Mmmm...Sludge

[dyna]

Isnt trying to rid the sludge at 230k+ miles kinda iffy? knocking any of the carbon and crud loose is gonna result in chunks of crap in the oil system possibly blocking an oil passage. Ive herd things I wont mention on which knock it loose and which dissolves it which is preferable from my experiance.
I tore down a neglected 318 run on Penzoil and changed every 10K or so. You literally couldent even see the rocker towers or lifters for the buildup. BTW, why do you think Chevy reccomends P oil? it plugs all the factory built in leaks like valve cover gaskets.
If its not to cold where your at run Delo,Delvac or Rotella in it. Its far more detergent/additive packed and might gradually help clean things out. Ive been running it for a long time in my 4.0 HO and get 20+ mpg highway and good results. Although lately with the 30 degree morns it seems a bit slow on starts, but if my diesel pu can handle it why not..

 

[wraithblade]

I needed the car to be up and running the next day, so I did what I could with the tools I had (I really was wishing I had a shop vac). It looks like I got lucky, as I'm not hearing the faint lifter tick I was getting before I scraped the crap out, and oil pressure is still good. I imagine I've probably clogged up the pickup screen a bit, but with a little luck running higher quality oil and continued auto-rx treatment should break that up.

I'm still tempted to try a kerosene or diesel wash to try to clear this up all at once.

 

[RichP]

I needed the car to be up and running the next day, so I did what I could with the tools I had (I really was wishing I had a shop vac). It looks like I got lucky, as I'm not hearing the faint lifter tick I was getting before I scraped the crap out, and oil pressure is still good. I imagine I've probably clogged up the pickup screen a bit, but with a little luck running higher quality oil and continued auto-rx treatment should break that up.

I'm still tempted to try a kerosene or diesel wash to try to clear this up all at once.

I would not run it but maybe filling 6 or 7 quarts of kero and letting it soak in the pan might clean some stuff out, preferred method though is to let the high detergent oil do it's thing over time.

 

[wraithblade]

Alright, guess I'll start looking for an inexpensive source for good oil.

That and a new exhaust manifold. Spotted a good sized crack while I was out there, and is probably the reason why I'm getting 16-17mpg. At least the intake manifold should be easier to take off than it was on my Cressida.