BunnyGirl

I have a question. My mom's MPV was having problems starting (wouldn't turn over, et cetera) so we replaced the battery which coincidentally was dead. It still wouldn't start. Finally got it started after my dad pumped the gas pedal several times and then it popped. Then the car started up. My mom had noticed a couple days before when she drove it (before the weekend) that it sounded like it was straining when she was driving and then it would rev way up a few times for no reason (never having done this before ever). We thought it probably just got bad gas which caused the problem, like water getting in it or something. Well, she took it in for the 60,000 mile servicing and when they were checking it they said the engine was full of sludge despite changing the oil regularly.

Here's where my question comes in. She uses Mobil 1 and changes the oil somewhere between 5000-7500 miles depending on the time she has, finances, et cetera. Well, the last time she got her oil changed the girl in the shop put regular oil in. She made her take it back and drain it out. Well, she was back a little while later and said she did it and the case of Mobil 1 was no longer in the van. Well, it has been around 5500 miles since the last oil change and now the van had all these problems and we were told there is severe oil sludge in the engine, like thick mud. If the regular oil was not drained out and replaced with synethetic, would this cause this problem?

crossbow

If you extend an oil change interval too long on standard dino based oils...then yes sludge can form.

7500 miles on .50 cent oil would definitely be pushing it.

BunnyGirl

We always use Mobil 1 synthetic oil, ALWAYS. Except we are not sure the girl in the shop actually put back in the Mobil 1 like we requested. That is where the problem was and we were wondering if that was what did it.

crossbow

Well have you gotten a sample of the oil from the pan?

You would be able to do a UOA and determine what oil was put in the engine.

http://www.blackstone-labs.com

Sludge can also be caused by other things though...like coolant leaking into the oil, overheating, etc etc.

guy321

You have to SEVERLY abuse a car to get it to be all sludgy.. like not change the oil in years.. 7500 on even oils manufactured 20 years ago will not do that.. There may be other issues with the engine running hot or something.

crossbow

guy321,

Actually....

Audi and VW just had to resolve lawsuits in their 1.8T models due to not requiring dealers use synthetic in their vehicles. The dino oil sludged up and destroyed the engines.

BMW's also had similar issues.

BunnyGirl

We haven't gotten a sample of it. I suppose we could. We just were told by the dealer over the phone today, since they are working on it, how severely sludged up it is. And of course my stepdad insists on not letting them do an engine flush because he says it will eat up and destroy the engine, so I am not really sure how it is beign cleaned out and fixed at this point.

One of the neighbors suggested that maybe the oil had frozen over the weekend when we had an ice storm but I don't think that would be the problem in the engine or you would probably hear more about it in colder climates.

I am going to call the shop to see about getting a sample of it.

BunnyGirl

It was too late to get a sample since they drained it out a few hours ago into big drains. The guy fixing it just said it looked like gloppy oil.

Thanks for the link. I'll have to remember that for future use.

zoom44

there must be some residue in the pan or in the "valve covers"

e46328

For slugde problem, try using auto-rx. Seems like a lot of people had successes w/ it. www.auto-rx.com
I wonder if it works well w/ rotary engines…

BunnyGirl

I'd think there would be somethign somewhere but on the phone they didn't seem to think so. Who knows. They probably don't remember what pan they used or something or they are just too lazy to get a sample. We were initially told it would be ready to pick up tonight. Originally it was just going to go in for an oil change and then started acting up. It has a new battery, new oil and filter, new spark plug wires, and I am not sure what else they did to it at this point. My stepdad is just busy blaming my mom for it having something wrong with it despite the fact that he never wants her to get any of the required service on it because it had always been running fine with no problems with the exception of needing a new oxygen sensor last year. I'd say 5-1/2 years with no servicing except oil changes and tires is pretty good for a car.

kachud

I would be tough at this point to determine what kind of oil was put into the car. After thermal breakdown a multiple of products are formed. Synthetic oil is composed of the same basic materials minus certain trace impurities. At this point there may not be a test method available that can truly differentiate between the two after so many miles.

StealthTL

iTrader: (1)

I agree with Mr. Crossbow, it's probably not even oil related - antifreeze will turn your oil pan into a jello mould, gloppy, slimy crap throughout the engine.

Sounds like you caught it just in time...no permanent damage?

S

BunnyGirl

Not as far as I know. My mom left about an hour ago to pick it up so I don't know the details on the final assessment and repairs. I'll find out when she gets home. All I know at this point is that it cost $735 for cleaning it out, oil change, and 60,000 mile servicing.

BunnyGirl

The car will be fine. No damage done to it. No specific problem was found that made the oil sludgy such as something leaking, et cetera.

crossbow

I would recommend doing a shorter change interval (2-3k miles) this next time, and send in for analysis.

If there is a coolant leak (possible head gasket issue), it'll show up in the UOA, and you'll be able to use that information to get a replacement under warranty...whoops your not under warranty.

Well you'd have an idea of how the problem was caused at least...though you sure won't like the repair cost.