I'm working on a 1991 corvette which the previous owner left sitting for four years. The oil has turned to a thick sludge and won't drain out. What should I do with this? Am I going to have to take the oil pan off to clean it out or is there any other way? Thanks.

 

damn, that isnt good. I've drained oil that has sat for 10 years before, and havent had it that bad. Is it like jelly or mud or what?

 

I think you've got it backwards. It's been sitting for 4 years because the oil turned to sludge.

Time to tear the engine down.

 

Okokokok, I stopped laughing, but seriously, you have to give out warnings when you're gonna do that to someone, even Bugs told 'em the first step was a doozie!

Put the drain plug back in, pour in your favorite solvent and let sit overnight, drain and then pray with all your might to whatever G0D you beleive in that the kid is wrong...



but I doubt it.

 

Ok, the oil finally drained out. I stuck a little piece of wire inside the pan and wiggled it around and it started to drain. I suspected the engine was screwed anyway, I mean the car which is otherwise fine except for a torn seat and weatherstripping was only $3000.
So I'm gonna try everything I can to get it running, but just so I'll be prepared for the worst where is a good place to look for a rebuild kit?
Thanks.

 

Honestly, you're better off tearing it down now, rather than risk any more damage. You put fresh oil in there, it's going to loosen up some of that gunk and plug up the pickup screen. Same with any solvent. Then you'll be running with no lubrication.

I was being completely serious. Tear it down. It's been horribly neglected and abused. That oil did not turn to sludge from sitting. Seriously.

 

way back when i was working in a garage i had a pontiac with oil like that. woman got it from her dad after he died. brought it in for service and inspection. pulled the drain plug and oil came out in chunks or clumps instead of a stream. told her it was bad, had 75,000 or so on it. pulling into her driveway about 5 miles from the shop the engine seized.

 

And let me guess, she blamed you for the engine failure.

 

it wouldnt be the first time somone blamed ede for something .....yea dude like these guys have said, yank the F'er out..you and a buddy could have to motor and teranny out in a few hours...2 more and your pulling the heads off..the next day your tearing the motor down and 2 days later your putting it back in....

 

That happend to me at work with a nissian. The engine was sized, the owner gave presission to try and break it free. I did, changed the oil and it had decent oil pressure. I told her to take it to the closest dealer and trade it in, no stops just drive and trade. 2 days latter she called and said the engine was sized again and it was my fault and she wanted a full refund.


A good trick to get the sludge out of an engine is diesel. Ive seen people pour a gallon in a sludged engine run it 20 minuets, drain refill with oil and not have any problems.

 

no she never, it was a long time ago, when people had better sense about them, and about cars. i noted it on the service order that it had oil pressure problems. i filled it with a 50w oil we sold called Facto ( suspose to be a off road equipment oil) and two cans of STP. told her she'd be luck to get it home or to a dealer to trade in.

 

ATF works good too.


problem is, you need to be able to start the engine for that to work.