Sludge in Engine...Gotta Replace?

upstech · Mar 31, 2005

Hey guys got a quick question. I have on 02 gt with around 45000 miles on it. Took it in because the egine was making a ticking sound. As you speed up the ticking would speed up. So after talking to some people the general thought was that it was a lifter. Well the tore into today and said the engine is filled with sludge. That they want to replace the engine. I ask if they think its the lifter and see they cant tell because the sludge is so bad. What should I do? Is there anything that can clean that. Oh, I have an extended warranty but they wont cover it. They said sludge doesnt = broken. They want Ford to go deeper into the car but Ford said there is no point other than costing me more money. He said they wont ffind anything else. All the'll find is the sludge. Any help would be great.
Thanks

CanadaStang · Mar 31, 2005

upstech said:
Hey guys got a quick question. I have on 02 gt with around 45000 miles on it. Took it in because the egine was making a ticking sound. As you speed up the ticking would speed up. So after talking to some people the general thought was that it was a lifter. Well the tore into today and said the engine is filled with sludge. That they want to replace the engine. I ask if they think its the lifter and see they cant tell because the sludge is so bad. What should I do? Is there anything that can clean that. Oh, I have an extended warranty but they wont cover it. They said sludge doesnt = broken. They want Ford to go deeper into the car but Ford said there is no point other than costing me more money. He said they wont ffind anything else. All the'll find is the sludge. Any help would be great.
Thanks

How often have you been changing oil?

upstech · Mar 31, 2005

Not as often as I should. Any recommendations on how to fix this?

neoclasiccl · Mar 31, 2005

wow if their is really sludge then it's probably on the original oil

blackstalion666 · Mar 31, 2005

the only way to fix this is eigther replace the engine or get serious and completly tear down the engine and hot tank the block and heads and rebuild it. its very hard to clean up sludge. and most of the times it will eventually break loose and clog up the oil pump screen. sad to say you got yourself in a jam. cuase there's no quick fix for this

upstech · Mar 31, 2005

"wow if their is really sludge then it's probably on the original oil"

Nah the oil has been changed about 6 times

White Stang · Mar 31, 2005

If you pull your oil pan you could see into the crank. You will have to get a new gasket and gasket sealer to reinstall pan. I don't know how you would clean it though? I change my oil

Chopper1 · Mar 31, 2005

You can use kerosene in the oil to break down some of the gom in your engine.To do this,add about 2 qts of kerosene to the oil.Disable the fuel pump by pulling the fuel pump fuse or tripping the shut-off in the trunk and remove the spark plugs.Crank the engine for about 30 sec's or untill you see an oil pressure reading then stop.Let the starter cool down for a few minutes and do it again untill the kerosene is well circulated through the engine.The point of this is to mix the kerosene with the oil.Don't worry about overfilling the pan because the engine won't be running at anytime and this should throw kerosene all over the inside of the crankcase.This should soften some of the sludge and let it fall into the bottom of the oil pan.Let the engine sit overnite.Change the oil and filter.I think Advance or Autozone sells an oil called Drive Clean,I don't know who makes this product but use this untill the dipstick oil starts looking dirty.Then change the oil and filter again.This time cut the filter open with a pipe cutter or something that wont leave metal shavings in the filter media.Look for a build-up of anything that could clog the pick up screen.If the filter looks fairly good,go ahead and drive the car and change the oil and filter whenever the oil starts to look black.Hopefully this will clean out your engine without a rebuild.It sounds like you drive a lot of short trips,so you should probably be changing oil and filter every 3000 miles or 3 months.Good luck and let us know if this helps.

Mike97gt · Mar 31, 2005

upstech said:
"wow if their is really sludge then it's probably on the original oil"

Nah the oil has been changed about 6 times

well i hate too say this... but i agree with the above posters there is no fix for that other than a rebuild or new motor.. next time will it kill you too change the oil... these cars are run harder ( well i assume you must drive it harder than you would a taurus)

change the oil every 3k miles it wont kill you...

streetstang03 · Mar 31, 2005

time for a fully forged motor

Pughman · Mar 31, 2005

mine had this and i have changed my oil like 3 times in the last 2 months, its helping with every change .... dont think mine was as bad as yours , + i got like 102,000 miles...

