Re: Oil sludge elimination/prevention?

Nice addition Bill,

mine is 2002 Sebring sedan LXi with 58,000 miles on it.




Thanks

Beachrunner.





Bill Putney ha escrito:

Phil T wrote:

1)For best protection, use a 5W-30 or 10W-30 full synthetic motor oil
such as Mobil 1, Amsoil, Redline or Pennzoil Platinum Plus. These are
expensive top of the line oils, but worth it compared to the
alternative. You should be able to easily go 5000 miles between oil
changes with these oils; perhaps further depending on your local climate
and driving style. Use a good filter such as Purolator PureOne, WIX,
NAPA Gold, Motorcraft, Amsoil EO, or Fram XG series *only*. Filters are
not all the same quality - stay from the cheap ones.

2) Other good oil choices would be Quaker State Q advanced synthetic
(good for about 4000 miles in my 2.7); Valvoline Synpower or Valvoline
MaxLife Synthetic.

If you go to a synth., don't just suddenly switch over. Either put in
1/4 qt. of Marvel Mystery Oil or Sea Foam (or possibly Phil's Auto-Rx
according to its instructions - see below) to do a controlled gradual
cleanout of accumulated sludge over several successive oil changes
(changing filter *every* time). Alternatively you could put 1 qt.
synth./4 qts. dino first oil change with new filter, 2 qts. synth./3
qts. dino with new filter at 1000 miles, 3 qt. synth./2 qts. dino with
new filter at 2000 miles, etc. until you're switched over - or when you
get to 4 qts. synth./1 qt. dino, continue with that ratio forever after
that at your decided-on change interval, new filter each time.

3) For non-synthetic oils, Castrol GTX and Havoline come to mind as
well-proven oils. These should be changed at around 3000 miles in this
engine. These oils will go alot farther in other engines, but the 2.7 is
hard on oil. Theses same oils would easily go 7500 miles in a Honda
Civic. But not in a 2.7.

4) Maintain the cooling system ! This is important to minimize the risk
of water pump failure or failure of the water pump seal(s). Since the
water pump is inside the engine, a coolant leak will leak into the oil
and will create mud-like sludge in no time flat. The water pump and
it's impeller were built around the coolant. Use either Mopar Long Life
coolant (orange stuff - but it is NOT the same as Dexcool which is also
orange), or Zerex G-05 (sames stuff as the Mopar). Do NOT use any other
coolant. If the cooling system has been ignored, have it thoroughly
flushed and re-filled with 50/50 coolant/distilled water.

Can also get Ford's Motorcraft branded G-05 at Ford dealers. It's
bright yellow like the Zerex G-05.

5) Methods of getting rid of sludge are controversial. Solvent flushes
will definitely clean some of the sludge and varnish. But they are
harsh, and may accelerate wear in the main and rod bearings. And it may
also cause large sized pieces of sludge to dislodge and potentially
block off a narrow oil passage - thus creating a worse problem.

My opinion too. Also synthetic oils can do the same thing if switched
over full strength suddenly - not everyone agrees with that - but that
is my opinion - seen it first hand.

Many of the additives sold in auto parts stores are useless.

Marvel Mystery Oil and Sea Foam, however, work.

I am currently working with a gentle long-term internal engine cleaner
called Auto-Rx. Inside my oil cap and the little bit that I can see down
there looks pretty clean. But my PCV hoses and heat exchanger regularly
produce little bits of coke and tar, which tells me that just a few
inches from my oil filler cap, things may not be quite so rosy. I've
just started it and I don't know how well it work on my engine. I still
have a couple of months to go before I'm finished. I am monitoring it
with oil analysis, dissection of the oil filters and compression
readings. I may pull the valve covers off for inspection.

OP - you don't say what year your Sebring is. If it's, IIRC, '00 or
earlier, check to see if the PCV hose has a cylindrical metal object
with two small coolant hoses coming out of it - it's a heat exchanger
added to prevent reduce condensation/buildup/clogging by sludge of the
PCV hose. If yours has that, then good. If not, order the replacement
hose with heat exchanger - let us know if you need to know how to plumb
it up (simple).

My '99 Concorde with 2.7 is approaching 170k miles and running great.
Bought it used at 58k miles. Using Castrol GTX with 1/4 qt. MMO and
Pure One? filter every 3.5k miles on average (changing filter every
time). I do a lot of highway driving (400 miles a week daily commute)
which also helps keep down sludge. I also replaced the PCV hose with
the new one with heat exchanger.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

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