Change it now, run it 2-3000 miles watching the dipstick for oil color. If it blackens up really quickly, say in 10 to 300 miles (or so) change it at 2000. If you use synthetic on the first change, it has been my experience that it acts a bit like engine flush and will dirty up the oil in a few miles. Change at 1000 and you should be good to go. I don’t like Valvoline, either.
Cavell ; please use real , whole words here, the good old fashioned way, not texting shorthand. It’s as odd as having to read a newspaper written in shorthand. …it’s possible but not very pleasing.
There is no OLM on and old '94 van.
The only oil level monitor is your eyes and the dipstick, the good old fashioned way.
No one suggested a flush but it is starting to “tick” after I drive it 5-10 minutes and when I say it wasn’t changed in over a year, that’s just what I can verify (since the guy I got it from had it and never changed it). Think more like 2+ years. I just got it and want to know what’s best.
Have you changed it yet? If not, do it NOW.
Flushes are just as likely to do more harm than good.
I also agree. Don’t flush, just change. If it darkens before the next 500 miles, change it again. Fresh oil is your best friend right now.
Just changed it. The oil looked like roofing tar. (smh) I ran her for about 5-10 minutes and no ticking. I plan on doing a change every 3-4 weeks until she runs clean.
I just read that the detergents in a regular oil change would kick up chunks that could clog the lines; while a flush gets flushed right out debris and all doesn’t stay in long enough to cause blockage.
I hear this is a really good engine and plan to use it for work. So, I gotta take care of her.
Sounds like a reasonable plan. No need to use pricey oil at this point since your are going to drain it in a few weeks anyway.
"I just read that the detergents in a regular oil change would kick up chunks that could clog the lines; while a flush gets flushed right out debris and all doesn’t stay in long enough to cause blockage. "
I really doubt that. I bet that was posted by somebody selling engine flushes.
My brother bought a used E 250 van with that engine. It had over 200,000 miles when he bought it and he finally scrapped it at close to 400,000 miles. If his experience is typical, that 4.6 is one tough engine. Change the oil, watch the dipstick and change the oil again at 1500-2000 miles and you should be fine.
Update: Before the oil change, the check engine light would stay on. I worked out of the van for the 1st time and it went on and off throughout the day (temp and oil pressure gauge was steady tough.). Yesterday, it only came on 2-3x and it seems to be getting better.
I did notice blue tailpipe smoke at crank up but it went right away.
The 300 six is a tough engine and I understand they are pretty hard to destroy. I believe this engine uses timing gears instead of a chain or belt so it is built pretty tough.
As for the oil, your best bet is to flush with clean oil and change it frequently until it runs clean. I have gotten ahold of some old equipment such as mowers and a generator that had been neglected. The generator oil looked like tar but I basically got it for the price of the gas it took for me to pick it up. One of the brushes was broken and this was a $5 part. I changed the oil in the unit several times to clear out all the gunk and the engine seems to have come through this just fine. I now run synthetic in it and everything else.
On the second change, you might add 8-10 ounces of a product called Marvel Mystery Oil. It is basically like diesel fuel and will help clean out gunk inside of the engine. If you have a stuck ring or similar, this might help loosen it up and stop some of the smoking you are seeing. I like to run European spec synthetics in my vehicles as engine cleanliness is a key aspect of these with the long change intervals specified by the European car makers. I have stopped or reduced oil consumption a great degree by running these in older neglected engines in the past. One of the cheapest I see is a Mobil 1 0W40 which can be found at Wal-Mart and similar in 5 quart jugs. Most Euro oil is quite costly although this is the same price as any of the other Mobil 1 synthetic products. I would suggest the store brand oil, provided it meets specs, as the first change, then get it out of there within a 100 miles or so.
Something else you might do after the second change is to take this van out and run it hard. Make sure the RPMs vary quite a bit. This is called an “Italian tuneup” by some and it will often break loose stuck rings and reduce oil consumption. I have done this to a few cars and overall success. One happened to be a neglected Cadillac with the Northstar engine. The oil was nasty and I suspect it hadn’t been driven hard at all. It was just driven in town at slow speeds. My research indicated that this engine is known for sticking rings and naturally burns some oil which is inherent in the design. Either way, I took it out and drove it like it was stolen and the rate of oil burning dropped dramatically. I also had her put a European synthetic in this one.
You might also try and see how it looks under the oil fill cap. They sometimes put baffles on these so oil won’t come out in large amounts if you leave the cap off and you can’t see deep under the valve cover. Look and see how much goo is on this baffle too.
Good luck with this engine. I think you will probably get it going just fine with a little TLC. I would also suggest seeing what problem the check engine light is for. This is probably an OBD1 vehicle so you can do it yourself without a scan tool. There is usually a diagnostic port you can jumper with a fuse or similar. I would also take care of anything else that has been neglected or is ready for work.