[Jim Mac]

this came out of my buddies truck. originally a old police car motor, my buddy took the motor, pulled the heads cam and pan. cleaned the valley, and heads. sprayed kerosene on the bottom of the pistons and bottom of the block. Pulled the oil cooler adapter, bought new roller lifters and pushrods and rockers and dropped it into his truck about 5 years ago.
it's had regular oil changes but look at the valley!
it's running a pcv valve, originally the motor was cleaned no new rings or valve job, just new seals. jim

 

[Jim Mac]

he also said the first two oil changes the oil came out in clumps, afterwards it was like a normal oil change
jim

 

[396325]

I think you’re buddy is fibbing about the maintenance.

 

[B52bombardier1]

What is his definition of a "regular" oil change? If he never allowed the engine to fully warm up to remove the condensation moisture out of the oil, this happens.

Rick

 

[Jasons 69 Chevelle]

Looks like it was ran on yellow bottle pennzoil

 

[jw71elcamino]

this came out of my buddies truck. originally a old police car motor, my buddy took the motor, pulled the heads cam and pan. cleaned the valley, and heads. sprayed kerosene on the bottom of the pistons and bottom of the block. Pulled the oil cooler adapter, bought new roller lifters and pushrods and rockers and dropped it into his truck about 5 years ago.
it's had regular oil changes but look at the valley!
it's running a pcv valve, originally the motor was cleaned no new rings or valve job, just new seals. jim

Wow! 👀

 

[v8440]

Either that's left from before he owned it, he used the most sludge prone oil known to man, or he didn't change it much.

 

[Jim Mac]

the motor is out of his work truck. the old motor in it was a original target master that was installed in 1987 and pulled when it finally wore out. So he's used to doing regular maintenence. He pulled this motor because he thought 2 lifters were failing but I think the lifter wasn't getting oil. jim

 

[hilrod33]

I saw this years ago. Quaker state, in my buddys dads cars. They had regular oil changes but sludged up like that or worse. I finally convinced him to switch brands.

 

[LeoP]

I agree, it has to be the oil and too much idling will cause that as well!!

 

[BillK]

this came out of my buddies truck. originally a old police car motor

Very typical for Police cars. They spend more time idling than driving and that makes tons of sludge. Ambulances are not much better but most of them are diesels now days.

 

[Bronze68]

I’m going go against the grain here and say oil is part of the problem, but not the whole problem. Nor does idling a lot help.

PCV isn’t working - at all.

 

[68Chevele]

Jim, that engine has been Penzoiled

 

[427L88]

Dang, never knew Pennzoil had that bad rap.

 

[Busted Knuckles]

Looks like it was ran on yellow bottle pennzoil

Same as the old Quaker State. I've seen this many times, most of the time when I parted out a truck and most had the Quaker State oil change sticker on the windshield.
Haven't seen that much paraffin in years, though. It's not sludge, it's wax.

 

[Blown1932]

Dang, never knew Pennzoil had that bad rap.

I had always heard that but had a experience that changed my mind or at least left me thinking that other factors were in play.

Many years ago (~25) I bought a 71 GMC K2500 from the original owner (wish I had kept it). Original 350 with a bit over 100k miles on it. Drove it for a while (ran great, no issues) and decided to do performer manifold swap. Pulled the factory intake and it was (internally) one of the cleanest engines I've seen. I got curious about how it was taken care of so I got a hold of the original/prior owner and asked him about his maintenance schedule. He said he was a Pennzoil man and it had religious 3000k miles oil changes... So, maybe the old Pennzoil was prone to sludge but maybe it was more influenced but conditions like short trips, no/not working PCV, lack of frequent changes, etc... Obviously one example is not a statistically relevant sample but it makes you think about it.

 

[jeff swisher]

Additives in oil just could not keep up with the engines use.
More frequent oil changes or a different oil may have kept this from happening.
What Is Engine Sludge and How It Can Destroy Your Vehicle? - Valvoline™ Global Europe - EN

I have seen some old Ford 302 engines the 302HO with the tall intake manifold sludge up all the way to the under side of the intake manifold.
Cheap oil and lack of proper changes did it on the 302.

It was a buddy of mine and he was cheap.
And he hates proper maintenance.

I have told many people that ask me how long do I go between oil changes that it depends.

3000 miles max.
Sometimes after racing my motorcycle (12,200 rpm) or Nova (7600 rpm) I would change the oil and it was only in the vehicle for 2 days.

If the oil began turning a darker color on the dipstick I would change it even if it was 1500 miles.
My engines stay spotless inside.
I have always thought oil and filters are inexpensive compared to an engine rebuild.

 

[mrpaticular]

Parafine (wax) build up from the oil. Practically normal in the past. It builds up on the top half of the engine where the oil is in its drain back stage. It can literally plug the head return passages.
Rick

 

[Stickman]

I think you’re buddy is fibbing about the maintenance.

I would tend to agree with the above statement. Or, he really didn't clean the block very well during assembly. This is my 2000 Tundra 3.4 about a year ago during VC gasket replacement. Although I always used a good quality oil and regular replacement regardless of the number of miles. Oil breaks down over time...

 

[70SSOBSESSION]

I’ve seen this with Valvoline also. I bought a beater olds that had bad rockers and wouldn’t go over 25mph. Pulled the valve covers and the only place that wasn’t carbon was where the rockers were moving. Perfectly shaped just like the covers. Replaced the rockers, stands and cleaned it up. All was good.