CRZYHRSGT · Mar 31, 2005

I'm gonna have to agree with the other posts about a new motor. However to buy some time and save some money......
VW/Audi are currently having oil sludging issues with the 1.8L turbo motors in the Passats and A4s. When a car comes in with the same symptoms as yours, the initial fix is to replace things such as the turbo lines and the oil pick-up tube on the oil pump (tend to clog) and do an oil change with synthetic. Obviously you don't have a turbo, but change the oil w/ synthetic then run the car at 3,000 rpm for 5 minutes, then change the oil again. Be sure to change the filter on oil changes. This should flush out a lot of the sludge. It's not a guarenteed fix, but it should help in the decision as to wether or not to condem the engine right now. Good luck, and for heaven's sake, change the oil more often.

CanadaStang · Mar 31, 2005

upstech said:
Not as often as I should. Any recommendations on how to fix this?

Well, I wouldn't be replacing the motor without at least trying to clean it. There are a lot of products out there that claim they are the best, but I think I'd go with Sea Foam. Buy a bunch of the cheapest oil you can find,a few filters and a couple cans of Sea foam. Then just follow the directions on the can. You may have to do this quite a few times till the oil starts to look clean. Then run synthetic in it for about 500 miles and then do the sea foam thing again. Hopefully it will do the trick.
I've heard of people draining the oil and putting in deisel fuel and running it for a few minutes and then dumping it. Not sure if I'd want to try that or not, but I have seen it done on a 300cc 4-wheeler and it worked slick.

Good Luck

blackstalion666 · Mar 31, 2005

CanadaStang said:
Well, I wouldn't be replacing the motor without at least trying to clean it. There are a lot of products out there that claim they are the best, but I think I'd go with Sea Foam. Buy a bunch of the cheapest oil you can find,a few filters and a couple cans of Sea foam. Then just follow the directions on the can. You may have to do this quite a few times till the oil starts to look clean. Then run synthetic in it for about 500 miles and then do the sea foam thing again. Hopefully it will do the trick.
I've heard of people draining the oil and putting in deisel fuel and running it for a few minutes and then dumping it. Not sure if I'd want to try that or not, but I have seen it done on a 300cc 4-wheeler and it worked slick.

Good Luck

but i have seen bad things happen trying to run cleaners through engines for his problem. sometimes chunks can break loose and clog the oil pick up screen and have lose of oil pressure. or he can just salvage the motor while there seems to have no serious damge to it now or just replace it. Or just hope and pray that the cleaners work. i just never seen them work well with engine with severe sluge build up.

CanadaStang · Mar 31, 2005

blackstalion666 said:
but i have seen bad things happen trying to run cleaners through engines for his problem. sometimes chunks can break loose and clog the oil pick up screen and have lose of oil pressure. or he can just salvage the motor while there seems to have no serious damge to it now or just replace it. Or just hope and pray that the cleaners work. i just never seen them work well with engine with severe sluge build up.

Yeah this is true. If something was to clog any of the oil passages it could be bad. I was just thinking of trying it as a last ditch effort.

04DarkShadowGT · Apr 1, 2005

If it runs and drives reasonably well dont fix it trade it for a diff car and let the dealer worry about it.
Probbaly cheaper than letting ford rebuild it.

sgarlic · Apr 1, 2005

My dad told me one time that they used to run Kerosene through their engines all the time back in the 60's to clean the sludge out. I'd try that before I go buying a new motor.. I mean, the least that will happen is it won't work, then you only spent a few bucks.. but replacing the motor when you have other possibilities? That just seems wasteful.... unless you're rich or something.

BMurphy · Apr 1, 2005

I used to use a 50/50 mix of high detergent oil and Marvel Mystery oil to clean internals for a VERY short time like a few miles or so but that was on 60's engines. I'd say it's worth a try if you are going to have to rebuild anyway.

Remember the "Pay me now or pay me later ads"? These promoted oil changes. I use synthetic and change every 5K miles.

Sgt. RedLine · Apr 1, 2005

45k and only 6 oil changes? You ****ed it yourself. I have an '02 with 43k and change my oil every 3k and I run synthetic which dosen't need it till ever 5k. You did it yourself with so few changes.

John

85MustGT · Apr 1, 2005

Something does not make sense here. With 45K on the motor and it being only a few years old how in the heck can it be sludged up? With 6 changes you are averaging 7500 between oil changes. Although it should be done more often that should not have sludged up the motor.

Something else caused that sludging up of the engine!

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