Pictures & questions.

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AdRock

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I took a suggestion from a previous thread to use some White Shephards stop leak to help condition some valve seals I believe are leaking. I added it yesterday and I'm only 500 miles into a fresh oil change. I looked at the info for the Shephards stuff but it doesn't say whether it's ok to leave it in there until the next change. I figure it is but this is my first time trying this stuff. So is it fine to leave it in there until the next change?



Now for some pics and questions.

First. The car is a 2002 Mustang GT. I got it with 16k on it. Was using Amsoil 5w30 for about 20k miles. Switched to M1 5w30. I'm at 96k now and on a second run of M1 5w30 EP. I run this car hard so I'm very anal about upkeep.

I decided to peekdown the fill hole and noticed a lot of varnish. The pics below are after I poured the Shephards in so some of the varnish has been washed off. It was much darker than in the pics below. The oil has been changed every 3-4k since I've owned it. (yes, I'm wasting money by changing synthetic out so soon, but my OCD just won't let me go any farther. So the moey isn't wasted in my opinion be cause that money helps my OCD, lol)

adrock-albums-album+1-picture3056-p1020739.jpg


adrock-albums-album+1-picture3055-p1020738.jpg


adrock-albums-album+1-picture3054-p1020737.jpg


adrock-albums-album+1-picture3053-p1020736.jpg


adrock-albums-album+1-picture3052-p1020734.jpg




So there are the pics.

I want to try and clean that varnish out. I was thinking about adding some MMO for the last 1k of this OCI then switching to PP 5w30 after this. However, would it be a bad idea to add the MMo since the Shephards stuff is already in there?

Comments? Suggestions? Criticism? Mochary? Name calling? Let's hear your thoughts.
 
From the web about WS....
============================================================

Q:How long does the repair take?
A:Start engine and drive vehicle or equipment to let White Shepherd circulate. The repair is sealed while you drive (up to 2 days drive time).

Q:Do I have to change my oil after I apply White Shepherd?
A:NO. White Shepherd mixes with the oil and can stay in the system.
 
I'm not familiar with White Shephards, so I personally would not put MMO on top of it. As the others have said, that does not look to varnished at all. Good way to tell is open up an oil cap of a new Mustang and look inside. Your oil choices are great and I would continue with what you are doing.
 
I figured I would get a concensous of "it looks good, leave it alone". Thanks. I looked in there and my OCD said "that's dirty, cannot have dirty, clean it" haha. I knew I could get the voices of reason on here to keep me from listening to that annoying little voice.
 
there is nothing wrong looking at those pictures that require any cleaning..if you want change the oil and filter and add a 1/4 of a quart of mmo
I would not use engine flush although that would probably work the best maybe too good..If it aint broke dont fix it.
Leave it alone.. After the run with oil and 1/4 cup of mmo change the oil and filter and dont put anything in except the oil weight that it calls for with an sm rating (oil of your choice) I use Conoco Phillips (conoco) at the shop and have no problems. I also have used Pennzoil and Mobil and were happy with them all i decided to stay with Conoco because of the price and the oil tests have all come back very nice
 
Leave the white shepherds in there and let us know if it did anything. It seems to work for people over in a LR discovery forum but they use it for rear main and front oil seal leaks and also in the transfer case and differentials.
 
I'm not seeing any sludge to clean.
As mentioned.....another additive on top of what you have is not a good idea anyhow.
See if it helps your problem over time.
 
Engine looks fine. Follow whatever instruction for the stuff you added. Then run a cheap dino for alittle while and drain it out. I am OCD about additives so I would want to make sure its all out of there before continuing with Amsoil or the likes.
 
Originally Posted By: Billy007
Leave it alone. Don't add any additives. Your engine should be clean with your 3-4k oci.


3 to 4K OCI's got me where I'm at now which is 348K miles and counting. the pics look clean and from my experiences, it seems like there is little that can be done to remove varnish and varnish is considered harmless although I think it is ugly. I wish there was a product to remove it. I will say the only varnish I have seen removed was on the lower portion of my dipstick.
 
It's not spotless, but looks like a clean room compared to the pics of some engines that have been posted here. Is it puffing blue smoke? Why the need for the valve seal additive?

You're changing synthetic oil at 3K mile intervals (OVERKILL) and there's no visible sludge. I wouldn't worry one bit about a little varnish.

I say bump up the interval to a minimum of 5,000 and keep enjoying the car. If you want to experiment and see if you can get some of the varnish out, try MMO or Auto-Rx on your next oil change interval after you drain the Shepards out. Varnish is one thing that's hard to get rid of.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
It's not spotless, but looks like a clean room compared to the pics of some engines that have been posted here. Is it puffing blue smoke? Why the need for the valve seal additive?

You're changing synthetic oil at 3K mile intervals (OVERKILL) and there's no visible sludge. I wouldn't worry one bit about a little varnish.

I say bump up the interval to a minimum of 5,000 and keep enjoying the car. If you want to experiment and see if you can get some of the varnish out, try MMO or Auto-Rx on your next oil change interval after you drain the Shepards out. Varnish is one thing that's hard to get rid of.


I know the short OCI's are overkill, lol. Like I said earlier though, the extra cash spent is worth my ocd not making me all antsy when I go past 3k. It's crazy, but it's not going to drive me into the poor house or anything.

And yea the car is puffing some smoke. Only when I'm sitting at idle for a while when the engine is at full operating temp. It'll give quite a puff when I rev it up, then it'll stop. All points to the valve seals. I'm betting they've hardened a little and are starting to leak. If I have the chance this summer I'll probably pull the covers off and put some new seals in it. But for now I'm seeing what this stuff will do. So far it seems to be working. The puffs are getting smaller.
 
If you have OCD, I don't recommend mixing the MMO when another additive is in there.

Next OCI, use 25% MMO and 75% Motorcraft on an even shorter OCI?

You'll have to do top offs though because the MMO eventually burns off (hopefully along with the varnish and gunk) in my experience
 
With all due respect for your OCDOCI condition ...did you actually have a valve seal problem to cure on this engine? I can't imagine the seals being brittle or varnished over due to lack of changing the oil often enough, nor any of the usual suspects ..and certainly not age. I would find it just as unlikely that the valve guides were worn by this mileage/time span.

Did your OCDOCI condition compel you to preempt valve seal failure???
 
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