Saw an inline 6 from a Jeep once that had sludge so bad it looked like a jello mold of the inside of the valve cover.
My flathead was like that, but it was softer, not crunchy. It also had an acorn, a screw nail, and an oil pump spring lodged in the gook. Tried the old flush out trick with oil and kerosene. Went from 15 to 0 oil pressure in about five minutes. Had to pull the pan and clean that and the pickup screen too. But when all was said and done, it still only had 15 pounds of oil pressure. Good Luck.
What were you doing looking at my motor ???? After I tore that motor down, I NEVER used Quaker State oil again.
How about the "depostis" that are about ready to plug the oil pump pick up? I would also bet that the piston oil rings are pretty much non-functional at this point. Seen more than one blown engine with a sludged up solid pick up screen. A few 10,000 mile oil change intervals and you are well on your way. I'd be tearing that sucker apart in a heartbeat. No overhaul in a can is going to touch that!
Accumulation in the valley and rocker covers doen't always mean sediment in the oil pan. In the oil pans I have see with crud in the bottom there is always a clear area surrounding the pickup. I assume that is the result of oil flowing to the inlet.
I got the rest of the top end cleaned up today, I couldnt drop the pan just yet because a buudy needed the welder so I used my time today to weld in some floorboard patches I made. I promise I will try to drop the pan tomorrow for those interested. As soon as I find the last nut for the intake manifold that fell in the bead blast sand! Here are some pics of how the valley looks now, and a tool I made for those interested. Oh, something that bugs me, you can see in the pics that I removed the oil press electronic sender for the idiot light, Im switching to a mechanical gauge to make sure I have pressure after the kerosine flush. But look at the electronic sender, it had no oil residue on it. Before you ask, when you turn the key to on, the oil press light illuminates, then after you start it the oil press light turns off (as you would want it too)
I used to run Q S or Pennz (both PA. crudes) till I pulled the covers off a small block chev---not since then.
yea none of the oils are like that anymore, quaker state and penzoil don't even come from the same wells. My dad still won't touch quakerstate even though it hasn't been like that since probably the 70's, it would never work in modern engines, they would be destroyed in short order.
The worst I have seen was about 15 years ago when I worked in a Toyota garage. A v/6 truck w/ ~30,000 miles came in on the hook with a locked up engine. I pulled the dipstick and it shown full but had real dirty oil. I pulled the valve covers and the tops of the heads were were completly full of sludge , it was like the valve covers were a jello mold, the pan was dropped and it was nearly full of sludge too, the only spots open with oil were the area directly around the pickup screen and the little tube like passage where the dipstick when into. The customer swore he changed his oil every 3,00 miles.
they had a design problem causing them to build up sludge, a lot of engines failed, I don't remember what the fix was, but this was before the gas pedal issue. I don't know who actually makes it now, but it's just a name, no modern detergent oil has that much parrafin in it today they still make it, it's Brad Penn oil, they bought the oil Kendall wells and old refinery, a lot of people swear by their oil, and it still has the zinc phosphate in it, I believe they now remove the parrafin though Most aircooled aircraft engines use non detergent, the detergents can cause deposits in the valve train and stuck valves. It has something to do with the lead in the avgas, even though it says low lead it has a whole lot more then any autogas ever did
he probably did change it, there were a lot of people getting locked up low mileage engines from them, and they had been serviced, they didn't want to admit anything was wrong at first, but finally had to.
here is mine. found this in a 315 truck hemi i got. i did not get any pics of the top end. there was still about an inch thick layer in the pan.
