Removing sludge through oil changes?

[Lylat1an]

Now that I'll be switching from racing oil to the kind with detergents, (I was trying to be 'period correct') I suspect that I'll need to perform several oil/filter changes to address built-up sludge.

Is this a good idea? I don't have the tools to dismantle the engine but I figure I can clean it out over time this way.

 

[mjsnodgrass]

i would add a quart of atf a couple weeks before your next oil change. i would think that would help clean the engine up.

 

[Steve@Advance]

I would just keep an eye on the color. If it starts getting dark, change it.

Those are mostly old wives tales about disturbing sludge with detergent oil. An engine so clogged with sludge it blocks the screen was on it's last leg anyway.

 

[guido]

Lylat1 an

1 Drain the oil when the engine is hot.

2 Put some magnets at the end of the oil
plug,

Guido.

 

[ss55]

I've had good results from those quart size engine flush products, mostly light petrochemical solvents and lots of strong detergents. At oil change add a quart to a hot engine crankcase, let it idle for five or ten minutes and then drain the oil and change the filter. Do not put a load on the engine with those thin solvents in the oil. It can not do anything to fix a worn out engine, but will clean out most of the sludge. Much easier than scraping out sludge buy hand.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I've seen sludge build up on old engines only a scraper could remove.
Pull a valve cover and see is you have sludge buildup. Or use a camera they sell to
look inside a spark plug hole to see inside the engine oil drain hole or where you add
oil.
You may not have a sludge issue.

 

[Lylat1an]

Should I still use "flushing oil" or kerosene afterward before adding fresh oil as indicated in the manual?

 

[Lylat1an]

Well, the oil pressure gauge is maxing out at low idle, so I suspect something's wrong in there.

Or maybe the filter has clogged after maybe 5 hours of runtime, which suggests there's sludge to me.

 

[derwen1959]

I always drain oil when hot which has already been
said and never had any problems

 

[Steve@Advance]

'the oil pressure gauge is maxing out at low idle'

What are you working on? Unless this is an engine with a extreme high volume aftermarket pump, high pressure at idle is near impossible.

I would suspect a faulty gauge, especially an electric gauge.

 

[Lylat1an]

A 1940 John Deere model H.

 

[Stephen Newell]

Waste of time. If the sludge is there it will stay there until the engine is overhauled.

 

[Jon Erickson]

Steve said it right.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

Most muck lodges in the sump , I take that off and clean before changing the oil and filter a few times, use diesel oil for the first few . My FE35 was really dirty , I cleaned it this way , it took four changes , the valve train is sparkling clean now .

 

[Geo-TH,In]

My Farmall C pegs the oil pressure gauge at idle. Gauge is located next to the can oil filter. Gauge could be bad. I've never changed it in the 15 years I've had it. Engine was overhauled before I bought it. No sludge inside when I replaced head gasket.

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

If the filter clogs there is a bypass valve on the filter head. The pump screen surrounds the pump at the very bottom of the case. You can drop the pump easily but the
hard part is getting your hands in there to disconnect all the oil lines. Drain it, take off the crankcase cover and look down in there with a good light and look for
sludge around the screen. Likely you'll find other debris in there too. When I tore mine down I found several steel balls, broken piston rings and a governor weight pin
with the cotters in it.

 

[Mule Meat]

(quoted from post at 18:48:14 08/04/21) Waste of time. If the sludge is there it will stay there until the engine is overhauled.

+2 or 3

Could just pull a valve cover. That would let you know quickly if you have sludge built up enough to cause a concern.

 

[Leroy]

You should have been using multi weight detergent oil for at least the last 30 years. I don't think anything will remove that caked in sludge. Only thing is a scraper. Just make sure the oil passages to the rocker arms are open as if no oil is getting there it will ruin the rockers. I am not sure how the pan is made on a H but should not be hard to remove with just a cheap set of wrenches.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Steve is right most sludge will not come out till you over haul and tank the block.

 

[Hockeygoon]

Drop the pan and scrape out the sludge & dirt. Then pull the valve cover and clean the valves with seafoam, gas, diesel or a combination of two or more through the top
of the engine out the bottom. Clean the pickup, and put it back together and never use racing oil or the cheapest oil known to man in anything again.

 

[Texasmark]

Couple of years ago I bought a 1988 Ford 3910 with 900 hrs in an estate sale. Being what It was I assume it's last years were spent
with a lot of sitting and no use. Got it home and first thing was fluid changes. On the engine oil, I drained the oil and stuck my finger
in the drain hole and felt about 1/4 of sludge on the oil pan bottom.

Refilled with fresh oil and new filter and a pint of Sea Foam in the oil. Ran it for about an hour at 1k RPM, drained that out and felt the
pan floor again......sludge gone!