[badknuckles]

i can't seem to win with this damn project.....took off the valve covers on my start to project cam and noticed this engine has been abused.....i hate people who don't change oil and i have to deal with it first hand now. this engine is caked with sludge and i need advice on how to remove as much as possible (mind you tight budget) i figure some of you guys have sludge experience of your own. note the engine has no knocking,ticking and has great oil pressure.
thank you

[DoubleVision]

What year engine we talking? If it`s a late 80`s to mid 90`s TBI sbc or 4.3 V6 it was common on these engines, oil change or not.

[badknuckles]

91 5.0 throttle body

[Highball]

In my Fire Department we operate a number of older V8 diesels and they did have this problem when we changed from DELO series 300 to DELO Series 400 motor oil. The local CAT dealers shop rep. came over and we pulled one pan. He said "Sludge" and poured in two gallons of Stove Oil and told the mechanic to fire it up and let it idle at 800 rpm. They did that for four minutes and shut it down. Then they went underneath, pulled to oil pan plug and Katy bar the door. Here came the crap. Some in a thickened flow and some smaller chunks. Then we refilled the crankcase with the DELO Series 300 again and the problem went away. Then we did a repeat on every fire engine that had the sludge problem. Did it damage anything? Probably not. That was eight years ago and all are still using the same engines. I'm not plugging DELO but I know another County was using ROTELLA and had a similar experience.
Highball

[badknuckles]

got alot of the sludge out of the heads and lifter valley, now just trying to get the damn lifters out of the bore.......any ideas without jacking up the lifters

[matts37chev]

i'm always afraid that if i mess with it, that a piece is going to get loose and plug an oil passage and do some damage.
so i tend to pretend its not there.

[68NovaSS]

Originally Posted by badknuckles

got alot of the sludge out of the heads and lifter valley, now just trying to get the damn lifters out of the bore.......any ideas without jacking up the lifters

Get an awl or something pointed, with a bent tip and hook the retainer ring groove, they should come out with some up and down jiggle, turning and patience. You might be able to get under it, if the cam is out, and push them up.

If you intend to reuse the cam and lifters, keep track of which lobe they come from, they need to go back the same.

[FmrStrtracer]

Lisle tools sells a lifter slide hammer that works well on lifters that arent mushroomed on the bottom.

[Highball]

Bad Knuckles,
I have had to deal with an old Ford Y block I bought several years ago and was faced with the same issue. I called an old timer in a farm community who was a tractor mechanic. He told me to pull the intake manifold and valley cover plate and expose the tops of the lifter galleries. Then to pull the heads and remove the push rods. Once that was done to pour in a small amount of either Kerosene or Stove Oil at the top of each lifter gallery and let is soak for two days. I did it and believe it or not I was able to remove each lifter with a magnet. It can't hurt anything and if you are still researching this question give it a try. It can't hurt anything in the engine.
Normbc9

[badknuckles]

thank you guys. i lubed,pulled and spun until i forced them all out......funny thing is they slid right back in after cleaning and lubing.