HOLY SLUDGE!!! Need advice...

[Daedalus]

Today I changed my oil for the second time since I bought my ranger in February. The oil was changed by my dads shop the day i bought it and I did my first oil change just under 3000 miles later. The oil that came out then didn't raise any alarms. I filled it up with Napa oil and used a Napa filter that I got as part of a $6 oil change 1 day promotion. Today when I changed it (2900 miles since last change, i always do mine early. i just get excited about a chance to give my vehicles some TLC i guess...) I noticed this in the bottom of the pan i used to drain the oil into after i dumped it into the bucket I was using to take it to be disposed of

I was a little worried but it was a small amount of rather small particles and there were no metal shavings in it. So no big deal right? Wrong.

When I dumped the bucket into the oil tank at the parts store I was horrified but what I saw in the bottom

There was an incredible amount of sludge in the bottom of the bucket. Huge friggin globs that nearly covered the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket. Still no metal shavings thankfully (checked with a magnet and by rubbing the sludge between my fingers).

Also when I removed the oil filter i noticed that the insides seemed to have become detached from the housing. When I'd tilt it one way I could feel and hear the internals move and bang against the side of the housing and then flop back and hit the other side when I tipped it the other way. From what I can tell the internals are intact, just disconnected from the housing. I couldn't see/hear multiple pieces moving in there. This was a standard napa filter, not a Napa Gold so I don't believe it is a Wix.

I've been noticing latley that my oil pressure gauge jumps around from normal to zero alot. When I first start it and drive for the first couple miles the pressure reads as fine, but after awhile it drops into the red. Then it will come back a few minutes later. I figured this was just a sensor issue since its so old and running fine. Now I'm guessing the sludge is blocking the screen but its being cleared after a few minutes slowing the pump to resume normal pressure.

So I filled it up with Castrol Semi-Synthetic (It was on sale, 19.99 for 5 quarts and a PureOne filter...) and put on a Pureolator PureOne oil filter. The oil pressure held steady at the normal place it rests when its not in the red and everything was great... For about 50 miles... Now its doing the back and forth thing again.

So it looks like the PO was an ass and didn't change the oil when he should have. So now its time to desludge the engine. I have three ideas on how to do this, each with their own risks and benefits.

1. Do it the slow and steady way. Change the filter in 500 miles, refill the lost oil from changing the filter and go another 500 miles before changing the oil (along with the filter again) entirely. At that time I'd probably go to a full synthetic for the adding cleaning properties. This may be safest as it has the lowest risk of throwing a huge chunk of crap into the pick-up tube screen and clogging up the works. Downside is judging by the oil pressure gauge fluctuations this is already happening intermittently. So If I do this i also risk slow and steady engine damage as the top end of the motor goes without oil at short but frequent intervals.

2. Dump in half a can of seafoam, drive for 50-100 miles and change the oil and filter. Run it for about 20 minutes and then change them again, effectively rinsing the engine after the cleaning In my experience this will clean ALOT of crap out very quickly but then im running the risk of throwing a chunk of sludge so big that the oil pump wont be able to clear it on its own after a few miles like its doing now. If this happens I'm up shit creek. With the condition the body is in it isn't likley to be worth it to remove the engine so I can drop the pan and replace or clean up the pump. Not to mention I don't have the resources to pay someone to pull the engine in the first place.

3. This seems to be the middle ground between the two. Drain a quart of oil out of the engine and replace it with ATF. Run it like this for up to 500 miles frequently checking the dipstick and changing the oil as soon as it looks bad. Repeat this process until I'm satisfied with the color/lack of chunks in oil that comes out.

I suppose there's also the old diesel fuel/kerosene in the oil technique also but this is an extreme move and will be an absolute last resort after everything else has failed, if I have the guts to try it all...


Well guys, what should I do?

 

[gwaii]

pull the motor,tear off the intake,valve covers,and pan,and clean it properly.seem extreme?that's what you'll be doing anyway if that stuff gets sucked into the pump,but you'll be replacing the motor,too.call it a preemptive strike.

