Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Good news that its running great. That tells me its likely a PCV issue.
Check your PCV and make sure it does not have a coolant leak.
Could you explain exactly how to determine this? Other than a used oil analysis, is there any other way to determine if the PCV is working properly, and/or the vehicle has a coolant leak?
Personally, I'm a fan of PYB, but this is where the whole "marketing [censored]" confuses me. lol. The latest PYB bottles state 40% sludge removal after the "first oil change" - with a footnote/asterisk notating the use of 5W-30 if I recall correctly...from their website; BUT, nowhere does it state how long the oil and filter should be ran. I'm "presuming" for 4k...? Since that is what their "lubrication guarantee" is for....but I think I'd be very afraid of running even 3k with that build up.
So.....to answer your question, "how long should the oil be ran before changing" - that may be a good question for the guys at SOPUS/Pennzoil
Perhaps a sponsor will chime in?
Certainly, I wouldn't recommend a long OCI with that sludge of a mess......I'd fear of it getting "cleaned up" and landing somewhere else, clogging an oil passage, etc....
As far as methods of attacking this beast; you already have it off the car right? I'd try a kerosene soak.....or hit up dexknows or your local yellow pages and see if there's any local shops that specialize in "chem soaks" - since you already got it assembled, may as well attack it chemically while it's dismantled. Then once you tame it down, try a run with PYB and MMO or AutoRX or the like.
I've read a lot about ARX, but I think this is a job for a harsher solvent cleaning, and for that I'm thinking the MMO may work here.....once you get the sludge tamed down, you could try a run or two of Auto RX if you got the money for it. But MMO is cheap, and easy to use....all it takes is 20% MMO in the crankcase. So if your car takes 5 quarts, add 4 quarts of motor oil, and 1 quart of MMO.
Originally Posted By: Jason280
I guess I would say its more of a "soft" sludge, but I'm no expert.
what he's referring to, is if the sludge is "hard" like as in, burned cake to the bottom of an ungreased cake pan
Or is it more of a "jelly like" substance, i.e.; you can poke it, etc...
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What exactly is happening to this stuff once the engine is up to temp? I mean, does it breakdown at all and circulate, or is it simply staying a mountain of sludge?
That's a good question.....and one that I'm not too sure of. It all comes down to the previous q/a though, whether it's a "soft" sludge, or a "hard" sludge....gunked up, etc. My guess, if it's a "hard" sludge, i.e. you touch it, and your finger doesn't go "through" the sludge, it may just stay where it's at.....BUT the problem lies if you go the solvent route at this point in time. Add solvent, combined with the heat, the solvent will make that sludge start circulating through the engine, and eventually stuck in the filter, so the sludge will eventually "recirculate" - but really, that's what you want it to do, you need it OUT of there and that's the only way, other than getting a chem dump of those innerds with some mineral spirits or acetone or something...
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As far as changing the oil again, how much driving should I do in between oil and filter changes?
See my Pennzoil/SOPUS comment above
they say removal of 45% sludge after the first OCI......but I'm thinking by OCI, they are talking 3-4k with the oil in the crankcase....but personally, I would change the oil sooner than that. And make sure you let the car heat all the way up for at least 10 minutes so before turning off the engine in the event of unburned fuel getting into the oil, etc...
