Is this very dirty?

**Lerlo** · 02-07-2009 03:13 AM

Just wondering if its normal for an engine to look this black on the inside. Looks much dirtier than most I seen on the net.

**shadou** · 02-07-2009 05:02 AM

looks ok, oil usually turns that colour after a while, seen worse.

**JasonGilholme** · 02-07-2009 06:53 AM

its when you have hardened layers on components that you should be worried. Or actual contaminents like grains of dirt etc in there.

It looks like the oil could have been changed more often though. lol

**aaronng** · 02-07-2009 10:29 AM

Change your oil more often. 5000km/6 months if you are using FEO or a mineral oil, 10000km/6 months if you are using a synthetic. Worry when your engine starts to look like this:

**Lerlo** · 02-07-2009 01:03 PM

Originally Posted by aaronng

Change your oil more often. 5000km/6 months if you are using FEO or a mineral oil, 10000km/6 months if you are using a synthetic. Worry when your engine starts to look like this:

Woah, now thats scary!!

Alright, thanks for the info guys, I guess on the internet, most people clean it first before taking pictures. Lol

What do you guys think of an engine flush. The ones Nulon and similar companies make....

PS. I just realised Im still a newcomer when my join date is Nov 2005..lol

**aaronng** · 02-07-2009 03:08 PM

Originally Posted by Lerlo

Woah, now thats scary!!

Alright, thanks for the info guys, I guess on the internet, most people clean it first before taking pictures. Lol

What do you guys think of an engine flush. The ones Nulon and similar companies make....

PS. I just realised Im still a newcomer when my join date is Nov 2005..lol

No, don't use engine flush. Just change your oil more often. 5000km/6 months for mineral oils and 10000km/6 months for synthetic.

**ECU-MAN** · 02-07-2009 04:45 PM

Lerlo, how many K's has that engine done.

its not good, however its not bad. you can recover from that with TLC.

**Lerlo** · 02-07-2009 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by ECU-MAN

Lerlo, how many K's has that engine done.

its not good, however its not bad. you can recover from that with TLC.

its done 205k, ive change the oil every 5000....but only did 2 oil changes after i bought it........

**ECU-MAN** · 02-07-2009 04:55 PM

if you run your finger along the cam gear, you will see how that crap comes off, when its baked on, its not so easy to remove.

just keep changing your oil every 5k and it will be fine.

**JohnL** · 02-07-2009 06:13 PM

I'd have to agree with aaronng, don't use a flush. Your engine isn't particularly dirty, not enough to be a worry at any rate.

Even if it werer dirtier, I still wouldn't use a strong chemical cleaning agent. Any relatively chunky and / or abrasive gunk is much safer left stuck to the internal surfaces than it is if it's liberated into the oil by a cleaning agent.

If it were my engine I'd use a diesel oil, which due to it's high detergency will gently clean internal components (rings and ring lands in particular, hopefully reclaiming any lost compression due to ring sticking caused by gummy or carbonised deposits). The cleaning action of a diesl oil should be much gentler than that of a chemical engine flush.

I use diesel oils in my engines, but only use ones that stipulate that they are also suitable for petrol engines (some diesel oils can 'poison' the cat). Having said that, I wouldn't use any high detergent oil in an engine that looked anywhere near as filthy as the one in post #4 (leave that crud lie where it is...). To do so would be to court sudden engine death (as my brother discovered with his ancient Beetle...)

**JohnL** · 02-07-2009 06:30 PM

Originally Posted by aaronng

This engine looks like the inside of most older Toyota engines I've seen (well known for serious sludging, even with diligent oil changing).

This sort of thing is (I hear) caused by copper (or alloys containing copper) being in contact with the lubricant. The copper (apparently) acts as a catalyst for the reaction that results in the oil forming sludgy deposits (even when the oil is changed frequently).