On a side note, if I start using Mobil 1 for the conditioners it contains will that help reduce the amount of sludge "safely"? My worry is that it breaks up the sludge enough to cause a blockage on the oil screen.

 

Try an AutoRX treatment.

http://www.auto-rx.com/

Follow the Heavy Sludge procedure.

Don't replace ANY parts (except the coil) till this is done.

 

Again, a reman engine is $3K or so, which is probably between 6-9 months of new truck payments. After replacing the engine with a reman'd unit, you'd still get $10K+ for your truck if you sold with the reman'd engine. So with the cost of engine replacement, you'd still get $7K in your pocket as opposed to the dealership giving you only $3K.

 

I would simply clean the valve covers and easy to access top of heads so there'ld be no chances of drainback probs .... and stick with 3000 mile changes using good oil and MC filters. My BIL has a '96 Mercury Sable he drives in traffic in Atlanta commutes, two transmissions but the engine is all original and nearing 400,000 miles and he was told it needed replacement years ago. Ugly "Dr Suese and Who-Ville" looking car but can't argue with the service it's given him.

 

man thats pretty bad, but i would drive it till it exploded. might as well, then just get a engine from a junkyard for cheap to replace it with!!

can you use a programmer with a custom tune to get rid of the VCT so you wont throw a code?

 

Wow thats crazy sludge! Try some Pennzoil Ultra!

 

Do you short trip alot or possibly have a stuck open thermostat? I pulled the front cover and both valve covers to replace phasers, guides and tensioners at 114k. My engine was amazingly clean very little varnish and no sludge. I would really consider some sort of treatment maybe the autorx or kreen or even taking it on some long trips to get it up to temp for a long period of time and doing 1000 mile changes on the cheapest oil you can find that meets the SN or SM specifications.

 

Wow that engine never had oil changed in a long time and has sludge and tons of burnt oil from lack of lubrication. That could have been prevented with general maintainece. It's sad that you'd do that to a motor that would easily last 150-200k.

I would do as the previous post stated. I guarantee that engine knocks and/or has horrible head noise. Even after the treatment the bearings are still trashed and probably needs a valve job.

I can't believe people skip $40-$60 oil changes on a nice truck and are then forced to put in a $4000 motor plus labor.

 

I am going to attempt the AUTORX treatment as suggested above to see if I can make a dent. Thanks for all of the suggestions and keep your fingers crossed for me to see good results.



The oil was changed religiously with Ford every 3k miles with Motorcraft oil and filter since I have owned the vehicle. I have always changed the oil myself with previous vehicles but how could I deny a 24.99 change with the dealership right down the road? I even had it on the order to replace the oil even though I had only 2k on it from the most recent change when I put it in the shop.

I am sure you are just trying to set an example on what others should NOT do even though it is pretty obvious what the long term effects would be for lack of maintenance.

Thanks again for everyone's input!

 

I'm not setting an example. I'm saying that motor did NOT have oil changes every 3,000 miles or you used bulk oil out of the neighbors engine after they did their oil change. I have taken apart and replaced many engines that ran with no oil or lack of oil changes and they all do the same thing. The little oil in the motor burns and turns black exactly like the inside of your valve cover and on top of the head and on the cams. I've seen the inside over motors with 150-200K with regular oil changes and they are still vastly cleaner then yours.

There is just no way that engine has seen new oil in the last 10,000 miles. I can guarantee if you pull the drain plug on that engine maybe a half quart to a quart of oil will actually come out. That engine had the oil changed every 10-15k I would guess and the VCT is having an issue because you lack the oil that it needs to work.

Ive been a master certified ASE Mechanic for quite a few years now and I can tell you either 1) They lied to you about actually doing the oil changes that you had done there and they didnt do them. 2) thats not your engine that it came off of if you had it serviced every 3000 miles, or 3) you actually had it serviced between 10-20000 miles if that. Since youve owned it.

 

The dealership is preying on you with the $3k trade in value and high price for the engine. If they received that truck for $3k, they would probably pull the motor apart and scrap what sludge they could off and shop vac it out. Then put it on the lot for a good price to sell it quick. Probably 10-12k profit on that even with paying the technician. Or take it to the dealer auction and lose a few thousand, but not have to worry about a customer coming in complaining they were sold a truck with issues.

 

My Jeep XJ's 4.0L engine with 175,000 miles has an interior clean enough to eat off of. Seriously. I removed the valve cover to replace the gasket, and the valvetrain looks like it did when brand new. Zero sludge on the inside of the valve cover as well. Everything looks like you took brand new parts and poured clean oil on them. The exterior of the engine is another story though.

I figure that a factory-installed engine is an asset, not a liability, when it comes to value. I wasn't scared off when looking at my FX4. It had 79K on the odometer when I bought it, and had a new engine installed by Ford at 49K (which means it had 30K on it when I bought it.) The engine replacement was covered by Ford for the previous owner to the tune of $8,000.

 

The inside of the engine may be clean, but that damn 4.0L is terrible about timing sensors/crank position rendering the thing inoperable, lol.

 

Yea those 4.0s leak so bad an oil change is just replacing the filter and add oil. No need to drain as it leaked all out

 

And yes the crank sensors on the back of the engine mounted on the trans that's a pain the ***** that always fails.