Sludge In My Oil. Alot. Wtf

[gmc55]

I took my truck to get thr oil changed today. It's an 04 5.3 with 110,000 miles and i use havoline 5w-30. Never went over 3,000 on an oil change and never abused. Guy that changed my oil comes and tells me i should think about changing my brand of oil because there was so much sludge in the oil pan when he took the drain plug out the oil would hardly come out. I've never had this happen before and now i'm thinking of switching to a synthetic. What do you all think. He said he had to take a screw driver to dislodge some of the shit to get the oil to drain. If this is true am i in for big trouble in the near future? I was thinking of running this oil about 1,000 miles and hope it cleans up a little then switch to mobile 1 but don't know about doin that with 110,000 miles

[misterp]

Sludge won't hurt anything as long as it stays cemented in place; it accumulates like plaque, and although it doesn't look great when you take the valve covers off it's not going to hurt anything as long as it stays put. OTOH if you change oils, there is a good chance that premium oils will start to wash it down into the oil pan and filter. When I lived in California we used to build demolition derby cars, Massive Sludge like 1/2" deep on top of the heads was common. Our recipie was to substitute 1-qt of engine oil for 1-qt ATF, because ATF is very high detergent and will break it down and wash it into the oil pan, we just made sure to change the filter soon (like 300-miles) because the paraffin would pack-up the filter solid!

 

Did you actually see this sludge for yourself? These LS motors run so hot that sludge is not usually a problem with 5-30 oils on the market today.

 

Mr. P.

[gmc55]

No i didn't actually see the sludge myself and i was thinking maybe the guy that changed my oil was exagerating a little. It still scares me to think my engine is that dirty. The guy's over on pt.net suggested using seafoam then changing brands of oil. I've heard alot of good things about mobile 1 on here but with high mileage i don't know if that would be a good idea. Up till now the Havoline seemed to do just fine but the dude said he had to dig the sludge through the drain hole with a screw driver to let the oil drain out. That's pretty messed up.

[misterp]

Uh yeah Seafoam will get it out LOL. Buy an extra filter or two! I would not panic, just go ahead and 300 miles prior to next oil change add Seafoam is my suggestion. I do agree that it is my experience Mobile-1 does go away faster on high-mileage motors; that does not mean I stop using Mobile-1, but rather that at your engine's age I would totally expect at 1500-miles to top-off the oil fill level; it may seem like not much but adding that 1/2-qt at 2/3rds the way through the change interval will be the difference between draining 5-qts of oil or 3-qts of burned oil at change time.

 

Mr. P.

[gmc55]

Yeah that's what i was thinking about the mobile 1 or any synthetic oil. I would be burning through it like crazy. I will probably do what you said and bout 300 miles before the next oil change run some seafoam through it.

[juriha]

My Uncle who is a mechanic says switching to synthetic at high mileage would be worse for the motor, possibly ruining seals and such...thats my (or my Uncle's) .02

[F1SSS]

My Uncle who is a mechanic says switching to synthetic at high mileage would be worse for the motor, possibly ruining seals and such...thats my (or my Uncle's) .02

 

 

Ive seen this happen on bmws and volvos. Tried to change from regular to synthetic oil. On the bmw at 80k asked the dealer to switch to syn and they said no way, stick with what your using (1998 year model). My other friend who has a 91 volvo wagon just tried to switch to mobil 1 at 200k and it leaked right out.

I love mobil 1 5w-30 but might switch to royal purple. I am still iffy though since I have been using mobil 1 since 33,332 miles (when I purchased the truck).