 

[L454S]

Oil

The reason the gauge starts jumping a bit after running a while is because those particles start to gather in the oil pick up screen in the pan. I would at least pull the pan and clean out the screen and the pan very well.

Don't waste your money on synthetic oil yet. It does not have any greater detergent power than conventional oil. I would just fill with fresh oil and filter every 1000 miles for about 5000 after the pan and screen clean out, that is if you can maintain oil pressure for 1000 miles. As the HD oils do their job, more of that crap will become suspended in the oil, hopefully enough of it will desolve enough to be picked up by the filter and leave you with something worthwhile. Have seen plenty of this over the years......

 

[Daedalus]

If I can pull the pan and clean it and the screen I'd love to. However pulling the engine is simply not an option. I don't have the equipment or a place to do it. The cost of paying a shop to do it would likley be better spent buying a beater. It's got some cancer issues. The bottoms of both doors have holes in them, the rocker panels have holes, the passenger A pillar has decent surface rust, etc. I just need to get this truck to last me another year or two while I finish college and then I'll be making enough to buy a ranger in much better condition. It's my understanding that it isn't possible to pull the pan off the 2.3 without removing the engine. I need to do whatever will give me the best chance of clearing the sludge enough that the oil pump can hold out for another year year or two...

I really wish I could do it the right way. I love my ranger. But I'm a broke ass college student that cant afford to do so. I'd do it myself but i dont have an engine hoist or a garage to work in. I have to do whatever I have to do to ensure I can get to and from school until I graduate. As much as it will kill me to do so if that means selling the ranger for parts and finding a beater my education has to come first. But I'm not ready to say goodbye so I need to go with the next best option to pulling the engine...


Edit: If anyone has a technique for pulling the pan without removing the engine I'm all ears. I would prefer to try cleaning it out by alternative means first but if that's what I have to do then I'll do it. I can likley dedicate the entire day to working on it Thursday but I'll have to have it up and running again on Friday for class....

Edit 2: Been googling for hours. Seen good things about running rotella diesel oil for a bit to desludge. Any experience? I know the only way to do this right is to drop the pan but if I can buy myself some time before I get into that It would help...

 

[LIMA BEAN]

Not to hijack your thread but being so passionate about your education is admirable, I completly wish you the best there young man! Rotella is good stuff, loads of jet-boaters up here in Alaska swear by it, we basically turn royal purple to black crap in a few hours run time. Myself I would go for the very low milage oil and filter changes making sure the oil is hot as hell so it flows out swift carrying the junk with it, cold oil changes are just plain tarded. Good luck and let us know for future reference.

NOTE: Be carfull when you pull the plug with hot oil!!!

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I run nothing but Motorcraft filters for oil - Wally world has a good deal on 'em.

Some sludge is normal, sounds like a faulty oil filter made things worse though. I'd run regular oil till you get some of the stuff cleaned out - synthetics are a bit too pricey to be changing often. When I want to do a somewhat gentle cleaning of an oil system, I do my oil an filter change plus dump about a cup of ATF in. Run it awhile and change it when the oil is warm or hot. When I've got a lot of sludge coming out, I've also dumped a healthy shot of warm oil (set a quart bottle on top the motor somewhere warm before you drain) through while the drain plug was out (and a catch pan below of course) to try to carry a lil more of the sludge out. Then fill it up an go again.

I'd run till the oil pressure starts fluctuating then change the oil again. Hopefully after a couple changes you can get enough sludge out of there that it will stop being a problem.

And yes, tearing things apart and cleaning it would likely be the best solution. But if you don't have any place to work on it and need the truck, sometimes you have to do the best you can.

 

[mentalbreakdown00]

I have seen this on a few vehicles and with hot oil changes, and often, say every 1500 miles, it hopefully will go away most I have done this too you can not tell they had sludge problems after a year and a half or so of short OCI's.

 

[bigfltruck]

i have run the rotella T diesel oil for years, works great its the first thing i do to every truck or car i get, along with a fram tuff gard filter.

