Flushing engine sludge 80 series 4.2 diesel turbo (1 Viewer)

[nileporch]

Greetings from Uganda
Got a lot of sludge in my engine and looking to do an engine flush. Any recommendations or procedures that won't damage the engine would be most welcome. Residing in Uganda, there are no brand name engine flush options available so old school methods are my only options.
Thanks
Frazer

 

[SteveH]

@nileporch - Have you pulled the valve cover and seen a lot of sludge? How do you know it's full of sludge?

Don't use a LOT of anything in place of engine oil. Some will tell you to drain all the oil and put in 8 qts. of kerosene, and then run the engine for 5 minutes, drain and refill with oil. Bad idea.

If you really want to use an additive, I would add no more than 1 quart (to the other 7) of something like ATF (Dexron III automatic transmission fluid) and run it for a few minutes, drain, and fill with the correct diesel oil.

Another option is to skip any additives and just drive the truck with clean oil, change it more often (with a new filter) and let the sludge work itself out and get dissolved by the additives in the fresh oil. You never want to dislodge a chunk and clog an oil passage.

Obviously, the 'right' method is to tear down the engine and clean it, but that's a lot of work. I would try to be very conservative in your entire approach. From a mechanical standpoint, you might pull the oil pan and clean it, along with the oil pump screen, and then fill with oil and just drive it.

 

[mudgudgeon]

Run a good quality 100% synthetic diesel oil for the next few oil change cycles.
Don't delay changing the oil. And change the filter every time.
Sooner than later is better.
The detergents in diesel oil should eliminate sludge

 

[Shyrock]

2 possible options:
1. LiquiMoly engine flush Liqui-Moly Engine Flush
2. Valvoline Restore & Protect Oil Valvoline Restore and Protect

 

[Broski]

2 possible options:
1. LiquiMoly engine flush Liqui-Moly Engine Flush
2. Valvoline Restore & Protect Oil Valvoline Restore and Protect

Refer to the first post !

 

[SNLC]

I have cleaned a few out. Use some ATF in the oil, like 1:10, run it, flush and repeat.

Cheers

 

[AussieHJCruza]

If you can get this over there somehow, this is the best I've found https://costeffective.com.au/product/flushing-oil-concentrate/

 

[ozarkmud]

What exactly do you have available? ATF? Kerosene? Gasoline?

What oil have you been running in it? Has it been a detergent oil?

 

[smritte]

I 100% agree with @mudgudgeon. Do it slowly with a high detergent oil, changing every few KM. Adding some ATF is good also due to the high detergent content.
In the 1990's it became a fad for companies to bring "oil flushing" into the shops. The chemicals we were forced to use did a great job of breaking down the sludge right up until it started clogging passages in the engine. It only took a few broken engines to convince the managers, this was a bad idea. Most people who worked in the industry during that time will be dead against chemical oil flushing.

 

[Batameez]

Never remove sludge fast. That is a great way to blow up your engine. I agree, use a synthetic diesel oil of recommended viscosity with a good oil filter and change it frequently. Shell Rotella T6 is great if available to you.