Sludged filter

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While on vacation a good friend of mine who is not mechanically inclined asked me to take a look at his 2010 Chevy cobalt.

The complaint? Engine “shakes” and races at stop.

Inspection of dipstick revealed clumpy sludge, with no oil reading....

We decided to change the little oil that was left.

When we pulled the cartridge filter this is what we found...

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Unsure of how old the filter is or how many miles were on the oil.

Best i can figure this may have been a 3+ year 30,000 mile OCI, with Amsoil as the last known fill.

I would say it was in full bypass, but the bottom of the filter housing had about an inch of standing sludge so who knows?
 
Local Chevy dealership in 3 days: CPO Chevy Cobalt - one owner - clean Carfax
 
Pay now for a decent oil change or pay a whole lot more for an engine or rebuild later.
This is what happens trying to squeeze every last mile out of the oil and filter.
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Originally Posted By: parshisa
Local Chevy dealership in 3 days: CPO Chevy Cobalt - one owner - clean Carfax


One owner....clean carfax....
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I thought amsoil is supposed to be able to go 25k miles. Do you have a picture of the drained oil?

This is why I like running the biggest filter possible
 
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I had a sludged up filter in a 2008 2.2L Cobalt. Used PP 5W-30, and Bosch filter. It was run in the winter for 3,000 miles, for 6 months. Cold winter to -30C and short trips. Wasn't nearly as bad as this one but the filter was starting to collapse.
 
A series of 3k OCIs is gonna do anything significant for that mess? Really How many changes will it take to clean that mess up?
 
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
I thought amsoil is supposed to be able to go 25k miles. Do you have a picture of the drained oil?



Oh yeah thats right...maybe he should call Amsoil and see if they will provide him a new engine...
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I don't have a picture of the drained oil...but about a quart and change drained with the consistency of room temp honey and had that acidic nasty smell.





Originally Posted By: Chris142
I'm sure that mess went through everything. The bearings will be down to the copper etc.


I can only imagine . I wish I would have saved a sample for a UOA from Blackstone, but it didn't cross my mind at the time.
 
Pulling the valve cover and dumping about 2 gallons of Berryman B-12 Chemtool into it and allowing to sit overnight would do that engine wonders.
 
Ick!

Why is it so much worse than in other ridiculously long change intervals we occasionally read about here? Did that car do lots of short winter trips?
 
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