I have an '04 5.4L at work that's been poorly maintained. It didn't have an oil change for about 30,000 (as my best guess).
When it got cold, the oil pressure gauge was all over the place, mainly being high. The truck was taken to Ford for repairs. The Ford garage said it was due to the oil not being changed, and that the oil looked like "jelly". They said it was so gel'd that it was cause high pressure issues.
They changed the oil, saying to change it again real soon because all of the jelly couldn't get gotten out from around the bearings.

They said to get rid of the truck ASAP because they think the bearing will go out soon because of all this.

I believe the part about the oil not being changed, the "jelly" condition of the oil, etc...but I'm not sure about the part about the engine going to go bad very soon.

Opinions from the experts PLEASE? If need be, I'll get rid of the vehicle, but is the Ford dealer just pulling one over on me?

Thanks

 

So uhh...... Where exactly do you work?

 

The truck was purchased with this condition. We don't maintain vehicles like that :-)

 

no. I am not talking about the maintenance of the vehicle. Just read the sentence that I quoted you on....

 

flush the motor u can try seafoam.

 

I would run 3-4 quarts of tranny fluid with a quart or 2 of reg oil get a couple of cheap fram filters run it for a few (10-20) minutes change the filter with another fram run it 10-20 minutes dump the oil change it to a motorcraft filter & 5-20 motorcraft oil and I think I'd change the oil again in about 1500 miles.

 

Please don't use any quick flushes. Most are solvent based and will cause damage as they strip the lubrication. That's how they work- strip the lubrication. If the engine can be saved at all, buy 2 bottles of Auto-Rx and follow the instructions on how to use it. The Auto-Rx is a lanolin ester and will slowly clean the junk out of the engine. It also provides seal swell and the seals, if not burned up, should be back to normal. You didn't state if the dealer opened the engine up to inspect it or if they assumed damaged because of the gelled oil. If they assumed damage and didn't open the engine, that might be a mistake. I had a 74 F100 do the exact same thing on oil that was in the engine less than 100 miles. It turned black and gelled. I drove the truck another 147,000 after that. Unless they saw actual damage, don't assume the engine is toast.
http://www.auto-rx.com/
Follow their instructions for application and rinse cycles. Do not use any synthetic oils with it during clean or rinse cycles. Do not pay any attention to the advertising hype. It's a great cleaner and seal conditioner- nothing more.