Old Jeep drivers beware!

A friend's Lexus developed engine sludge, that blocked the oil pickup. He had followed all the recommended maintenance intervals. His favorite mechanic found an article, that described this as some sort of compatibility problem, between the new motor oil and the "old" Lexus engine design. The car is in Albuquerque now, getting the repairs at Lexus' expense. The repair bill is $10,000. Supposedly there are thousands of cases like this.

I don't have more data, because the friend is more of a chef than a mechanic. But he was pretty clear about the engine seizing up, the car being towed to Albuquerque, and numerous calls to manufacturer reps.

Earle

Thanks. I know Gary will get a kick out of these.

"It can cost as much as $12,000 to replace an engine"! Heh, it cost me $5,000 to replace a Chevy 350 with a new factory engine, at the dealer in Fort Collins, CO. I told them to go to town buying spark plugs, water pump, oil cooler, anything they wanted. That was in 2001. How does one spend $12,000 on a V6 or an I4 engine?

I remember one of my first cars, a 1964 Plymouth Valiant, which appeared to have a three quart oil pan for a while. After a rod let go I found out the reason.

Earle

Coasty's Sludge Theory

Sludge only became a problem when as Bill has shown the Manufacturers have increased their oil change intervals and as I may add under pressure from the Federal Government (Green Weenies). The other problem is the oil technology just recently caught up Mobile 1 extended mileage formula. Manufacturers are very fuzzy in their oil change intervals and the majority of consumers do not keep proper records of work done and often do not do proper maintenance. An example of this is the turn and go attitude of many people, no checks, on oil changes, no maintenance of any kind. I see this all the time I work at a college and out of 2000 students very few do any maintenance on their vehicle and not to pick on any one gender but, the women are the biggest offender. The other big problem is that many people do not even have a clue what a dipstick is let alone where it is located. Growing up my dad passed down the knowledge of vehicle maintenance I in turn passed it down to my sons. Today the majority of parents do not pass on any vehicle maintenance and this is evident on what I see at the college.

Coasty

How is this different from thirty years ago, when my second hand 1964 Plymouth Valiant came to me with a good inch of sludge in the pan? And how come this batch of complaints only seems to involve Saab, DC, Toyota/Lexus and VW/Audi?

I tend to use a longer oil change interval myself, but I drive the vehicle fifty miles once I fire it up, and I drain the oil when it is good and hot (Ouch!) As I understand it, these conditions minimize sludge or oil gel buildup. Many people don't do this.

A "dipstick" is like Earl and his brother Randy, Larry his brother Daryl and his other brother Daryl, or Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel, right? ;^)

Earle

30 years ago there was allot of impurities in the oil causing sludge. Almost all of the oils contained large amounts of paraffin which caused the majority of sludge. Yes, changing the oil when hot will greatly reduce sludge in the engine too.

In recent issues with sludge it is a combination of several elements, owners not checking the condition of their oil, and changing it on time, the other is the manufacturers are to blame for a couple of things like EGR systems and the engines them selves in ring or seal blow by.

If you use the falling ball method viscotiy gauge to check oil viscosity you can tell when it is getting dirty and when to change it. This is the only true method and is 100% accurate.

Coasty

Do any Jeep engines use flat top lifters?

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >

Only if it's a Marine Jeep and it's stuck in the mud.

tw _____________________________________________________________________

2003 TJ Rubicon * 2001 XJ Sport * 1971 Bill Stroppe Baja Bronco

"There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'."

Pronunciation: 'jEp Function: noun Date: 1940

Etymology: from g. p. (G= 'Government' P= '80 > Do any Jeep engines use flat top lifters?

Marvel Mystery Oil comes to mind that stuff will clean an engine faster than a whippoorwills butt in choke cherry season. Coasty

It is advisable to learn what you are up against first. Take off a valve cover, and if it is packed solid with sludge (I have seen this) then maybe you don't want to try flushing it with a solvent. That's because, when it loosens up, it is going to circulate all over before you drain it. For light sludge deposits, solvents are fine, but the really heavy ones should be dug out by hand.

Earle

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Yes good point, I have seen an oil pump screen clog up and the next thing the engine was naturally aspirated from the oil pan. Coasty

I can beat that. I saw a Ford 5000 diesel farm tractor with one of the cylinders aspirated into the water jacket. It still ran.

Earle

maintenance

manufacturer

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One of my sea stories that almost was, is a 12 cylinder GE engine about a story tall 2000 shaft HP decided not to stop winding up. It hit about 4500 rpm and I grabbed a 50 lb co2 fire extinguisher and emptied into the 16 inch intake that shut it down. If the thing had parted I would have been strained through the deck greats let alone a naturally aspirated ship hull to the water. We discovered the oil line had clogged up that lubricated the turbo so the least path of resistance the turbo started sucking lube oil from the 500 gallon sump.

Coasty

This one started up on the flat bed truck, and drove right into the garage. The tractor operator had rolled it down two or three terraces, after which they tried to pull start it with a JD 350 Crawler Loader. One would think, that seeing one wheel going forwards, while the other went backwards, would have made them stop, but these boys were persistent. One of the crew told me later, that they had been determined to "break her loose" come Hell or high water, and they did.

Next time you eat an apple, remember. A lot went into it.

Earle

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