Why you should change your oil every 5k

When I tried to clean the sludge, they were stuck on there pretty good. Even brake cleaner was having a tough time getting the sludge out from underneath the valve cover that I had to use a brush as well so I doubt just atf alone would do the trick.

 

Engine flush with diesel fuel.

 

If I had to guess somebody went 30K on an oil change. Probably someone who had no idea about regular maintenance and was completely oblivious to even look into it. It's honestly pretty impressive that these engines can still run after that kind of abuse.

 

Just because it runs doesn't mean damage has not been done. Oil starvation and plugged oil galleys does damage. I bet the oil pump is toast as well.

 

'95 Isuzu Rodeo 3.2 cyl head - 300,000 miles - OCI - 3K for about first 200K; then 4K-5K OCI for the last 100K. Conventional oil 5W-30 - mostly Castrol for the first 200K; then whatever, including cheapo Walmart SuperTech. Oil filters...dealer for the first 150K; then a mixed bag for the last 150K and yes...the dreaded Fram used a number of times in the last 100K.

I could be wrong, but my money is on a really outrageous OCI - maybe way worse than any OCI interval suggested so far.

 

Fully synthetic and ever 5k for me. It's my truck, I'll run what oil I want and change it when I want as well.

 

Yeah. Uh... I really am the 3k type of guy but every once in a while when life becomes life I end up going to 5-6 at the MOST and I feel super guilty. I have seen sludge happen firsthand on some engines, and I don't want that to happen to mine. You end up dealing with bullshit carbon build up as well.

 

I have done the seafoam with a cheap slightly lighter weight oil and then changed back to good stuff after 200 or so miles. It worked pretty well. It was sludged up good from sitting and having a high idle problem. It got most of the junk out and I took the extra step to drop the oil pan and cleaned it out before adding the new oil in.

 

Maybe original oil. I wonder if she ever had the air rotated in her tires.

 

Thank you. Lots of good information in that thread.

LOL. She did tell me she only used premium gas, but I guess forgot about the oil?

 

One of my first jobs in highschool was in a jiffy lube. One day a guy brought in a Nisan frontier for an oil change. When we pulled the oil plug nothing poured out. We had to put oil in and run the engine so a black paste would roll out. The irony in the story is that the truck had a $2k paint job. People in 1999 2k was a lot of money. I think the owner of the OP's truck was married to this guy. Lol

 

If you use an additive, make sure you have a few oil filters on hand, and change them often...

 

I had this happen to my Dodge Ram 4.7 I changed the oil every 3 to 5k miles for the 150 I owned it. It sludged up bad. I flushed it several times. Finally it stopped getting any oil pressure, dropped the pan and the bottom of the pan had 4" of sludge in it and clogged the pick up screen and tube up. Replaced those, and put fresh oil in it and she had oil pressure and ran just fine. I put another 3k on it and traded it in.

Reading that was a common problem with those engines for some odd reason.

 

Toyota is not exempt. Late 90's Camry 4's had this issue, many folks lost engines. Only solution was very requiring frequent changes, as like in 2k. Thought we were back in the 60's with non detergent oil. Engine design flaw.

Speaking of the 60's Pontiac OHC 6's of the 60's had a design flaw as well, where the oil feed to the lifter galley would sludge and the HLAs go flat from lack of oil and get all noisy.

 

I've also had success with adding a quart of atf and running it for a few hundred miles and changing it out. Also that Isuzu engine looks good! Nice job. I would think brake cleaner and a brush to clean those valve covers up.

 

I did that to the inside of the valve cover before reassembly and did as much as I could inside the cyl. head area with brake cleaner and rag. On that engine, the whole top has to come off to get the passenger side valve cover off. Great design.

 

Not changing engine oil is like wishing for engine repairs. The way I see it: Would you rather pay a little money at a time for engine coverage or a big lump sum to rebuild an engine? I change mine every 3-4k to be on the safe side.

 

Same Here. I also will take it into a mechanic every 3rd oil change or so. Just because they can put it on a lift and inspect all the hoses, brake, power steering etc which is included in the 75 dollar oil change. The faster you find an issue the cheaper it usually is to fix.

 

3K, you may as well just take your money and flush it down the toilet.

 

75 dollar oil change plus some bs inspection, bwah! You can do all that inspection crap yourself in less then 5 minutes.