'79 L82 all Original - Sludge in Engine
02-25-2009, 04:02 PM
#21
Pro
Member Since: Apr 2006
Location: Southern California
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You are going down the right road so just stay on it. I have done this many times when I worked at a Chevrolet dealership from '74 to '79. There are a few different things that can cause the condition you have. Seafoam is great because it is a superior detergent and has excellent lubrication qualities(marvel mystery oil works too). Just be sure to keep changing the filter with every treatment. No need to be greatly concerned with "chunks" - there is a screen on the oil pump pick up tube and obviously another in the filter. Once the Seafoam has acted on the gunk it gets very soft before it disolves, so it hurts nothing. Heck, I've left Ford oil pump drives laying in the oil pan when they fall out while you're changing the dist and left push rods in the oil pans of Cummins diesels that fall while disassembling the overhead - don't hurt a thing! On the oil issue - if you want to use conventional oil you are fine, just use a quality brand and add a bottle of STP tp protect the cam and lifters - your engine will run just as well and last just as long as it would with the synthetic.
I've seen this happen on an old tractor that had always been run with non-detergent motor oil. It had run fine for many years, but had started using a fair amount of oil. Then some guy borrowed it, and when he had to add some oil, he added detergent oil even though the owner had warned him not too. Long story short, not long after he added the detergent oil, it burned up a rod bearing, that was later found to be from oil starvation due to a plugged passage.
There was also the issue with all those engines that got wrecked from being flushed by those Jiffy Lube oil change type places. The issue became big enough that it ended up on the TV news and got the oil change places in legal hot water. So, you need to be careful about making blanket statements without really thinking things through. If engine flush is used, you are taking a chance on wrecking the engine. Maybe it will work out OK, and maybe it won't. You just have to ask yourself, do you feel lucky?
Last edited by 540 RAT; 02-25-2009 at 07:43 PM.
02-25-2009, 07:32 PM
#22
Burning Brakes
Member Since: Jan 2009
Location: Clarksville Indiana
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I dont think you got sludge so deep in your oil pan to be up on your dipstick. Maybe just rusty cruddy junk in the dipstick tube. Pull a valve cover and see how much built up baked on crap all over the rockers and around. Clean all that out real good before running cleaner through it.
02-25-2009, 08:21 PM
#23
I made no blanket statement. I replied to the OP's post. I will not post anything unless I have first hand knowledge of the subject (experience). He used the seafoam and it made a difference. He plans to continue on with it and I agree with him. I also added my personal experiences that happen to parallel his in this situation. Seafoam is not an engine flush and the OP is not Jiffy Lube and my guess is he is not like the average Jiffy Lube customer when it comes to car care. I think he probably has a fairly good grasp of how to monitor his engine and this problem. I'll even bet he watches his gauges!
02-26-2009, 01:38 AM
#24
Cruising
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Reggie
you are exactly right. I have spend a significant amount of time
in investigating and concluded that using Seafoam in conjunction
with frequent oil changes will lead to the result I wanted.
When I had the oil change done I was down in the pit and checked
what they did. And yes...I monitored the oil pressure before, while using
Seafoam and after the oil change.
So as I understand the majority here runs Synthetic oil.
I will do the same then.
Thanks again for your help....
This is a great forum.
Thomas
you are exactly right. I have spend a significant amount of time
in investigating and concluded that using Seafoam in conjunction
with frequent oil changes will lead to the result I wanted.
When I had the oil change done I was down in the pit and checked
what they did. And yes...I monitored the oil pressure before, while using
Seafoam and after the oil change.
So as I understand the majority here runs Synthetic oil.
I will do the same then.
Thanks again for your help....
This is a great forum.
Thomas
