Oil Sludge

C

cjhols

New Member
Hi all,
Newbie here so be kind:);). I am pulling down a 3.5 Litre Rover engine and wanted to ask is it typical for these engines to have a large build-up of oily sludge under the rocker cover and in the valley's? Also, whilst I am doing this is there anything, in particular, I should be looking out for??? Apart from the sludge and a bit of carbon build up at the top of a couple of cylinders it all looks pretty good. Thanks Peter
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Hi Mate,
Yes infrequent oil changes will leave this mess - it's not uncommon to see the 'Black Death' everywhere. Good fun cleaning!
 
Pull the rockers sideways (against the springs) and check the underside of the shafts for wear - almost certainly will be shot if there is a lot of sludge. If the shaft is damaged (like mine) the rockers are also done for. Genuine rockers can be VERY expensive, so I have opted for after market rockers and shafts - not going to wear out in my lifetime. Once you have the rockers off, check the oil feed hole at the front of each head for being clear (under the front pedestal), and the oil hole in the block. When I dismantled my rocker shafts there was a heap of sludge inside them. These engines need REGULAR oil changes, and the breathers kept clean.
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jp928 said:
Pull the rockers sideways (against the springs) and check the underside of the shafts for wear - almost certainly will be shot if there is a lot of sludge. If the shaft is damaged (like mine) the rockers are also done for. Genuine rockers can be VERY expensive, so I have opted for after market rockers and shafts - not going to wear out in my lifetime. Once you have the rockers off, check the oil feed hole at the front of each head for being clear (under the front pedestal), and the oil hole in the block. When I dismantled my rocker shafts there was a heap of sludge inside them. These engines need REGULAR oil changes, and the breathers kept clean.
jk6Rkdd.jpg
Click to expand...
Hi JP and thanks,
On another question is it typical (ok) for water to run through the inlet manifold (front and rear). I was cleaning the heads and noticed if I sprayed water down the front water journal (on the head) water would come out the front and rear inlet port - on both heads and I was a little worried that it may have corroded through???
Thanks
Peter
 
The heads have water passages at front and rear. The rear ones are blanked off by part of the inlet manifold, so only the front ones pass coolant into the manifold to the thermostat. This is because the heads are all the same - easier, cheaper to make. There is a heater hose outlet at the rear of the manifold. The water pump pushes coolant into the block, which comes up into the head at the rear (large water passage, small passage at the front of block).
 
Which part - the sludge or the water behaviour? Sludge - normal for cars that have not had regular oil changes, and very common. Water through the heads or inlet manifold - sounds OK, but check level of corrosion around water ports.
 
The water passages for the heads look like inlet ports but they are the front most and rearmost ports. When you remove the front housing water will also run out some of the bolt holes as they pass through the water passages. that is also normal.
 
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