Help my Maxima... Badly sludged up

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Do very frequent oil changes, try changing it once a month, and in about half a year open it up again and see what it looks like.
Chemical flushes on sludged engines can be dangerous, you could dislodge a large chunk of sludge that blocks your oil pickup, starving the whole engine of oil.
 
Your tech is giving good advice. Other than maybe dropping the pan and cleaning that, I would go with more frequent oil changes.

Manila means super heavy traffic. I'm guessing this car sits in that a lot?
 
Originally Posted by dexterbb
This is a hand me down from a rich uncle. Still daily driven. Acquired last year, but discovered this while fixing leaky VCs:

[Linked Image]


Tech with me said to just ignore it, but i somehow can't lol. Is this salvageable? Anything i can pour down the oil filler hole to dissolve this?

Please note that I am in SE Asia. Can't find a dealer for AutoRx here. We have Liquimoly Flush though... Can LM remove this? Oddly enough, the car runs quiet and smooth. Just about the only issue i have with it is the leaking vcs and an intermittent misfire.

I did replace the pcv though if that matters. Chemical or oil recommendations gentlemen?


Personally, I would just leave it and do shorter OC's as also suggested. I just changed the oil on my son's 2008 Malibu with only 3,000 kms on the oil. We purchased this car used this summer and judging by the receipts, the oil this car received throughout it's life was just cheap bulk oil.

Looking at the dipstick while checking the oil, this oil seemed to get black in a hurry running Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5W-30. I have no idea if the engine is sludged but I would guess it is to some extent.

I will change the oil again in the spring, regardless of miles/kms, as I know the Pennzoil is cleaning something up rather quickly.

In hindsight, I likely should have just used Pennzoil conventional, (PYB) but with a decent stash of PP and PUP on hand, I thought I'd take the chance this engine was cleaner than it was?

The car runs/idles great and has decent power for a 4 cylinder (2.4 Ecotec) so I know, if the the engine is sludged, it is not affecting anything.
 
Originally Posted by FordCapriDriver
Do very frequent oil changes, try changing it once a month, and in about half a year open it up again and see what it looks like.
Chemical flushes on sludged engines can be dangerous, you could dislodge a large chunk of sludge that blocks your oil pickup, starving the whole engine of oil.

^^^ This. Don't try cleaning it. You might dislodge junk that will circulate in your engine. I might drop the pan to see if the pickup screen needs cleaning (clean the bottom of the oil pan while at it.

Free car. Just run it until it dies. Or do the work. Back in the day ALL engines looked like this...
 
I'm not quite understanding all of the recommendations to change the oil SUPER frequently. The oils aren't going to run out of detergents. He's got some baked-on oil, not actual sludge, from what the picture shows. If anything, use a good oil and change the filter out early, at least the first time.

If you can, cut open the first filter after a few thousand miles and see what's in there. If there's nothing of significance, then run normal oil change intervals. I see no reason to do monthly OCI's or anything crazy here, unless the OP is:

1. Curious
2. Loaded with money (how expensive is an oil change there in Manila?)
3. Knows something we don't about this engine that would require super frequent OCI's
 
Originally Posted by Donald
I would resist using any flush additives. I would go with an inexpensive synthetic and run 3000 mile oil changes.


Pretty much what I would , except I might start out with 1 quart synthetic + the rest conventional . Next change , 2 quarts of synthetic and so on untill running 100% synthetic .

I would not want too much sludge turning loos all at once . I would think a gradual cleaning would be better / safer ?
 
Originally Posted by WyrTwister
Originally Posted by Donald
I would resist using any flush additives. I would go with an inexpensive synthetic and run 3000 mile oil changes.


Pretty much what I would , except I might start out with 1 quart synthetic + the rest conventional . Next change , 2 quarts of synthetic and so on untill running 100% synthetic .

I would not want too much sludge turning loos all at once . I would think a gradual cleaning would be better / safer ?



Synthetic even an ester base one would not clean fast to cause this issue. Just avoid an engine flush.
 
Just regular oil changes unless you are willing to pull the pan. If you want to go that rout its a fairly easy manual clean up job. I did this one some years ago.

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Add some mystery marvel oil to your crankcase and it'll clean up faster. Shorter oil changes as suggested.
 
Do you have access to Shell Rotella oil there? What about Marvel Mystery Oil? If you have access to both, then I would use Shell Rotella 10w40 or 15w40, with a quart of MMO added, run for 3000 miles, then drain and repeat. Use a decent cheap oil filter, and keep repeating for a few changes.

If you can't get MMO, then Shell Rotella 10w40 or 10w30, for the same interval.

Either of these will clean gradually but effectively over time. Avoid a flush like the plague - it will likely break loose something bigger and result in a clog somewhere you really don't want one.
 
Welcome to BITOG dexterbb! I would implement very short oil change intervals @ 1600 kilometers at least 4 intervals and re-check. Keep us updated . Good luck!
 
I bet your uncle never changed the oil. Just do regular oil change at 1000miles. Maybe get thinner oil 5W20 to get to critial area. Some oil is better than no oil. Dirty oil is better than no oil.
 
Another thing to think about, we are not sure what oil was used in the previous changes. A lot of suspect brands and products are in the Philippines. I know because I've spent considerable time there.

I would get oil from reliable sources like Petron for example.

As to the traffic, yes it is bad in pretty much any metro area on the planet but unless you have been in Manila or Bangkok for example, it's hard to envision how bad it can get. These mega cities do not have the road infrastructure that most places enjoy. Add to that the willful disregard for traffic rules and courtesy and you end up with gridlock.

Just a trip from the Newport City complex to the airport which is right next door can take up to one hour. I have been through LA and the Bay Area and live in the Seattle metro but Manila is the worst by far.
 
Originally Posted by ka9mnx
Back in the day ALL engines looked like this...


Yes, sir! Seems like people forget that this was normal at 100k miles for a 3000 mile OCI on a carbureted car 40 years ago.
 
A high quality synthetic or synthetic blend, high mileage oil in a viscosity on the thin side - probably 5w20? for that, and any filter, changed every 1,000-2,000 miles, with as much operating-temperature runtime as possible.
 
We've seen worse, much worse. If you're able:
Originally Posted by demarpaint
I'd manually clean as much of that crap out of there by hand. I'd drop the oil pan and clean that out too. Then put it together and use either MMO and Kreen for multiple short 2-3k mile OCI's, using cheap dino oil and cheap filters.


This. Manual cleaning first, then utilize short OCIs with some cleaners the first few times.

If not, just 1500 mile changes with dino and inexpensive filter and whatever cleaner you can find.

And teach your uncle about changing his oil!
 
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