My old 221" Merc. V-8 was like this. I had my babies with me one evening back when I was divorced. We'd been to the Aunt's place and when we left, I poured in a quart of diesel and went on across town. Well, a mile later and the diesel steamed and killed my dizzy so I had to walk the kids packing my baby girl back across town to the Aunts and then walk back. I got her started by pulling the dizzy cap and spraying ether in it. He, He!! I found a spot and drained her in the rocks and you talk about a mess! Filled her up with fresh oil and got the kids and went home. Diesel did flush her out fine!! If I was to EVER do this again, I'd do it at home and put about a gallon of diesel in her!! Start her up and listen for the rod bearings idling right along! Then drain and go. pdq67
Good and bad when I pulled the pan. Good it that there doesn't appear to be anything close to rubberized sludge that was in the top end. Bad is that the pump pickup feels real loose in the pump. On these engine a cotter pin holds the pickup to the pump body, but it appears to be metal tube sliding into a metal housing. Not sure how much a rebuild kit will help the pump. This could let in air any time oil level is below where the pickup tube slides into the pump, I also found a pinhole on the pickup on the reverse side of the pickup screen. This cold let any air in as well. There is sludge built up behind the screen around the inlet tube.
Couple of tack welds never hurt an old oil pump tube. Its common procedure for the Chevy II V8s and their 10 foot long wobbly oil pickup tubes.
Yeah I know of the tack weld method to hold them in place, but this tube isnt a tight press fit like you might find on a sbc where you only tack it for insurance, it rotates really easy in there and is only secured by a cotter pin, so if I only tack it, I think there is a chance for air to get through still. What do you think?
I would look at using a thin o-ring, or Loctite, if it's not too sloppy. You are probably correct in thinking that air could be pulled in...there's a couple of factors involved. If you do decide to weld the pickup in any fashion- tacks or completely- disassemble it and remove the relief spring, if it has one. You could, I suppose, locate a new pickup and/or pump, but there's no guarantee the fit would be improved. It's been a long time since I've seen one of these but I recall that it also was sloppy. I believe I used some sort of flat o-ring I had laying around. Could you post some pictures of the pickup & pump? I'm going by 20+ year old memories, and I suffer from CRS anyway.
I bought a 53 mercury Flathead years ago and it ran great. 40 psi cold and 25 hot, didn't smoke. After running it on the stand it would stink for hours. I had never seen anything like it. I tore it down to check, paint and seal it, and it had 3 inches of paraffin sludge In the pan. The guy i got it from said it had sat for years but was a newly overhauled engine. When I cleaned it up it had a sticker on it. "THUNDERBOLT REBUILT ENGINES" "SEARS/ROEBUCK MONTGOMERY WARD" The image was a man pushing a flathead v8 ford with lightning bolts coming out of it. I found the company in Texas and they were still in business in 2004. The guy that started it was a WWII P-47 THUNDERBOLT mechanic, and when he got home from the war there were no new cars and most engines were worn out. You cant change your oil during a war if you cant get it. My grandfather said you were lucky to get oil to add to your car, much less change it.
Here is the oil pump pickup with the odd hole on the reverse side of the screen. It looks like a an old spot weld for some reason. You can see it pukes oil when you squeeze the canister that is the pickup housing. You can see behind the pickup screen, the inlet tube, but also that it is like a canister behind the screen. I just want to make sure that this hole doesent serve a purpose before I weld it up. Also any that read my post earlier about the pickup sitting loose in the pump housing can see the only sealing element is the flat rubber gasket that has since turned to brittle rock. If anyone would give any input on this pickup I'd be grateful.
What do you guys think about conditions of the oil pump pickup? I searched for pics of this pump and through blurry images it looks like other pickups have the same looking spot weld on the rear. I just want to make sure its not supposed to be a pin hole before I plug it.
I can't think of any particular reason why it should be there. I've seen a number of different OE solutions for pickup cavitation or "swirling", but not that. Short of seeing any factory shop manual or service bulletins referring to needing it....I'd close it. Any factory hole would be more definite. Is it for sure a spot weld, and not a sludged up hole? If I have the correct idea of how your pickup is built, it looks as if there's a lovely hiding place for sludge, sediment, and general abrasive crap. I honestly don't recall the one I've seen being built like that. Am I correct in interpreting that there is an inner liner or "roof" inside the pickup...and that when you are squeezing it, that is making the oil "puke" out from the pinhole?
Yes thats how it is behind the screen. It is like a chamber but I dont see any inlet or outlet to the chamber. The pics of oil oozing from that hole are from when I am squeezing the chamber.
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