Wtf is in my oil pick up tube

Ouchh

 

Dude, you got big problems there. Whatever you do DON'T use a strong cleaner like SeaFoam in it. It'll break all that sludge loose too fast and "goodbye engine". Yes, that's sludge. No doubt about it unless it's metal covered in sludge. The red tinge is varnish which, under normal circumstances, unless it's "really" bad doesn't hurt anything. You have some work to do. Pull the pan and the valve cover. Uh, yeah, you already did. I'd pull the front cover off the timing chain as well if it was me and clean that out also. Clean all that crap out of there. Put on a new oil pump. God knows what that crap did to the oil pump. I'd clean out the pick-up tube while the pan is off and get that screen clean as well. Now, if it was me? I'd button it all back up and fill the engine right to the top with 6 gallons or so of Marvel Mystery oil and let it sit a couple of days. Yep, all the way up until you see it in the filler hole. Then drain it. Pull the plugs and turn it over so the Marvel gets squirted out of the cylinders before you even attempt to start it. Unless you want to crack a piston. Put in new plugs. You could use automatic transmission fluid instead of of Marvel if you want. You could even just fill it up just like a normal oil change and run it for 5 minutes, no longer with automatic transmission fluid. That's what they did back in the old days and it worked on engines like yours. I just think filling it to the brim and letting it sit for a couple of days might work better. Once it's drained and buttoned up. Fill it up with regular Dino something like Mobil 5000 or something else cheap but a name brand. There will be smoke! Lot's of it. It's not going to be in there long. Add a quart of Rislone in place of a quart of oil.. Rislone has only been around for about 5,000,000 years. I've used Rislone for 40+ years on every used car I've ever owned. It's great stuff because it cleans "slowly" which is what you want.

If you put some strong cleaner in there like SeaFoam it will knock all that crap loose all at once and you may very well end up with a clogged oil gallery or something and then your engine is toast. Maybe not right away but down the road. Rislone was recommended to me by a guy that owned his own shop way back in the late 70's and I've used it ever since. On used cars if I didn't know the maintenance history. Which was every car I woned until I bought my Taco from my dad and knew it had the oil and filter changed every 3000 miles with Penzoil Yellow Bottle. Times have changed a lot but back then that mechanic told me that was the "only" oil additive he would ever put in his engines "if" he even wanted to use one. He also worked for Ed Pink building race hemi's before he got his own shop so take it for what it's worth this many decades later. Rislone has a viscosity of about 20 weight so it's not going to thin or thicken you're oil. It still works just like Marvel Mystery oil and that has been around as long as Rislone.

With the miles you're racking up drain it after 500 miles or even 250 miles the first go around.. Drain and repeat with one quart of Rislone and then try another 500. Use cheap dino but A BRAND Name! Penzoil Yellow Bottle dino is about the best dino out there and it's "very" high in detergents. Then try 1000 miles and then go 2500 miles. Just watch the oil and wait for it to drain cleaner or at least look cleaner on the dipistick to judge how far you want to take it the next time. You can run Rislone as long as you would run any oil between changes. Change the filter every time you change the oil. You could just use the Rislone once or maybe twice and then just go with the Penzoil. I'm not pushing Penzoil. I use Amsoil but Penzoil YB is about as good as it gets for dino and for what your doing synthetic is a waste of money.

If that engine has been run cold and had repairs done on it before you bought it there's the answer to what caused this problem if you've changed your oil and filter regularly. You simply can't run these newer engines without a thermostat especially if you live in a cold climate. It screws everything up. I'd make sure you change the PCV valve as well. It's probably clogged as well. I'll almost guarantee it is which just adds to your problem. Yeah, you'll be without your Taco for a few days. You could also go over to "Bob is the Oil Guy" and ask for their opinions. There will be many besides mine and they can all work just as well. Hell, you could just clean all the gunk out as best you can and just start doing very short OCI's and oil filter changes with Penzoil or Mobil 5000 or, better yet, Mobil high mileage increasing the mileage between changes gradually as the oil becomes cleaner. It will take much longer which might not be a bad thing for the reasons I stated above. Me? I'd use the Rislone even if I skipped the "fill it to the brim" with Marvel. Good luck!

 

I will also add that 5-20 isn't what you should be running. If I am not mistaken 5-30 is what is recommended for the 3RZ of your vintage. 10-30 in hot climates. I have a 2004 which recommends 5-30 and I run 10-30. I also live where it gets down into the single digits and teens a lot during the winter. No problems here and I just had an oil sample analyzed which proves 10-30 is fine even in pretty cold temps. I "am" using a full synthetic though. Amsoil 10-30 Signature. Huge difference in frigid temps between dino and a full synthetic. No, I am NOT an Amsoil dealer or salesman. I just know good stuff when I use it. I was sold on Amsoil almost 20 years ago. I just didn't want to spend the dough on it until now although the fact of the matter is that Amsoil Signature when you buy it right costs the same as Mobil 1 extended. I used Mobil 1 for 15 years before I switched.

