Clogged oil filter cause sludged engine ?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jul 14, 2004
Messages
108
Location
Toronto, ON, Canada
Can a clogged oil filter cause an engine to sludge up ?

Quote:
My last car had major motor failure due to MOBILE 1
Never use that garbage again! Im in the middle with a potential suit against Mobile and my old dealer is actually backing me up on it. They said it was the 2nd case that came through the dealer. They do not even recommend it now. Go figure.

Quote:
...

As for how do I know the oil did it? Im not too sure. Im just going with what the dealer stated. The dealer insisted it was the oil because when they serviced it they heard a lifter ticking so after inspecting they decided to drop the pan. They found about 1.5" of sludge on the bottom. They couldnt find any other problem or source. They had the car for 2 weeks. I wish I took a picture of it. Looked like roof tar!

IMO it could of been a failed filter that might of caused it??
The dealers Dist manager came to inspect it to verify. The manager told me they had an Altima w/ a 3.5 V6 that had the same thing happen to it. So he blamed it on the oil. The dealer was the one who did all my oil changes w/ Mobil 1 since brand new. It was a 2002 Maxima with only 70k on it. Every 4-5k miles faithfully.
Nissan America offered to help but I don't think nothing will come of it.
I lost about 2-3k when getting rid of it.

I'm sticking with what I used to use and that's Valvoline. I will just get the Platinum this time.

Quote:
...

I was the original owner.
2002 Maxima SE
72k miles
Just the lifter ticking
Oil pump failed (dealer claims due to sludge)

Quote:
Just gotten my results of the investigation of why my motor **** the bed and the sludge build up. They took samples of the oil and they took the oil filter.
They declared that the filter was the culprit. I guess they stated that the insides where doubled and no oil could penetrate through to filter out contaminates. Basically no oil couldn't flow through it period. The dealer and I were blaming Mobil 1 oil but it was the Mobil 1 filter that was bad not the oil. Im getting 2k back that I lost on the price of my old Maxima due to the damage. Who says fighting corporate America or the Oil companies never work out?? I have to thank my old dealer for all the help they given me with my case.

Was he feed a line of [censored] about the oil filter causing all the sludge ?

Wouldn't the oil filter just run on bypass ?

Wouldn't it more likely be an engine condition that caused the sludging ?
 
Possibly uninformed opinions/observations ahead:

I thought synthetic oil did not cause sludge (if anything, it reduces it), which is one of the big reasons for using it?

And if a filter was clogged and therefor bypassed, the oil would simply get dirty and cause a lot more wear on an engine, not sludge up? Filters get rid of suspended particles, not sludge, right?
 
Maybe. What surprises me is that the oil pressure light wouldn't illuminate if indeed the filter wasn't allowing oil to pass.
 
PCV as well as blowby and moisture and fuel dilution. Maybe this guy never put many miles on the oil and left it in for a long time, hence a wicked accumulation of acids. Maybe he has an injector leak. I don't think particles cause sludge, just wear.

Does anyone know his OCI based on time and mileage?
 
Last edited:
something seems fishy. I have a feeling the dealer he was being serviced at may not have been changing the filter every time...if ever.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
something seems fishy. I have a feeling the dealer he was being serviced at may not have been changing the filter every time...if ever.


Bingo. However, I also find it extremely hard to believe you could get an inch thick + coating of "roof tar" sludge using regularly changed M1 even if the filter was never changed and was in bypass for the life of the engine.

I'm sorry, but this just doesn't ring true at all.
 
I would think that sludge is much more likely to CAUSE a clogged filter than the other way 'round. If a filter clogs, it will go into bypass mode and the engine will still get oil, albeit at a possibly reduced volume and pressure, and un-filtered.

Mobil(e) 1's fault?!? Hardly, he's got ZERO case there. You don't have to be a Mobil fan to recognize that if it WERE a common contributor to sludge, we'd know about it here on BITOG. Its a perfectly adequate oil, and less likely to cause sludge than many, many other other oils out there. Now if the sludge was made of iron.... (grinning, ducking and running....)
grin2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: pennzoil_guru
PCV as well as blowby and moisture and fuel dilution. Maybe this guy never put many miles on the oil and left it in for a long time, hence a wicked accumulation of acids. Maybe he has an injector leak. I don't think particles cause sludge, just wear.

Does anyone know his OCI based on time and mileage?

I got a PM back from the owner.

"It was changed faithfully every 4-5000 miles. I changed it 4-5 months. whatever was first."


He got the check cut from Nissan, not Mobil.
But the Nissan dealer is blaming it on the Mobil 1 oil filter being faulty (?).
 
The fact that Nissan is paying for the repair says to me that the cause was something within the engine or emissions control system. Mobil 1 oil and filters are top notch and 4-5000 miles and 4-5 months is nothing for Mobil 1 or any quality synthetic (Gr III or IV). Heck, even an SM rated dino should easily handle that OCI without any problems.
 
The owner is telling you what you want to know. He wants you to believe that it's Mobil's fault, so he's twisting the truth. If Nissan is coughing up cash, they're admitting fault regardless of the words that come from the owner. A UOA on that sludge would have said volumes about the cause of the problem.

There is no way that it could be the filter's fault. That tiny can can't filter out that much sludge and it certainly can't prevent it. And if this was truly Mobil 1 in the engine with less than 5000 miles, an analysis would have proven it.

If the dealership is truly backing this story, then they probably didn't change the oil and they're covering their butts.

'Sorry, but I don't belive this guy.
 
Originally Posted By: nfs480
Those Nissan 3.5s have a tiny oil filter too


The diameter isn't too bad, but the length is short. I use the longer filter for the 2.5 4 banger (it's about 3/4 ~ 1" longer) on the 3.5 V6.
 
B.S. I would love to have that engine shipped to me! Even with out filtration 4000-5000 miles would not hurt it at all. Bob Winters ran Schaffers dino oil with no filter for the entire oil change interval and had better UOA results then when he used a filter!So it would have been fin in bypass. That dealer was lieing to him and not changing the oil and filter when it should have been changed. Someone was getting his oil on the side but he was getting charged. Good grief one guy went like 25,000 miles on M1 in his LS1 Camaro and no sludge but somehow his car can tear M1 up and turn it to roofing tar in 4000 miles I am not buying it!I guess some people will believe anything and as long as they get paid they do not care if the truth comes out just give me my pay check and get me out of this car!!!!
 
Originally Posted By: JohnBrowning
somehow his car can tear M1 up and turn it to roofing tar in 4000 miles I am not buying it!
JohnBrowning, I don't think he was claiming all the sludge was generated in one OCI, but I do agree with the rest of your reply and with the others above. Genuine M1, changed at 4-5k intervals, with or without a filter at all, will not cause sludge like that.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top