Cleaning engine oil sludge buildup?

Any recommendations for cleaning an engine still in the car?

Truck runs fine, and I have no intention of opening the motor. But apparently the previous owner didn’t keep up with the maintenance, and there is a fair amount of oil buildup. 

Is this a job for Seafoam?

It’s a 3.5L Ecoboost

Not that I've had occasion to try it, but more than once I've heard of filling the crankcase with diesel or kerosene, allow to sit, drain, and follow with a flush of light oil or ATF after running up to temperature at idle. Adding a quart or two of ATF or MMO in place of oil is a more common, less radical, and probably less effective approach.

I assume you mean cleaning the inside of the engine?

What I would do first is to try to flush it out using decent quality cheap-ish high-detergent oil and do 2-3 oil changes with new quality filters in quick succession. That's probably going to be the safest way of flushing out sludge.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

Yes. I meant inside. 

I am hesitant to use potions and goops. I think I will try your detergent idea first. 

Use a cheap synthetic (like wally world or amazon) and change the oil EARLY for a few cycles. Like 1500 to 2000 miles. That will clean most of it cheaply without putting crap into your engine. 

A liter of atf will do a pretty good job.  Add a liter, drive it for a week, drain, repeat as required. The atf is roughly the same viscosity as 0W20, so no real fear of driving with it in the sump.  More radical would be to drain and fill with diesel fuel, and run gently for a little while.  Too radical for me...

The only problem you might run into, with any of these flushing programs is if there is so much goo in there if comes off and restricts the oil pump intake.

Streetwiseguy said:

 

The only problem you might run into, with any of these flushing programs is if there is so much goo in there if comes off and restricts the oil pump intake.

 

Sage advice  I did Seafoam and a MMO soak to a slightly oil burning CRX once.  Cleaned it up, drained the oil(chunky!!) put in new oil. Drove to work..  oil light came on due to a clogged pickup...  Engine really burnt oil after that.

bobzilla said:

Use a cheap synthetic (like wally world or amazon) and change the oil EARLY for a few cycles. Like 1500 to 2000 miles. That will clean most of it cheaply without putting crap into your engine. 

This is also what I'd do, I'm skeptical of the other "solutions." Sure maybe on some old beater you can just swap in a junkyard motor, give it a try.

Not on something like a newer EcoBoost. 

In reply to z31maniac :

not only that, but you have to be careful of the Cam timing actuators and screens as well. there are a lot of smaller passages that can clog causing serious issues. Do it slowly or you can cause more damage. 

I’m not sure if this would apply to the ecoboost motors but I know in the MS3 world the wrong kind of oil would break down in the turbo and lose its oily properties quickly. Many guys ran Rotella diesel oil or Pennzoil Platinum. Running a quality oil that can stand up to the demand from the turbos will help keep everything happy inside for the long run. 

I’m hoping our local Ford Powertrain experts can confirm/deny this as an issue. 

When opening motors we use in the lemons cars, which are all from the junkyard, they get so much cleaner with time as we change the oil every race (800-1000 miles) with rotella T6 and a good filter.   A similar approach would probably work well in your truck and avoid breaking big sludge loose. 

Yup, a heavy duty diesel oil like Rotella has more detergents than regular oil and on top of it is designed to hold contaminants in suspension (so they can be filtered or drained) better than regular oil.  I would do Rotella, make sure the engine is getting up to temp and staying there, and short oil change intervals for a while.

spandak said:

I’m not sure if this would apply to the ecoboost motors but I know in the MS3 world the wrong kind of oil would break down in the turbo and lose its oily properties quickly. Many guys ran Rotella diesel oil or Pennzoil Platinum. Running a quality oil that can stand up to the demand from the turbos will help keep everything happy inside for the long run. 

I’m hoping our local Ford Powertrain experts can confirm/deny this as an issue. 

