Help my Maxima... Badly sludged up

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Oct 23, 2018
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Manila, Philippines
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?
 
Does it run okay and doesn't use any oil? If so, just use shorter intervals on your oil changes and follow your tech's advice and ignore it. If the flush would magically work, your filter couldn't hold it all anyway.
Is the engine worn out and at the end of it's life? Then you need a rebuild.
 
Very short oci with conventional and a cheap filter will help. The liquimoly flush is well regarded. You could also try adding a couple quarts of kerosene to the sump as a cheap alternative. Don't drive on the kerosene or the liquimoly flush. Get the engine hot before you add the kerosene or flush then idle for 30 min. Give the throttle a bump to 3k rpm or so every 5 min.
 
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I'd manually clean as much of that crap out of there by hand. I'd probably drop the oil pan and clean that out too [if it isn't too involved]. 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.
 
What year Maxima and how many miles? Looking at the picture I'd say the rich uncle didn't keep maintenance records correct?
 
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That is so bad that I wouldn't want it to get cleaned up too quickly unless I was willing to often remove the oil pan and clean the oil pickup screen. Either way, do very short oil change intervals. Heavy duty diesel engine oil would be a good choice for the large amounts of dispersants. I'd use Liquimoly flushes if I was going to keep cleaning the pick up screen.
 
Originally Posted by Donald
I would resist using any flush additives. I would go with an inexpensive synthetic and run 3000 mile oil changes.


+1

Yikes! Maybe use a high mileage oil too?
 
I would follow mechanics advice and leave it just like it is
I highly doubt you will get any help out of any bottle with that mess
Ride it until she fails. Just keep changing oil on a better schedule than your uncle
 
'03... Funny though this is just 1 of his 4 Maximas, dealer serviced since bought. He started falling behind in '15 because he just had too many cars to take care of (other models though).
 
Originally Posted by JAG
That is so bad that I wouldn't want it to get cleaned up too quickly unless I was willing to often remove the oil pan and clean the oil pickup screen. Either way, do very short oil change intervals. Heavy duty diesel engine oil would be a good choice for the large amounts of dispersants. I'd use Liquimoly flushes if I was going to keep cleaning the pick up screen.


I've thought about going the hdeo route. And the atf in the crank. Which one is safer? Won't the hdeo kill my cats? I got the urge to fix the leaky valve covers because i wanted to run short OCIs using M1 after seeing the pristine valvetrains of M1 users here. But after seeing the sludge (I honestly thought it wasn't THAT bad), I don't think Mobil 1 cant help me :-(
 
Originally Posted by dexterbb
'03... Funny though this is just 1 of his 4 Maximas, dealer serviced since bought. He started falling behind in '15 because he just had too many cars to take care of (other models though).


An 03 with how many miles?
 
Leave it alone. While ugly it won't hurt anything just sitting there.if you remove it too fast it can plug up the oil pick up tube and also cause wear to the oil pump.

Use a good oil and filter. Change it every 2k or so.
 
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Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
Originally Posted by dexterbb
'03... Funny though this is just 1 of his 4 Maximas, dealer serviced since bought. He started falling behind in '15 because he just had too many cars to take care of (other models though).


An 03 with how many miles?


Just shy of 116,000. Dino from dealer since delivery every 3500 or so until '15. I've been putting dino Ravenol (german oil) in it since feb '17.
 
Originally Posted by Chris142
Leave it alone. While ugly it won't hurt anything just sitting there.if you remove it too fast it can plug up the oil pick up tube and also cause wear to the oil pump.

Use a good oil and filter. Change it every 2k or so.


Tech said that too. It seems so counterintutive! Maybe i'll take the valve covers off again, wire brush and vacuum. Just to help the oil along?
 
Originally Posted by demarpaint
I'd manually clean as much of that crap out of there by hand. I'd probably drop the oil pan and clean that out too [if it isn't too involved]. 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.


+1
Id clean by hand and run 3k mile intervals.
 
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