 

If you're going to use Fram. Buy the top of the line. I used Fram for years before I found out about the horror stories but I always bought the ToughGaurd or whatever their highest quality filter was. I use Mobil 1 Filters now since I bought this Taco. Until I find a filter that is better. I also run 7500 mile intervals between OIC's. Only because of the usage of my vehicle and the oil I use.

 

It's called neglect from the previous owner and not just a little. A LOT! Although the OP should have replaced that thermostat ASAP once he bought it. That is the issue here more than anything else. You can't run a computer controlled vehicle without a thermostat. I'm no mechanic but I do know that. Especially in cold weather. My 2004 3RZ runs great but when it gets "really" cold the temp gets down around 170 degrees. I saw 166 degrees the other day when it was -3 outside at idle. Even at 80 mph on the interstate it doesn't get past 175 degrees. IMHO that's too cold for these newer, smogged vehicles. I have a grill guard that should be here soon. I should have gotten it last winter. I'd like to see 180+ on my scan gauge even if it's 0 degrees outside but not over 190 degrees. It idles rough when it's running cooler as well while in the summertime it idles like a new vehicle with 154,000+ miles on it.

 

Nice. Very nice. I hope mine looks that good in the next millennium when I actually have a reason to pull my pan. Which I hope I never have to do. Just out of curiosity, what were you doing under there that you needed/wanted to pull your pan?

 

Oh, there's no doubt that it's been neglected. But what I meant was....there appear to be other factors contributing to the sludge besides sketchy OCs. The blown head gasket could have played a part with coolant in the oil and a missing thermostat allowing for a cold running engine. All 3 of these things led to the perfect storm for sludge.....as we saw by the pictures

 

If you have the pan out of it still, try to clean as much out as possible before putting it back together. I'd use brake cleaner, it will break all that junk down fast and clean everything up. It's what all my mechanic buddies do at the ford dealership when they do any engine work. Makes for a much cleaner job.

 

Thanks, man. I was building a turbo set up for it over the summer so I needed to drop the pan to install the oil return line from the turbo.

 

I suspect you're right. A few things were wrong for it to get that sludged up.

 

I sprayed some carb cleaner and wipe everything i can with towel n gas,put mobile1 drive it for 200 miles and check the dip stick and oil still crystal clean i think no more sludge for me

 

That is good news! Great job Westly7! You might change the oil a early this time, like 2000-3000 miles, or at least change the filter early to get rid of any additional gunk that the filter caught while running the fresh synthetic oil.

Does the engine have any noises, hot or cold? Or is everything just fine after correcting the sludge fest?

 

Yes runs perfect,idles great no more oil light blinking

 

That's good news! I know that what I recommended was overkill but I didn't actually see the engine so I just assumed the worst case scenario.

 

My two cents on an engine with sludge...I found years ago that stuck lifters could be cleared with a quart of diesel fuel in the oil and left to idle, then fresh oil and filter. But also, 20 years ago, I put a used motor into a land cruiser, FJ60 style and it was reasonably clean. Did a number of changes with Phillip 66 15W-40 CC/CD, SG oil, and I was changing oil ONLY by color...if the oil started looking dirty, I would change it, and by the time I had to adjust the valves at again, the inside of the valve cover and the rocker shaft was beautifully clean.

It is one thing to clog a very small passage, like the anti-bleed down on a lifter, it is another to clog a very coarse screen line an oil pickup tube.

If I saw that much sludge on a oil pickup, the motor would be coming out for rebuild...there are some real issues there.

Howard

 

25 years a go Pennzoil used to have some sort of bee's wax in the formula. I rebuilt a motor that used nothing but Pennzoil and it looked like that. I have never used Pennzoil again.

 

They changed their formula a long, long time ago. Pennzoil is one of the best oils on the market now. As I said in another post. It's always been a very good oil but back when it had the paraffin wax in it you had to change it every 2000 miles or it would start sludging. That was way back in the 70's though. I don't know exactly when they changed their formula.

 

If anyone is still reading this you can drain 1L of oil and replace with 1L of Dexron ATF and run the vehicle for a day before you do your oil change, repeat every oil change until clean. Make sure to do your oil changes every 3000 miles/5000 km. If your engine is badly sludged/carboned up be careful using this method as large amounts of carbon can break off and plug oil galleries which would starve bearings, etc..

Alternatively 15w40 detergent oil can also help clean things up, but do your research.