Not looking good..

[nmwaldron]

Now I'm pobably the furthest thing away from an engine expert..but this doestn't look good. These pics are of my m50 engine after I removed the valve cover to replace the gasket.

[Jehu]

and after you dropped it into the Lebrea tar pits, right?

[Fetch]

wow

[nmwaldron]

wow
Any suggestions as to what the hell would cause this?

[SnakeyesTx]

Heat and parrafin based oils like Pennzoil.

[Jehu]

This is why i hope i'm not around for my autopsy...

[nmwaldron]

Heat and parrafin based oils like Pennzoil.
So it's just a matter of cleaning it up best I can and using something like mobile 1 for oil in the future? (I've only had the car 1 month and havent even changed the oil yet)

[Macv]

Oh man, I realllllly don't want to see what is in my engine, but I have to soon :(

[SnakeyesTx]

Best thing to do would be start with a very thorough engine flush. Use the oil flush, and inspect the cooling system for a flush as well. Then run good quality oil as you said.

[Paul in NZ]

you could clean her up and start using synthetic, i beleive they have very good flushing properties.Engine oil flushes giv me reason for concern.I have no reasonable explanation or experience to explain this.

[Derek A.]

you could clean her up and start using synthetic, i beleive they have very good flushing properties.Engine oil flushes giv me reason for concern.I have no reasonable explanation or experience to explain this.
Engine flushers by their nature disolve and thin out oil. I have always been leary of those as you don't know what they will do to the engine oil and its ability to seperate metal parts.

I would clean up as much as possible using scrapers, paper towel etc. You might try a diesel oil like Rotella as they have excellent ash removal properties. I would also make sure all your breather hoses are in good shape and nothing is plugged up.

[632 Regal]

Dino oil hands down. Like Derek suggests clean as much of it you can then switch to synthetic but change it as soon as it's black. This will slowly clean them sludge deposits slowly without clogging the oil pickup. Dino oil is ok as long as it is changed very often, which it looks like it hasn't been regularly.


Any suggestions as to what the hell would cause this?

[Russell]

Auto-rx engine cleaner might help. Google for it. Lot of comment on Bobistheoilguy forum. It will clean much of this junk from your engine. However, it will do so with several oil/filter changes and takes at least 5,000 miles. I did two treatments and noticed slightly better power and smoothnes. IMO, much better than a solvent flush

[Bill R.]

on probably 50% of the motors that i tore down... The pics i have posted here are on a customers honda. He admitted that he didn't change the oil for at least the first 50 thousand miles that he had the car. The single most common cause is not frequent enough oil changes running conventional oil. Not having sufficient crankcase ventilation will also cause it and contribute to it.
Cheap quality oil sludges up quickly as well. Back in the 70's oil additives like STP oil treatment were very popular and they would sludge up a motor very quickly.
I could look at a motor and ask the customer if he used stp, I could call it almost every time.
Just clean the top up as well as you can with some rags and spray carb cleaner or brake cleaner using a toothbrush to get into the tight spots. Clean most of it out and then run a good quality high detergent oil for awhile. My car had some buildup in the valve cover when i bought it. I switched to synthetic and slowly over the years its been getting cleaner and cleaner in the top of the head.






Any suggestions as to what the hell would cause this?

[nmwaldron]

Just wanted to say thanks for everyones suggestions..youve gone a long way to settling my mind.


Thanks

Nate

[BillionPa]

you would need a case of AutoRX to clean that crap out. i personally would strip the engine down and clean that crap out with solvents, then put all new gaskets and seals in there, but that may be a hell of a pain.

[Michael999]

Good think you caught it now.
Let us know how you go cleaning it all up!

[nmwaldron]

Good think you caught it now.
Let us know how you go cleaning it all up!

well, i did a quick clean with degreaser for now..i needed the car to be operational again...i put everything back together after installing the gaskets and now when I run the car, the oil light comes on and the display say engine oil pressure..I KNOW that's not good...I'm hoping that some of the crap i scraped off somehow got into the oil and oil filter/ oil pan filter and is blocking the way...I seriously hopeit's nothing more serious. Any suggestions?:(

[BillionPa]

thats pretty damn serious in itself!

[BlueM60]

That sludge is not a good sign. I have seen many m50's with that much sludge still running strong though. I agree with the other posts to try to clean the system best you can and hope you dont need a short block replacement. You will never get it all out, but an engine can still be alive with some. I dont know why youd suddenyl have an oil light on, either the oil pump pickup us clogged or its possible that youve gotten water in the oil pressure switch connector just behind the oil filter housing, I usually clean engines after fixing a leak by low pressure and degreaser and Ive had this same thing happen. Good luck and I hope your m50 is ok.

-Ben