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Oil pan sludge


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First oil change by me on my 28. Previous owner changed it before I got it last year. Obviously had no concern for the buildup in the pan. How bad was your engine the first time you pulled the pan? What started as a quick oil filter upgrade (reproduction from Myers, very nice) and oil change has escalated to pulling the pan. There feels like a ton of slime and chunks in there. Engine runs smooth, quiet, no smoke and good oil pressure, so I'm not overly concerned.

 

Also, is there just a gasket under the pan or am I disturbing oil seals as well at the front?

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I have no idea how that ngine had ANY oil pressure. The pickup was 90% blocked. The oil pan had been on for quite a while. There was so much crap built up between the skirt and oil pan, my god. I work on heavy trucks for a living, dump trucks, garbage trucks, this was up there! Wow. So much chisling to find the bolts under 1 inch, yes one bonafide inch of cement like built up crap. Also, there was paper in the oil pan. Interesting.

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Oven cleaner can be sprayed all over inside the crankcase and hosed out to clean everything below the pistons, If there is a side or valve cover it should be opened and everything there cleaned also, clean and blow out any oil lines to be sure they are clean and open. when it is all buttoned up use a detergent oil. I like 20-40 in older engines and 10-30 in newer rebuilds.

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Ok, now that I have had a shower, it wasn't that bad. Took me two hours using basic hand tools. I spent more time trying to get the perfect bends in my new oil lines to the new oil filter setup. I love the simplicity of this thing. No oil seals, looks like it slings the oil off the crank. Works pretty good, the flywheel is clean and dry!

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No need to wash the inside of the engine. The oil changed frequently will take care of this. I will be running Rotella T 15w40, I get it very cheap from work (no, not light handed discount cheap, but 2/3 of the price from the big retailers!) And brake parts cleaner is ridiculously cheap there. At this point I don't "want" to open the side cover, though I know I should and likely will. I haven't run the car in almost two weeks and the summer is half over. I'm sure it's pretty bad in there though. I can't imagine valve seal technology was that great 90 years ago. Pics will follow when I get back out to it.

 

On a side note, I am really impressed with my Matco LED cordless trouble light. I misplaced it two years ago doing some house repairs (was surely no where near fully charged), found it recently, used it for a few hours today to pull the pan, and the dang thing is still going strong. I haven't charged it since before I misplaced it.

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18 minutes ago, JFranklin said:

With what you said you found in the pan why wouldn't you want to wash things out to make sure there are no chunks in the oil passages, crankcase walls, and galleries? With the pan down it takes no time at all, and can't hurt anything.

+1.  See the photos of "crank turds" hiding in your crankshaft oil passages...how much oil do you think was getting past this muck?  Use detergent oil, because with non-detergent the crud settles in the oil passages as well as the pan.

crank turd 1.jpeg

crank turd 2.jpeg

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man, when I got my 1933 Dodge it sat for 27 years, I took the pan off and even put a youtube video of it up "youtube SACTOWNOG" and you can see the 1-1/2' OF SLUDGE that was at the bottom of the pan. my dumb ass drove the car for a bit with it like that, lucky the pickup was sitting on top of the sludge and not in it. but man, good to get the pan off and clean it very well and paint the outside of the pan for looks. 

 

 

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Took hours of work to get the pan clean inside and out. Baffle plates were the worst to clean up under. Combination of industrial power washer and solvent tank to get it clean. The outside of the pan had ¾" buildup on the exhaust side. Ended up using an abrasive wheel to get it off. Pan is sitting drying now with a fresh coat of flat black 

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This old 28 was fixed up in 76, went 200 miles and was parked for 40 years after that. I have no history on it before 76 but it must have been in decent shape given what I can see if it. Mechanicals were certainly not touched so I have no idea when or if it has ever been apart

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On 7/26/2018 at 11:04 PM, David_Leech said:

I have no idea how that ngine had ANY oil pressure. The pickup was 90% blocked. The oil pan had been on for quite a while. There was so much crap built up between the skirt and oil pan, my god. I work on heavy trucks for a living, dump trucks, garbage trucks, this was up there! Wow. So much chisling to find the bolts under 1 inch, yes one bonafide inch of cement like built up crap. Also, there was paper in the oil pan. Interesting.

 

A lot can happen in 90 years.  LOL

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I did my 4 cylinder sump the other day and I reckon it had a good 1” of sludge under the baffles. It took about 45 minuets to clean it with a steam cleaner, it really sticks like shit to a blanket that stuff. Made a new cork gasket aswell and sealed it all up. I used a very thin smear of loctite gasket silicone over the whole thing. I fitted it to the pan first and let it tac off for a while before I fitted it up. Doesn’t squeeze out everywhere that way. The pans are pretty uneven so a bit of silicone is good I think. 

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