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Have a ’78 F250 with a 460 that was neglected. Last oil came out straight black and cloudy but runny and had viscosity of water. I’m worried about sludge buildup in the engine. What are some good cleaners that work? I’ve heard kerosene, ATF, marvel mystery oil, diesel oil, etc… Do any of those work? What are the effects and how would I do it? My oil pressure also fluctuates but that could be anything. She does smoke but that I believe is a valve issue. I also plan on taking her to 40 weight after the flush. Why do I think it is a valve issue? She ticks and has PLENTY of power.
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Yuck. Cloudy oil usually means water in the oil.
Before trying too much with flushing, you can do a pan drop and take off a valve cover. If you have a sludge problem, you’ll see it here.
If you do have a sludge problem, cleaning is actually pretty risky. However, if you do have sticky valves, I’ve had no problems from using SeaFoam in the oil. If you want to clean out the engine, buy a bunch of conventional oil and SeaFoam. Run a half can of SeaFoam in ever oil change, and change oil ever 500-1000 miles for a few changes. This won’t de-sludge an engine, but it will help clean up a varnished one.
It looked cloudy anyway. It was at night and I looked at it with a maglight. Could of just been the light. I run that engine everyday and see no signs of water in the oil. I’ve used seafoam before and didn’t really see any results from it. I tried it in my fuel, Injectors still clogged and through the intake. Nothing but a smoke show. And this truck has sat anywhere from 6 months to a year so there is a chance it is condensation.
Oh yeah, there is no miracle in a bottle. I’ve just had good results with it. It won’t fix a valve, lifter, or injector but it will help if the issues are minor. Repeated use of SeaFoam with rapid oil changes will clean out a dirty engine. I like MMO too. I use that in small engines and my motorcycle mostly. Its more gentle of a cleaner than SeaFoam, and I’ve had great luck using it to fog an engine and doing a top-end cylinder soak.
If you find that you truly have a sludge issue, the only safe removal is to do a rebuild and have the block/heads cleaned. I’d clean any sludge I could find in the top or bottom end, but trying to flush it out can kill engines.
If MMO is “Gentler” than seafoam, Maybe I should try seafoam again OR use them in parallel. I actually have a can of gunk engine flush here with me. Was going to use it but everywhere I look, Everyone is very against it. And when I say can, The stuff is so old, it is literally in a can.
Dropping the sump and valve cover and cleaning what you can is probably the best idea. But in realality just drive it and do t worry. Keep an eye on the oil level and condition and change it and the filter more often than the book says to. Best to do another oil change after a few weeks as the filter may fill up quickly the first time round. It only takes a microscopic grain of sludge to mess up a tappit. Cleaners may well dislodge something.
Different engines have different arrangements of filtering for the oil. Most modern engines feed the filter before any of the oil goes into the rest of the engine. Some feed certain components like timing chain with unfiltered oil. And some old engines only filter the oil on the way out. Therefore if yours filters all the oil sludge and dirt will get trapped in the filter. However if the filter blocks then the filter bypass will allow the sluge into the bearings etc.
This is another reason to use top quality filters as the bypass valve is often part of the filter. You want to make sure it never opens. Also when the engine is cold keep the revs low as a burst of revs may open the bypass and let sludge through.
Be careful about using a engine flush. If the engine has
been neglected as you say. You may do more harm than good.
If you break free the sludge you can clog oil passages which
will starve the engine for oil and burn it up.Yeah, clean anything you see, just don’t knock it down into the engine. I saw a guy (maybe on youtube) that had came up with some adapters to use his shop vac and suck up all the gunk. That sounds like the best option.
Penzoil in the yellow bottles is what allot of people use at this website for dirty engines to help clean them.
Again, if its that bad, you may cause more harm than good.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm
It sounds like moisture in the oil which might indicate it’s been some time since it’s been run, easy enough to fix with an oil change. You need to be careful when ‘removing’ sludge with additives. You run the risk of sending all that gunk into the oil pan where it can clog the pick up of the oil pump, if this happens it will starve the engine for oil and it’s good night. In my experience there is no ‘miracle cure’, if an engine is slugged up like that it probably wasn’t taken care of and if that’s the case it’s probably worn out. If THAT’s the case then you’re better off rebuilding or replacing as the thing will always burn oil and be down on power. Keep us posted.
From what I’ve been told, it has sat from 6 months to a year. I did change the oil in her with Mobil 10W-30 conventional. I don’t have any faith in the “High Mileage” blend because I’ve never seen it used or heard anyone say it works better. However, When I did the change I added some Marvel Mystery Oil to it. I did’nt do the “replace 1 quart with this…” yet. But, I’m noticing that the oil is already black and the pressure is coming up slowly. This is with the factory gauge. Also smoking less and less. I’ve also noticed if my pressure is up and I shut it down then restart later my pressure is down some. This is hard to explain on a forum but I am doing it to the best of my ability. Maybe this 460 isn’t as bad as I originally thought. I can’t drive it on public roads just yet, Still needs tags, tires, wipers, etc… So what I do to “simulate” highway driving is just rev her a little above idle and hold her there. Seems to work. The PO told me she needs a “valve job” because of the oil burn and either a valve or lifter ticking. Since the oil change and touch of MMO, Ticking has gone down some and smoke also. But not eliminated. Could anouther touch of MMO and an oil change somewhat cure that? I’ve never dealt with an issue quite like this. Sorry for being long winded but many thanks for all the help. And Eric, Love your videos. A REAL technician who can break it down for anyone to understand. My wife loves them too. Between your videos and me, Shes going from cosmetologist to mechanic, Lol.
I had a topic on sludge and someone told me to use seafoam and conventional oil and change often. I am not sure about using the seafoam, but for now, I plan on changing the oil maybe aboutery 1000 miles or so. But I was wondering if synthetics would work better at cleaning then conventional oils. I am not sure if it matters.
From what I’m to understand, Synthetics are good for engines under 100K. Once you roll over and change from conv. to synth. If you don’t have oil leaks, you will. Is this true?
It won’t cause leaks if you switch from conventional to synthetic. It may make the leaks that you have more evident but I could be wrong.
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