulled the valve cover to get down to the rocker arms to replace the O-rings under the rockers, etc. Not to my surprise, there is a lot of sludge buildup. I don’t have access to a parts cleaner, so what should I do to go about cleaning off the sludge from the valve cover and rocker assembly that I’ll be removing?

[URL=http://s438.photobucket.com/user/MattN03/media/20140704_102136_zpsot53si7t.jpg.html][IMG]http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq104/MattN03/20140704_102136_zpsot53si7t.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://s438.photobucket.com/user/MattN03/media/20140704_1040141_zps67e85f2a.jpg.html][IMG]http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq104/MattN03/20140704_1040141_zps67e85f2a.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://s438.photobucket.com/user/MattN03/media/20140704_1040081_zps1b322878.jpg.html][IMG]http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq104/MattN03/20140704_1040081_zps1b322878.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Topic

[college man]

For the valve cover. Pick up a parts cleaning brush from
the local parts store. To clean that sludge, marvel mystery oil,
5gal of parts cleaning fluid lots of rags. all sold at local auto stores.
As for the head. Tread lightly here. wipe as much of the big chunks as you
can with a rag. remove the pan. use a spray
bottle of the two chemicals and start to dissolve the sludge. Then after you
put back together. Run new oil and filter with marvel mystery oil or seafoam
and drive it. monitor the color of the oil. if it gets black right away repeat
the process. Hopefully the passages don’t clog. Thats why I would clean as much
as I could before the driving step.

[Jamie]

In a pinch I’ve found that household cleaner such as “fantastic” does a good job of cleaning up that kinda crud. A couple of brushes help too. Try not to spray the cleaner directly into the moving parts unless they’re coming off and will be re lubricated before re start of the engine.

To be honest before removing all those parts to clean it up I would try doing a couple of “sacrifial oil changes” using a good oil system cleaner. Do one with the oil in the car now, and then do one a couple days of driving later using the same oil cleaner.

I like to use the Liquimoly brand cleaner. I’ve seen it clean up some pretty bad ass sludge. I cant speak of sea foam because I’ve never used it. Its worth trying before spending an afternoon taking the top and bottom of the engine off and making a mess everyware. The cleaner does a great job of scouring the engine of sludge and deposits but keeps it suspended in the oil so it comes out when you drain it.

[EricTheCarGuy]

I’ve seen this. I’m not surprised you had those oil leaks. Expect more of them in the future. First, do not attempt to adjust the valves as you’ll never get them right. Second, diminish your expectations. That kind of buildup indicates a lack of oil changes in the past and it’s irreversible. To be honest, the more you clean, the more problems may show up. The sludge itself may be holding that thing together. You might try a quart of automatic transmission fluid with each oil change from here on out. That will help clean it. Proceed with caution however, as I stated, if you clean that up, it may create other problems. Possibly engine noises.

Conclusion, there’s not much you can do at this point because the damage has been done. Either save up for an engine or a new vehicle. In my opinion it’s not worth fixing. If it were me, I would drive it till it died with that thought in the back of my mind.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Matt]

Bummer Eric. I bought this as a cheap beater to drive back & forth to work instead of my truck. I guess it was cheap for a reason… So, with only 111k miles, you think it’s that far gone? It doesn’t smoke any, and has good power.

I’m guessing the timing belt has never been changed, but how can I tell since I have the valve cover off already? Here is a pic of what I can see.

[URL=http://s438.photobucket.com/user/MattN03/media/20140704_1806011_zpsc04d16a6.jpg.html][IMG]http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq104/MattN03/20140704_1806011_zpsc04d16a6.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[Author]

Replies