I would stay away from sludge removing additives, and just go with a high detergency engine oil. There are a couple that advertise that they will remove sludge, line Penzzoil Platinum. Its fairly inexpensive if bought in the 5 gallon jugs from Walmart, CostCo and similar stores.
I would recommend the first change at 1k miles, another at 2k miles, and then continue on at the normal oil change interval of the car.
Also, if you are going to do long oil change intervals, always use a premium Synthetic engine oil. They actually can live that long.
Bladecutter; premium synthetic oils are sold for the purpose of having better protection in EXTREME situations; heavy bearing loads and extreme operating temperatures ( high and low). They are not meant to increase the oil change interval, since the additive package is not substantially different from that in standard mineral oils.
Just because they are expensive, they will not necessarily last longer under normal conditions. I use premium synthetic in my wife’s car and change oil at 3000-4000 miles since her driving is mostly city. I would not dream of going to “long” oil change intervals.
To recommend to OP that he can go 10,000+ miles on a premium synthetic is very misleading. However, if you drive non-stop from LA to New York and back all year, yes, you can go 10,000 miles before changing oil.
If you want to drive 20K miles before an oil change without sludge and damaging your engine, use Mobil 1 Synthetic - the best synthetic lubricant on the market. It must be the best because so many other oil com[panies are trying to imitate it, but, all they do is make exagerrated claims which fall short in real life. Check out the ExxonMobil website.
Mobil, Popular Mechanics, and others, like me, would disagree with you on that. If sludge did the damage, then using a lubricant that doesn’t make sludge, i.e., Mobil 1, is the solution.
Although I am an Exxon-Mobil shareholder, and I believe that they make very good lubricants, I don’t recommend that anyone go that long between oil changes. The text below is copied from Exxon-Mobil’s website:
[b]"Question:
Recommended Oil Change Intervals for Mobil Motor Oils
You state that your oils are for 5,000, 7,500, 15,000 miles, but what are the months before a change is due?
– Billie Baskett, Robinson, TX
Answer:
We recommend a maximum of six months between oil changes for Mobil Clean 5000, Mobil Clean High Mileage and Mobil Clean 7500. On Mobil 1 Extended Performance, we recommend a maximum of one year between oil changes."[/b]
Nowhere do I see a statement about the corporation recommending 20k oil change intervals.
By implication, they seem to indicate that a 15k/1 yr interval is safe, but there is no reference to a 20k drain interval that I can find.
Can you direct us to that information on the Exxon-Mobil site?
An absolutely “worse case scenario,” was an early 50s Chevrolet pick-up inherited by a customer. It had an add-on by-pass oil filter that had not been changed in years and had been run with non-detergent oil since new. The filter was pried from its housing and a screw driver was needed to coax lumps of sludge through the drain hole. With a new filter and 30HD oil the truck left and continues to run after many years with semi-annual service, I don’t recall it ever having over 1,000 miles. The owner says he put it “out to pasture.” I was amazed it made it out of sight that first visit.
In his book that appeared in the early 1960’s, the late Tom McCahill didn’t have much use for detergent oil. “I prefer detergent in my bathtub, not in my crankcase”, he wrote. He also thought that this sludge buildup in the crankcase from the partiles settling out from non-detergent oil was perfectly normal. “I would rather have the sludge build up in the crankcase like the crust on an old pipe rather than this stuff being whipped through my engine bearings as happens with detergent oil”, he added.
Many cars through the 1950’s didn’t come with a standard equipment oil filter and the particles did just settle out in the crankcase with non-detergent oil rather than being held in suspension as they are with detergent oils.
Lets get serious here…Back in the days of non-detergent oil, “Sludge” was a NORMAL occupant of crankcases…
Apples to Oranges.
How many of those engines went 100k miles without a rebuild??? Today it’s not uncommon to have engines last 300k miles with no problems what-so-ever. I’d like to see and engine that’s sludged up at 20k miles last 150k miles…let alone 300k miles.
The other problem with todays engines is the temperature at which they operate. With unleaded gas…engines are running well over 100 degrees hotter then they were back when cars used leaded gas.
One of the problems that I remember with the 1940’s and 1950’s Chevrolet 6 cylinder engines is that the passages to the rocker arm shaft would plug up with sludge and no oil would get to the rocker arms. There were bypass oil line kits available to bypass the passages in the block and get the oil directly to the rocker arm shaft, and it was quite common to see these kits on these Chevrolet engines.
We had a 1951 Chevrolet 1/2 ton with the famous corner windows for farm use. It was bought used, and had been owned by house builder as his personal transportation on the job. My father put me in charge of maintaining it and I changed oil and filter religiously every 1000 miles. The engine outlasted the rest of the truck which rusted away badly and my dad scrapped it and bought a 1959 model.
Run it,may not be as bad as some think-What were you thinking?Boss or Bossete had a new Chevy pickup(Christmas present from company owner to wife I believe.I popped the hood at 19k and the only thing I could find on dipstick was varnish after things were put right it ran well for a long time,till they got rid of it.The boss ladies 4100 Cadillac ran better with the proper amount of oil in it.These people were terrible about maintenence and 5K+ oil changes were the rule not the exception. These folks used Pennzoil,the only saving grace was high mileage trips.Anyway the company Prez(now retired }went to change the oil in his S-10 and it was so sludged up,it wouldnt run out of the drain hole except with some serious coaxing-Kevin
Well, I’ve learned a lot from you guys(except what OP means - oil punisher?). Based on some of the posts I started looking around to see if I could find comparisons of the cleaning ability of Pennzoil Platinum vs Mobil 1. I found a whole 30 page forum about cleaning from different oils and whether AutoRX or Marvel Mystery Oil is better (maybe some of you also post on this forum?):
So now I’m thinking of doing 2000 mile OCIs with Pennzoil platinum and still unsure about the Autorx - what do you guys think?
OP is YOU, the Original Poster. Glad to hear that you understand the CLEANING function of a motor oil as well as its primary lubricating role.
For frequent oil changes in a moderate climate for a non-turbo engine, almost any oil will do. In your case, however, frequent oil and filter changes for the next few years with a good detergent oil is a must.
Because the sludge has created extra wear as well as “false seals”, you my find you car consuming some oil once you have it degunked! That’s better than writing off the unit.
Good luck, and please post back to us with your progress.
Believe I would use something a little cheaper for awhile.then after I was satisfied,I would switch to Pennzoil Platinum and go 3K,have used Pennzoil Platinum and really liked it-Kevin
I respect a man who admits his errors and accepts responsibility.
For those learning, an addition to lubing and cleaning the oil also helps remove heat from the cylinders.
I liked Doc’s auggestion. Once abused, and engine cannot be unabused. But you’ve done all the prudent remediation possible and should now accept the situation as-is and do the best maintenance you can for the future. Detergent oil is actually a pretty good idea IMHO.
I suspect the rough sound on startup is due to damage suffered from poor lubrication. Since it goes away as the engine starts I’d feel comfortable assuming that whatever surfaces are not holding a barrier when stopped, they’re probably immediately filling with oil and protecting themselves once the pump pressurizes the system. My gut says you have scored metal in there somewhere.