has anyone had a super sludged up 460? maybe from old oil or lack of maintenence? need some ideas on making sure mine is clean. i have the valve covers and the pan off. someone must have used quaker-cake oil in it.

 

More than likely it was a lack of maintenance. Someone probably ran a bunch of short hops and wasn't real good about keeping the oil changed, or let it sit and idle for long periods of time.

You can use one of the oil treatments out there, but be careful. If you have a lot of buildup, a fast de-sludging can cause debris to clog the screen, pump, or filter and starve the engine for oil (which, as we all know, is not good). You want something that will slowly dissolve the offending deposits over time, allowing you to change the filter every couple hundred miles to keep everything clean.

One of the best things I've found for de-sludging and older engine is to run RedLine oil. It's a Group V synthetic (ester-based) and it has solvent properties that dino-based and group IV synthetic oils don't have. At $8 a quart it ain't cheap, but it works.

 

I have not read of any trouble with this engine sludging. I run synthetic in mine so I don't know what sludge is ;^)

You don't say alot about what you got. Why are the covers and pan off? Is it an old tired engine or a new rebuild or...?

In general, regular oil and filter changes are the textbook answer to minimizing sludging. Synthetic goes the extra mile for harsh conditions but any good name brand dino now a days is excellent stuff too.

Running the appropriate thermostat(usually 180-190) will help keep sludge down. Drive it for at least 20 minutes of freeway driving once a week. You need to heat up the engine enough to "burn" off the water that gathers in engines driven short miles. Don't put on the biggest oil cooler you can find unless you have a real reason to get rid of excess engine heat. You don't want to run too cool, 160 is bad news for modern engines, and it gets mighty cold in the cab in the winter too. Too many "Ricky Racers" think the colder an engine the better, not true for our trucks for everyday use. I used to be a "Ricky Racer" so I speak from experience ;^)

Drive the truck regularly, what I mean is if you only put on 3,000 miles a year, drive it at least once a month and get it warmed up good. Also change oil more often if you drive short miles.

If your engine is already sludged up and you want ideas what to do, then it all depends on how bad it is sludged. If it is really bad, like handfulls of goop in the heads and pan, then probably at least a tear down and hot tanking is a good idea. If it is just a little deposit, you can scoop up all the sludge you can find and then use a good detergent(most of them are) oil and drive around for a few hundred or thousands of miles, then use one of those engine oil cleaners and then another good oil change. You might want to change more frequently the first few thousand to help clean things out. Some people use kerosene or ATF for the cleaner and let the engine idle. Not sure how good this is for the bearings but an idea that seems to work for those who try it.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

If you're talking drag racing, running a colder thermostat usually is the correct thing to do, simply because the RPMs are so high and the bearings (and the oil) gets much hotter towards redline than they do putting around town.

In "reasonably built" race cars a 160 degree thermostat isn't going to hold the temps down to 160 anyway, you're going to go way over that so 160 or 180 it doesn't matter very much. Again - racing philosophy only.

Street use is different, as you have to compensate for idle, traffic, highway, heavy towing, etc, and Jim is correct in that a 180-190 degree thermostat is a better choice for the reasons he stated.

Now, removing sludge - if the engine is sludged up already, your best bet is to take off the oil pan, inspect, clean the oil screen (or just change it, it's an inexpensive part) and remove all the sludge the old fashioned way - elbow grease. Dump in some acetone and scrub with a wire brush, or try to scrub it dry with a wire brush in a cordless or handdrill, don't overspeed because you don't want to get pelted with nasty sludge - its disgusting and rather toxic. Clean thoroughly, hose down with water, sand or wire wheel the outside and repaint if you choose to.

 

thanks for the advice, im putting in new rods and mains (bearings) while i got the pan off and i just scrubed and vacuumed the best i could last night. i think it will be alright. it seems the guy that owned it before didnt maintain it. poor 460, their tuff though.