Uh Oh... The Sludge Monster Is Real! 01 G. Caravan

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Since the front valve cover gasket is leaking I decided to order them today. I popped the valve cover off and you couldn't believe it... I never thought it could be so bad... What would your modes of action be. Please be honest other then junk yarding it.


Current fill is QSDefy 10w30 + 1 qt PP 5W30. Wix 51515 Oversized Filter.
262K KM.

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Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Step one is to tighten up your change interval, because it isn't often enough.


Van was bought used so I couldn't get the previous owner to change it more frequently. Only put 2K on it since it was bought, around two years ago. Since then it has had two OCIs.
 
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Clean off the VC as best you can, then run and get some diesel engine oil. 15w-40 or something that's dual-rated for car and diesel engine use. Run that on some short change intervals to clean up the internals. Or a high-mileage oil in the right viscosity if winter weather is nasty in your area of BC. Something with lots of detergents, and change it often, like every 5000 km or so.
 
Originally Posted By: sciphi
Clean off the VC as best you can, then run and get some diesel engine oil. 15w-40 or something that's dual-rated for car and diesel engine use. Run that on some short change intervals to clean up the internals. Or a high-mileage oil in the right viscosity if winter weather is nasty in your area of BC. Something with lots of detergents, and change it often, like every 5000 km or so.



I have Rotella T6 5W40 and Delo 400 15W40 to work with. I'll use some gas and scrub the shiz out of the VC. Should I be picking off sludge off of the engine components? I doubt it will get 5K in the next 3-4 years. This can be a community project where I can update you guys on it once in a while. I'm in the lower mainland in BC so its never really super cold. Coldest about -5C or 23F.
 
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I have owned 4 3.3 litre Caravans and never bothered to change the oil more than once every 8,000 miles so I can say that thing has really been abused. I would do as little as possible . Remove what sludge you can but you don't want to leave any sludge that has been disturbed and might break off and plug an oil gallery. Simply run any SN oil and change it on a regular basis. Fresh oil will slowly remove the sludge.
 
Originally Posted By: WobblyElvis
I have owned 4 3.3 litre Caravans and never bothered to change the oil more than once every 8,000 miles so I can say that thing has really been abused. I would do as little as possible . Remove what sludge you can but you don't want to leave any sludge that has been disturbed and might break off and plug an oil gallery. Simply run any SN oil and change it on a regular basis. Fresh oil will slowly remove the sludge.


Yeah, it's definitely seen better days. I just did an OCI a few days ago and the oil has already gotten a few tints darker. Never expected it to be such a sludge bucket.

I'll get back into the garage and start cleaning the VC off. Will keep you guys updated.
 
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My truck looked like this when I bought it.

I cleaned the valve train as best as I could using a brush and solvents (gas, carb cleaner, etc.). I plugged the oil return holes with a rag that nothing would float down towards the pan.

I got it really clean.

Check your PCV valve. I bet it crusted shut. Also, you'll probably need to replace the tubing/hoses that run from the PCV valve to the throttle body.

This worked wonders: Hook battery tender up or keep charger handy....you'll need it. Keep filter on. Drain oil, reinstall drain plug. Disconnect spark plug wires from plugs. Fill crank case with with a 50/50 mix of kerosene and paint thinner, as if it's oil, except over fill it by 1 quart. Let the van sit over night. Crank the van over for 10-15 seconds. Do it again 2 or 3 more times. Let it sit for an hour or two and charge. Crank it over again for 10-15 seconds 2 or 3 times. Recharge battery. Do this cycle 4 or 5 times. Drain the solvent mixture from your engine. It will be BLACKER than coal. Replace filter. Refill with any HDEO you want.

I also did several short OCI's on the truck with some 20% MMO (use a grade thicker oil) and then ran for 10-15 minutes with another quart of diesel fuel in the oil to help clean it out. This helped circulate the solvent (diesel fuel) through the engine and clean up more crud.

This is what I did with good results.

People might be scared to do this because of "knocking a chunk loose". But I did this and it really cleaned up my old abused 350.
 
Originally Posted By: Farmer
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Step one is to tighten up your change interval, because it isn't often enough.


Van was bought used so I couldn't get the previous owner to change it more frequently. Only put 2K on it since it was bought, around two years ago. Since then it has had two OCIs.


When asked about fluid change history/maintenance what did they say? On a higher mileage vehicle that's one of the most important topics. If no one seems to know and there's not at least a couple of OCI reports over the years....that's the time to walk.
 
This was due to neglect i have a 96 with the 3.3 and over 200,000 miles and it looks like that probably did when it had 5000 miles on it..This is what 15,000 mile oil changes do to an engine. We see this All the time
 
The kerosene / paint thinner trick works, you can speed up the process if you have an air compressor. Insert a poly tube into the oil dipstick tube and run low pressure air into the pan with that fill of kerosene/ thinner. The air bubbles will assist in agitating the kerosene and speed up the sludge removal. Keep the area well ventilated!!! Open doors, no smoking!!
 
If this is the engine, what does the transmission look like?

I would use some Walmart SuperTech and change it yearly. The goal is to slowly remove it, not let it get worse. While it may look ugly, at this stage it is not really damaging the engine. So slowly does it. Auto-Rx?

I'll bet the ATF looks like driveway sealer.
 
That van needs to be driven as much as possible to get the oil up to temperature and circulating. Change the filter frequently! PYB, Defy or a dual-rated HDEO would be my choices - go slow and low to clean that one up.

And do the same for the transmission as well, whichever ATF+4 you can get cheapest.
 
um, does the engine sound ok? if so, its fine, drive along your merry way.
 
Okay. I've been picking and cleaning the sludge off with a scraper and blowing it out with compressed air. I don't think it can hurt the van any much more. Here are some pictures. Second picture is how much fell onto the cardboard. Theres some more under it because I should of thought of it earlier. There is also more sludge that I picked off with the scraper earlier in the cardboard box. (theres more)

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Now the Paint thinner and kerosene trick, can I use diesel and gasoline?

The PCV Valve has been replaced since I did the spark plugs a few days ago.

The ATF is surprisingly clean... But I'm going to pick up some ATF+4 to do a service. Fluid evacuate, drop pan and change filter. But I might fluid evacuate. Fill drive around for a few minutes, fluid evacuate then drop the pan and change the filter.

Yes, the engine sounds smooth and quiet.

I'm going to pick up a few more 51515s then. I can get them for like $5.91 or something.
 
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I would be concerned about the oil pickup screen. Don't mess around solvent cleaners in this case, its too far gone.
You need to drop the pan as big of a PITA as it is, its a must IMO. There is a way to clean this up well and get it to where it will finish cleaning with just regular OCI.
 
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