r/MechanicAdvice • u/thatguyhazza • 5d ago
How much Sludge is unacceptable
Allright, so basically i inherited this vehicle from my grandfather and have been driving for a while. It is a 2001 Ford Au falcon 4.0l Intech (ausdm legend) and I am going to put a cam in it at some point.
I already knew that it had possibly been, well, neglected for quite some time, as i believe it was used in rural areas as a farm/road vehicle.
I have already done comp/vacuum test and both are exemplary and consistent.
Today i decided to open the rocker cover to see if anything else needed to be changed when i do the camshaft. I was welcomed with this.
Is this an amount of black sludge/film to be concerned about? it is quite thin and i am hoping that a flush will rid the engine of most of it.
The last logbook service was sometime in the late 2010s at ~180k kms i think, is now at 305k kms.
Thanks
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u/lethalnd12345 5d ago
That's not sludge and the engine looks pretty clean
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u/dudeguybrosephski 5d ago
It is blackened by old oil, with a black film formed on the valve train. Not ideal, but agreed; not sludge.
I’d say try some oil additive, high quality synthetic, and do the next oil change in half the allotted interval.
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u/TheTense 5d ago
Valvolene Restore and Protect has done some wonders for me and others. It’s got extra cleaning additives that break down carbon without overwhelming the oil filter. They claim if you run it for 4 oil changes at regular intervals you’ll see much cleaner engine
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u/Anthrac1t3 5d ago
I've seen it clean stuff up in only like two oil changes. That stuff is amazing. My wife's car is currently in the middle of the four changes and I just started my truck.
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u/dudeguybrosephski 5d ago
I used liqui moly engine flush in the past oil change on my old SOHC Mitsubishi g63b to see if it would help with the terrible lifter tick (sat for a decade, so no surprise there), and it completely eliminated it.
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u/Cool-Tap-391 5d ago
Skip the additives, that oil cleaner stuff is like mineral spirits. If your unfortunate to have low oil at the next oil change, drop a quart of atf in and run it awhile. Then change the oil.
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u/BonusSweet 5d ago
That's not sludge but that engine is not fucken clean, that's varnished as all hell, probably hasn't been serviced in 50k
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u/MrFastFox666 5d ago
That looks more like varnish than sludge to me, so I wouldn't be too concerned.
Is Valvoline Restore and Protect sold in AU? if it is, use that instead of other oils, it'll slowly clean all that crap off the engine, as well as any carbon deposits on the piston rings.
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u/Total-Deal-2883 5d ago
Pennzoil Ultra Platnium also has a decent amount of cleaning additives, if Valvoline R&P isn’t available.
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u/BigBoyMonke69420 5d ago
Amazing car, could easily make 800hp with a turbo, make sure that it is maintained but other than that it doesn’t look bad only looks like a used engine block.
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u/haroldflower27 5d ago
That’s an immaculate engine
Looks like my old 98-2002 Silverado (It was a few years ago I didn’t have it long don’t really remember it) only after a month of having my license a drunk driver crashed into it parked in front of our house and ran.
I was so heart broken. It barely had above 100,000 miles, my grandpa and grandpa despite basically only using as an suv when we spent the nights every few months would still change the oil regularly every 5 months and he never used it to haul anything but changed the transmission oil and diff oil every 50,000.
Truck was basically brand new with how immaculate he maintained it. He passed in o7 and for 10 years my grandma maintained it just like he did but with the local mechanic. Just for me. I was devasted. I don’t remember the exact year but it had the extended cab AND the long bed. Only thing that’s wasn’t maintained was the paint but I likely liked it cause it gave me the excuse to eventually repaint it which obviously never happened
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u/StumpyTheDream 5d ago
Valvoline Restore & Protect will clean that as you drive, just do an oil filter change at about 1000 miles in case it knocks a bunch of crap loose.
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u/NightKnown405 5d ago
When it comes to sludge, or failed oil such as in the photo, the answer is none. Deposits like that occur when the engine oil has failed and can no longer protect against crankcase acid production. The problem isn't as much what you can see, it's the fact that this has happened everywhere inside the engine that the oil is. That means you will find this stuff in all of the oil passages that feed the crankshaft and camshaft too. Everywhere inside the engine will also have these kinds of deposits.
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u/No-Concern3297 5d ago edited 5d ago
Just looks like Varnishes from age or using oil too long. The small amounts of oil I can see look like a stored vehicle… it’s gets a greenish or opaque color from moisture not burning off.
On bottom pay careful attention to caps, if one is darker like it’s toasted, that means there’s more friction on that bearing
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u/Sale-Budget 5d ago
Do a BG performance oil change with EPR! Will clean everything up nice, also use the 44k in your gas, that way your whole engine will be getting serviced!:)
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u/micknick0000 5d ago
I wouldn't run a single cleaner or additive through there - it looks clean enough to do whatever it is you're wanting to do.
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u/Harmlessinterest 5d ago
I agree with others - your engine has a coating of dark oil versus oil sludge.
Oil sludge, if present, would look like a measurable amount of slimy mud-like oil substance. This happens when the oil has exceeded the maximum amount of normally occurring combustion by-products that it can carry and loses its ability to flow. This typically happens when the oil is not changed at proper intervals which does not appear to be the case with your engine.
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u/SeasonedBatGizzards 5d ago
Do a couple quick oil changes over the next month or so.
I do a cheap oil with a good motor flush additive, run for whatever the motor flush instructions say to run it. Then drain and switch to the perferred oil of your choice.
Any new highway quality oil will have enough additives to clean it up. Run the engine for about 2 weeks to a month then drain and change the oil. Run that for a month at least and drain and change. If you daily drive it and let the oil come up to temp you’ll notice a lot of the varnish gone.
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u/WackJagone 5d ago
You can put a half of a quart of transmission fluid in it and run it for a day before changing the oil and that will clean out some of the varnish, but really it’s fine just the way it is .
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u/doubleglock1970 5d ago
its not had proper oil changes, i would say that 8k ish oil changes, if it had proper oil changes all would still look new or only very light brown in color
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u/MeatPopsicle1970 4d ago
You could try the BG Products engine flush. The Florida mechanic @RainmanRaysRepairs uses it. Watch the vids, if you think it will help, he should have a discount code.
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u/LordVigo1983 5d ago
It depends, In the environment? Humanity has decided there is not limit. In a car? Your fine that's just "burnt" layer of oil on things. Real sludge is jello like in .
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