 

[exbass94]

I think you MAY be overreacting just a bit. That gritty stuff in the drain pan is not a big deal. I get that crap every time I change the oil in my Explorer and I know for a fact the oil was changed every 3k since it was 2 years old. I have also seen that gooey crap in the bottle from well-maintained engines.

I would yank a valve cover to see if you actually have sludge. If its clean, you shouldn't worry.

Stay away from the Napa Proselect filters. Napa Golds are much better. Consider adding 1/2 qt of Marvel Mystery oil and run it at least 1k miles.

 

[88_Eddie]

pull the motor,tear off the intake,valve covers,and pan,and clean it properly.seem extreme?that's what you'll be doing anyway if that stuff gets sucked into the pump,but you'll be replacing the motor,too.call it a preemptive strike.

i agree with gwaii, plus you need to figure out where these metal shavings are coming from, what if a bearing is going out or something is getting rubbed the wrong way, and then while you're in there you can give it a nice thorough clean

 

[gwaii]

didn't see that it was a 2.3...that makes it even easier.basic hand tools and with the help of a freind you can pick that motor right out of there.but first pull the valve cover and see what it looks like.the problem with all the chemical means of desludging is that everything that is loosened from the engine walls goes into the pan right where the pickup is while the engine is running.taking it apart lets you get it out of there without risking it going through the engine.

 

[heptofite]

you COULD just fill the entire crank case with diesel for a few hours and drain it without starting the engine, that'll break down pretty much all the sludge.

 

[cammeddrz]

in a case like this i'd put a quart of atf (no oil out there with more detergents than atf) into my engine before i change the oil, run it for about 5 minutes and drain it all out and change the filter

 

[LearjetMinako]

My advice is to flush out the engine. Taking the oil pan off and cleaning it that way would be the best way. But I know what you mean by the challenge of removing it on a 2.3L engine. So as a suggestion, a cheap Fram oil filters and one good one (PureOne or Motorcraft), enough oil for 2 oil changes (1 change with cheap oil, the other one is what you prefer, plus 1 or 2 extra cheap quarts), and an engine oil flush solvent (B-12).

Steps to an oil flush:
1.) Add solvent to crankcase oil (by instructions on bottle)
2.) Run the engine at idle for 10 minutes with the solvent in the oil (unless instructions say otherwise)
3.) Stop engine, drain oil ASPA while its hot (careful not to burn yourself).
4.) Afte oil has drained out, take the extra 1 quart of oil and pour it into the crankcase with the drain plug still removed.
5.) Re-install drain plug, new oil filter, and refill engine with the cheap oil.
6.) Take it for a test drive. Run the engine the through its RPM band while driving. You don't need to drive it like you stoled it. You just want the oil to circulate through the system. Drive it with the cheap oil for about 100 miles.
7.) About 100 miles later, drain the oil whiles its hot after a good drive.
8.) With the drain plug still removed, take an extra quart of cheap oil and pour it into the crankcase.
9.) Once the crankcase is fully drained, re-install the drain plug, install new better oil filter, and re-fill with your prefered oil.

This is the method I do for worst case sludge/carbon buildup.

As for synthetic oils, it could help some. But I wouldn't use them until you flushed the engine and the oil pressure problem is gone. Otherwise, you could be wasting your money later. But not to stop you, I have been using synthetic oil in my 96 2.3L since 80K miles on the odometer. She now has over 128k miles and still going strong. I change the oil every 5k miles. But for your case, I would use a conventional oil for high mileage vehicles.

 

[Shran]

That's not THAT bad. I got a 302 a while back that I was going to use, so I took it apart to re-gasket it and paint it, and the oil pan had 3/4 of an inch of goo that had the consistency of tar.

I'd pour about 1.5 gallons of diesel fuel or kerosene into the engine and let it sit for 30 minutes or so, then remove the oil pan drain plug and let it drain out. You'll still have crap everywhere else but at least it won't be in the oil pan anymore.