OK I am looking for recommendations on how best to address this problem:
Sludge
Here's the story:
My 2004 Vette daily driver, 165,000 miles, started making noises like a stuck (collapsed, bled-down, whatever you want to call it) lifter, and for about a half year had been consuming coolant (dex) at the rate of maybe a half gallon every 3000 miles. I had tried unsuccessfully to find the "leak" but never could. When the lifter noise started becoming more frequent and lasting longer, I decided to open up the engine to see what I could find. You can see the results. The sludge in the oil pan cover (you have to drop almost the entire front suspension to remove the oil pan, and I am not keen to do that) was fully an inch deep in most places.
Careful inspection by myself and my machine shop man, who is very experienced with the LS1 engine, has not revealed any source for the coolant contamination, either in the heads, the head gasket, or the water pump, which i am replacing.
At this point, I have had the heads trued up, replaced valve springs and stem oil seals, new lifters, and of course cleaned the oil pan cover. I can't really get at the crank and have, at least at this point in time, no energy left to remove the timing cover on the front of the engine. I am getting ready to reassemble the thing, and my plan is:
Reassemble, fill with a good detergent oil such as rotella t, start and run up to normal driving for 20-30 minutes, drain the oil, inspecting more carefully than I usually do (mind you, I have followed the oil change recommendations given to me by the DIC since owning the car, and have always used the recommended mobile 1 with each oil change), and repeat until I can be satisfied that the sludge will not be a problem. I know there are a lot of sludge removal products, but I think the use of a good high detergent oil will be sufficient, at least initially.
I intend to watch the coolant like a hawk, and if/when there is the first sign of continued consumption, I will use a can of stop leak, which i intend to add as directly to the block as i can. I do not intend to tear any further into the block at this point, and if I haven't fixed the problem with maybe 50 hours of my labor spread out over 2 months, and about $850 in parts, I will just trade in the old girl. She's in pretty good shape, new seat covers, but needing tires, and I am probably going to go with a C7 after they have been out for a few years (as long as they do not look too much like the new Camaro)
DT MacMillan
Sludge
Here's the story:
My 2004 Vette daily driver, 165,000 miles, started making noises like a stuck (collapsed, bled-down, whatever you want to call it) lifter, and for about a half year had been consuming coolant (dex) at the rate of maybe a half gallon every 3000 miles. I had tried unsuccessfully to find the "leak" but never could. When the lifter noise started becoming more frequent and lasting longer, I decided to open up the engine to see what I could find. You can see the results. The sludge in the oil pan cover (you have to drop almost the entire front suspension to remove the oil pan, and I am not keen to do that) was fully an inch deep in most places.
Careful inspection by myself and my machine shop man, who is very experienced with the LS1 engine, has not revealed any source for the coolant contamination, either in the heads, the head gasket, or the water pump, which i am replacing.
At this point, I have had the heads trued up, replaced valve springs and stem oil seals, new lifters, and of course cleaned the oil pan cover. I can't really get at the crank and have, at least at this point in time, no energy left to remove the timing cover on the front of the engine. I am getting ready to reassemble the thing, and my plan is:
Reassemble, fill with a good detergent oil such as rotella t, start and run up to normal driving for 20-30 minutes, drain the oil, inspecting more carefully than I usually do (mind you, I have followed the oil change recommendations given to me by the DIC since owning the car, and have always used the recommended mobile 1 with each oil change), and repeat until I can be satisfied that the sludge will not be a problem. I know there are a lot of sludge removal products, but I think the use of a good high detergent oil will be sufficient, at least initially.
I intend to watch the coolant like a hawk, and if/when there is the first sign of continued consumption, I will use a can of stop leak, which i intend to add as directly to the block as i can. I do not intend to tear any further into the block at this point, and if I haven't fixed the problem with maybe 50 hours of my labor spread out over 2 months, and about $850 in parts, I will just trade in the old girl. She's in pretty good shape, new seat covers, but needing tires, and I am probably going to go with a C7 after they have been out for a few years (as long as they do not look too much like the new Camaro)
DT MacMillan