It's happening in the ecoboosts too. Not as bad as the 5.4 but it is happening. (not a ford powertrain expert, just an oil guy who's seen a few)

bobzilla said:

Use a cheap synthetic (like wally world or amazon) and change the oil EARLY for a few cycles. Like 1500 to 2000 miles. That will clean most of it cheaply without putting crap into your engine. 

I was actually thinking much shorter intervals if there is a reasonable amount of sludge. Something like using Rotella T6 with a fresh filter and only run it for maybe 200-300 miles for the first change, then switch to shorter intervals in the 500-1000 mile range. Really depends on how sludged up it is and how quickly the detergents are making an impact.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

I've used the 2k and changed the filter at 1000. I'm sure the same could be done at shorter intervals as well. Detergent packages in the newer DEO's aren't nearly as good as they used to be sadly. They don't survive well in central america on crap fuel and conditions. 

I’d be using Rotella or Delo motor with frequent changes for several changes.  

Fueled by Caffeine said:

Streetwiseguy said:

 

The only problem you might run into, with any of these flushing programs is if there is so much goo in there if comes off and restricts the oil pump intake.

 

Sage advice  I did Seafoam and a MMO soak to a slightly oil burning CRX once.  Cleaned it up, drained the oil(chunky!!) put in new oil. Drove to work..  oil light came on due to a clogged pickup...  Engine really burnt oil after that.

I can 3rd this advice. When I bought my turbo coupe donor from the junkyard I did the seafoam and atf flush. Instead of a new timing belt and valve cover gasket I got to add a new oil pump and thorough cleaning of the pickup when idle pressure suddenly dropped too 5 psi from the healthy 35 it had. Start gentle 

Filling the pan with three cups of sand will turn your oil into a gentle sandblasting inside the engine.  Kinda like putting a cup of sugar in your gas tank makes your exhaust smell like cotton candy.    Not.

If you do the diesel/kerosene route, DON'T drive it.  Idle it for 20 minutes.  The thin oil won't be able to keep film strength with pistons pushing hard like during driving or revving.

I've done diesel many times and never had any problems, but my engines may have not been as crusty as yours.  It is my opinion that if you use a cleaner and end up clogging the pickup, it is dirty enough to warrant pulling the pan and valve covers anyway.

ATF won't hurt, but it also won't help.  ATF has way fewer detergents than engine oil.  I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again.  People pull apart a transmission and see how clean things are and assume it's because ATF is so full of detergents.  Transmissions are clean because they don't have engine blowby.  Any help that ATF would give you in an engine is because it is thinner and might dissolve some junk, not because of detergents.

I do like the idea of a synthetic with frequent changes, but that gets expensive.

In reply to Curtis :

Wally World Syntethic is about the best bang for the buck.  Less than $20 for 5 quarts

It's a little cheaper than amazon basics

Fueled by Caffeine said:

In reply to Curtis :

Wally World Syntethic is about the best bang for the buck.  Less than $20 for 5 quarts

It's a little cheaper than amazon basics

yep. $17 and change for a 5qt jug. I use it in all my stuff. 

... and mixes well with vodka?

Curtis said:

... and mixes well with vodka?

Don't drink Vodka, gives me a headache. But it does alright with tequila and rum. YMMV

Once in a while Autozone has STP branded semi-synthetic five-quart jugs for really cheap prices.  I don't know the makeup of the product so I can't speak to how well it would perform as far as cleaning away sludge, but it seems like a good candidate for a frequent change regiment just to flush the system more often.

A five-gallon bucket of Delo 400 also seems like a decent way to save money for something like this.

I’ve just used bg epr in a couple of our pickups lately ... haven’t had any problems yet 

Seafoam is the stuff you run through the intake while the car is running makes a ton of smoke, right?  Isn't that for cleaning carbon deposits in the combustion chamber, rather than oil sludge in the crank case?

I guess you could drain the oil and fill it up with brake cleaner, but... :)