Sludge question

[woodlandfarms]

So, today I changed the oil in my Deutz 4 cylinder. I have been running Mobil 1 5-30 (not the diesel specific Mobil 1).

Now the rest of the story. It has been about 130 hours but it has been almost 2 years. Yes... I am bad, but I was gone for nearly a year and when up here the oil change was the least of my worries.

When I drained the oil back into the cans, the bottom oil had settled a bit and the bottom oil was much thicker than the top oil. When I cut the filter open, there was sludge in the bottom of the filter.

Now, I am led to believe that the engine has about 250 hours MAX on it (I got it at 100 hours, maybe, or maybe only 10 hours - no one knows other than the engine is new).

So, is this common for diesel to be a bit thick given the above circumstances?

Carl

 

[aczlan]

Now, I am led to believe that the engine has about 250 hours MAX on it (I got it at 100 hours, maybe, or maybe only 10 hours - no one knows other than the engine is new).

So, is this common for diesel to be a bit thick given the above circumstances?

Dark yes, sludgy, not in my experience (with older tractors and diesel VWs). I would run it for 10 or so hours and change it again (making sure to use diesel rated oil) and see how it looks. If you had some gunk build up from sitting, you will have flushed it out and be ready to go again.

An oil change (even with synthetic) is a lot cheaper than replacing an engine cooked due to oil starvation in my book.

Aaron Z

 

[grandv8]

Run an auto rx treatment through it, or go with a high calcium hdeo, and change it after 10 hours with a filter change at 5 hours, do this twice
or even run a Lubegard flush through with fresh oil and re change again.....
The sludge is bad news and needs to be addressed before it becomes worse. All oil has cleaning abilities but that doesn't necessarily mean they will remove a sludge issue

 

[woodlandfarms]

I have to say I do not understand where / why I have any sludge. Worse case is that the engine had 250 hours on it when I changed the oil, best case would be around 150. Either way, this is supposedly a new engine.

But, I will indeed run some cleaner through it. Oh, and the bonus with the Deutz is that it is oil cooled.

Carl

 

[ModMech]

Sludge comes from a number of things, of those the most common are: High oil temperatures, high moisture content in the oil and time.

With an air-cooled engine, that was sitting up for a year or more, in a humid environment, you have ALL THREE working against you.

There is no need to buy any expensive flushing products. Get the engine good and warm buy using the tractor for some type of work (mowing etc) that does not place a large load on the engine. Prepare for TWO oil changes, with oil and filters and get GOOD oil rated for diesels and quality name-brand filters.

Before you drain the oil the first time, add a quart of ATF (any type and brand will do) and let the engine idle for about 15 minutes. You *could* gently drive it around too, but do not work the engine (climbing a hill etc).

Drain the oil/ATF and change the filter while it is HOT. Refill and install new filter. Operate with this for 5-10 hours, change again. Now you should have a VERY clean engine and can resume normal service intervals.

Note: Using a full synthetic oil will also help clean any sludge or varnish from the engine but it takes many more hours (slower process) and is more costly.

 

[grandv8]

atf is not a good cleaner contrary to popular belief there is better detergents in HDEO

 

[woodlandfarms]

What is HDEO

 

[grandv8]

ELEMENTS
IN PARTS PER MILLION
ALUMINUM .......... 0......0.....0
CHROMIUM .......... 0......0....0
IRON .................. 1.....0.....0
COPPER .............. 0.....0.....0
LEAD................... 0.....0.....0
TIN .................... 0.....0.....0
MOLYBDENUM ...... 0.....0.....0
NICKEL ............... 0.....0.....0
MANGANESE ......... 0.....0.....0
SILVER................. 0.....0.....0
TITANIUM............. 0.....0.....0
POTASSIUM ......... 0.....0.....0
BORON................. 0.....230..195
SILICON .............. 5.....7.....5
SODIUM .............. 2.....4.....2
CALCIUM ........... 3204...194....193
MAGNESIUM ......... 9.....1.....0
PHOSPHORUS..... 1249....511....480
ZINC ............... 1403.....1......2
BARIUM ............... 0.....0.....0


PROPERTIES
SUS Viscosity @ 210ｰF........ 75.4
cSt Viscosity @ 100ｰC.......... 11.55.....7.7......7.06
Flashpoint in ｰF ........425
Fuel %
Antifreeze % ?........ 0.0
Water %....... 0.0
Insolubles %........... 0.2
TBN .............. 12.5.....2.06.......2.05

First column is Rotella T 5w-40, second column is mobil 1 ATF,redline d4 atf in third column, as you can see the additive pack in atf is pretty basic Calcium is the big cleaner in additives most any oil even a weak one has 500-600 ppm calcium.
HDEO signifies heavy duty Engine oil these generally have a generous TBN, excellent zddp quantity and loads of calcium for cleaning.

The flushes I listed are non chemical damaging one they do clean based on esters which condition seals and clean safley. The problem with atf is it is not really designed to do much cleaning, atf stays so clean because of the sealed nature of transmissions, rather than the open dirty engine which produces combustion by products....
I hope that helps, if you want to clean up with just oil hdeo will work but it will be slow, keep oci's very short and not the longer there is sludge in there the more likely its gonna plug some passageway

 

[SunnyJim]

Running an aircooled diesel I would favor a 40wt myself.

If you are going to do a couple short changes to flush out any debris I would use a quality conventional oil like Rotella. Personally I would prefer a CI-4 oil over the new CJ-4. CJ-4 lowered the sulfated ash so manufacturers had to change the formulas. Less calcuim but typically higher magnesium:thumbsup: For short runs either CI-4 or CJ-4 would work just fine.

Personally I would perform 1 or 2 short oil changes with a good conventional and monitor the results.

 

[sw03]

run MMO if you think sludge is an issue...Auto RX is slow and overpriced....Use MMO about 2K before oil change and be done.