2.8L GM V6 loose flaky sludge

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Car comes from my dad, bought in 03 with 35k miles (Beretta in my sig). Was on a Halvoline and Chevron dino diet, with Purolator filters. OCI of 10k miles, possibly higher, with no time limits, FCI I believe 2x if not 3x the OCI. Used to loose oil BAD, stains in the garage are bad enough to think the oil was changed without a catch pan. Interestingly enough, I drove it a month, and now a couple drips IF THAT...don't care how, lucky me I guess. Current fill of Chevron Supreme SN 5w30, with a WIX from march of last year, with about 1500mi, 1k of which were put on in the recent couple months. I planned to drag it out 2-3years/ to 5-7K.
Today before work I figured pop off the valve cover and see how much damage dad's OCIs did. I did not expect it to be that clean. The dark areas on the picture are loose thin layers of sludge. More flaky, wipes easily. On the pic with rockers, under the far right one I wiped a spot with a rag, and not even varnish.
I think I will shorten the OCI to 3-4K, and put in some of my Edge A3/B4 to keep the crud from building up and continue 10-15k OCIs.






 
A few short OCIs on HDEO will clean it up (easy option for lazy guys)

A bottle of brake cleaner and a rag will clean it up quicker (less easy option for guys who want it done now)
 
From your pictures, the engine internals actually look quite good considering your dad's poor maintenance record(according to BITOG & myself). Maybe 10,000 mile OCI's and using the filter 2-3X isn't as bad as we often believe or, at least in this GM 2.8 V6.

I have seen similar looking insides of engines that had more scheduled maintenance/OCI of 5K OCI's.
 
I suggest cleaning whatever you can by hand and forget about it,and just keep doing what your doing.
Those flakes are because the head gets a fine mist of oil. That mist cooks and creates a hard layer of varnish which is what I believe is the flaking material.
Now you could soften it with an oil additive be it a solvent type or an ester type like liqui-moly motor oil saver. That stuff will soften and dissolve it over time whereas a solvent type will dissolve it quickly.
If it flakes off and somehow makes it into the pan the oil pump will eliminate it because of the sheer volume of hot oil however if lots of it comes loose at once and ends up in the pan you might starve the engine of oil because it won't dissolve fast enough.
Personally I think I'd do a flush with strong solvent like Kreen or berry mans at time of oil change then pennzoil ultra or M1 EP and run a typical interval.
Not that you really need a flush type product however I'm the kind of guy who wants a clean slate to start from so I do what I have to to get there.
Mmo would work too but I'd go a grade thicker with the oil then add the mmo at the start of a new interval using a conventional and monitor.
 
Originally Posted By: Char Baby

I have seen similar looking insides of engines that had more scheduled maintenance/OCI of 5K OCI's.


My 00 Century looked similar with religious dino 3K OCIs, and about 80K or so miles on the clock. Nothing terrible, although I was disappointed because the short OCI's didn't keep my father's engine as clean as I would have thought it would.
 
The usage pattern of the car is a factor. Short runs would demand a short OCI. Running the engine a 1/2 hour or more at a time, you could extend the OCI
 
I think "wipe it down 'cause you're in there".
I'm actually a believer in soaking any valve cover if it has an air baffle. You never know what you'll find.
Otherwise, nothing to fret. Kira
 
If you had been around cars in the middle of the last century, that thing would look pristine.

That looks like mostly varnish, with very little sludge. I would maybe do a couple of short OCIs, but what is there is not going to shorten the car's effective life much, if at all. Oil probably has nothing to do with what this engine will die of, and the rest of the car will likely fail before the motor. Good luck.
 
Looks good to me, I think your plan of 3-4k oci is a good one. Just imagine how much better today's oils are than what you would pour in 1989!

I always thought the fuel injected 2.8 was a good little motor.
 
That 2.8 wasn't bad if taken care of. We've had several of the 3.1L in the family for years.

The 2.8/3.1 in the S-10, some Isuzu's and the APV vans was no prize IMO. Id take the noisy old 2.5 in the S-10 over one.
 
The stuff wipes off without solvent, its loose and seems flakey because of how thin it is. This thing had 85-90% short trip life and will continue to be a go to work vessel. I know the gm 2.8 isn't anything great, or even good, but it needs to be driven, so I guess anotrhe 80k till the dashbord ends up in my lap and the door panels disintegrate. There is no paint on the car either, blessed Chevy I'm going to take the hdeo/syn route whatever is cheaper and run obscene ocis because the body is so sun beaten the engine will outlast is regardless. I was impressed with the dino holding up this nicely. I'm going to check under there after a ful oci (~15k) with gc 0w40 and compare pics to see if any progress was made.
 
Oh and the varnish is on the cover, the rest is just oil all over. Air baffle is spotless. I cracked the bike open but there was nothing there, had my face in every crack and down the chain shoot and just spotless, so didn't bother posting. The jeep should be interesting, and the lexus I imagine boring and clean.
 
Had an 88 Z24 Cavalier with the same engine. It had 206k miles when I sold it and looked the same under the valve covers. It was running fine, never any engine problems but the body was falling apart. Valvoline 5W-30, Purolator filters and 3k OCI in those days.
 
It looks like the valve covers on that aluminum head 2.8L are *way* easier to get off than the iron head version. On the MPFI iron head you have to dismantle the whole intake first.
When I had a leaking valve cover gasket on a Fiero a few years ago it turned into a project getting down to them. It had some sludge in there, it definitely wasn't as clean as your engine.
 
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