extreme oil sludge buildup: suggestions?

[The G-Man]

Did you try to start it? I might have done that and when it didn't start, ask for a refund or replacement.

Chances are that it would start no problem.

[Father Time]

Holy crap! That is just plain scary to see. Ugz.

[doylna]

Chances are that it would start no problem.

wow, I never would have guessed that. honda reliability for the loss, in this case.

[wed3k]

Chances are that it would start no problem.

werd, i had to take apart a chevy 327 that was like those pictures. lemme advise one thing: latex gloves. and lots of shop rags.

i usually take motors apart with no gloves but damn, i hated that one.

[whatever210]

holy hell those pics are terrible! i would be so pissed!

[cp[mike]]

wow that was a pretty messy ordeal.

i took apart the head and larry/oneoff cleaned up all of the rockers and cam caps for me. then i took a stool and went at it with the head, i used 3 cans of brake/intake cleaner and a can of b12. sacrificed lots of rags, a toothbrush, and my fingers haha. the head came out pretty good, considering how horrible it was. the corners are still stained, but the sludge is gone.

the vtec solenoid screens and passages were completely plugged, i doubt vtec would have even worked at all. the oil shafts the rockers pivot on were pretty clogged up and showing early signs of wear. though the cams and rocker faces dont look worn whatsoever. anyway thats all cleaned out. i also pulled apart the oil cooler and pressure sensor to clean them out. i will be replacing *every* oil seal.

havent done much to the bottom end besides remove the baffle and pickup. its not too bad really, but im going to pull the main girdle and clean it out while checking the bearings. that will come next.

heres some pictures...

underneath the cams...
[img]http://www.****.com/pics/carlosswap/cleaned/headdirty.jpg[/img]

after i cleaned it up
[img]http://www.****.com/pics/carlosswap/cleaned/headclean.jpg[/img]

all cleaned up.
[img]http://www.****.com/pics/carlosswap/cleaned/rockers.jpg[/img]

this was all pretty messy... couldnt have done it without a rotating engine stand though.
[img]http://www.****.com/pics/carlosswap/cleaned/onstand.jpg[/img]

timing belt side. the front main seal along with both cam seals were leaking.
[img]http://www.****.com/pics/carlosswap/cleaned/beltside.jpg[/img]

the back/underside of the motor.
[img]http://www.****.com/pics/carlosswap/cleaned/back.jpg[/img]

[ceelooboob]

wow what a difference that motor looks alot better

[minoreparations]

is this motor running yet mike? i'd really like to see whats becoming of this thing. oh and i figured out the little secret behind this motor. i'm not as dumb as i look.

[ceelooboob]

is this motor running yet mike? i'd really like to see whats becoming of this thing. oh and i figured out the little secret behind this motor. i'm not as dumb as i look.

soon cough cough

[Maple50175]

yikes I would have looked at the motor first.

ouch hope it runs and turns out ok!

[oneoffaccord]

all cleaned up.
[img]http://www.****.com/pics/carlosswap/cleaned/rockers.jpg[/img]
^^thats what 4 bottles of intake cleaner, 1 bottle of brake clean (all from my job) and the parts washer. if u wouldve seen these in person u probably wouldnt think that it couldve been clean, thats how bad these were. i think im still light headed from all those cleaner bottles

[cp[mike]]

today i finished pulling apart the bottom of the block. i pulled the girdle and main caps. compiled a list of all of the remaining seals and stuff to have replaced EVERY oil seal on this motor. the order is in, im picking it all up tomorrow.

ran around all day trying to track down some strips of green Plastigage... that shits hard to find by me!

so once i could see the bearings, they appeared to have a slight amount of wear... really just a little gradient of discoloration. so i layed the strips and torqued it down, and all 5 main bearings are WITHIN SPECS (.0005-.0015 max of .002") thank the lord!! they varied a little bit, plus you need to account for a margin of error, but im very confident from the results that none of the bearings are even close to the .002.

so as soon as the rest of the parts come in, everything is getting put back together! it will be dropped into the car and running soon.


heres a couple pics of the results. i forget which two these were, and i didnt take pics of them all, but they were all around this range.

(this was the tightest)
[img]http://www.****.com/pics/carlosswap/plastigage1.jpg[/img]

(this was the widest)
[img]http://www.****.com/pics/carlosswap/plastigage2.jpg[/img]

and heres a picture of the underside after i cleaned it. the inside of the block is still brown from being stained, but i did not want to use any sort of solvent in it, to make sure i dont hurt any of the other bearings.

[img]http://www.****.com/pics/carlosswap/cleaned/journals.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.****.com/pics/carlosswap/cleaned/bottom1.jpg[/img]

[tommi]

i wouldn't even work on it. send it back! where was the engine from??? sheesh..

[tn_accords]

well mike it seems as if this was a project from hell... as far as cleaning goes. From the looks of things it seems as if that engine never got an oil change or just shitty oil. Another thing is that the motor could have been sitting for a while but damn i had a car sit for 7 years with Mobil 1 in it and i still haven't changed the oil in it and it looked way better than that motor. And no the oil hasn't been changed. car still runs great.

A parts washer would have been my best friend on that motor. I would put a little engine lube on the bearings and stuff to give them a good start up after all the cleaning that has been done. Do the cylinder walls look good as far as the rings look ?? Be a good thing to look at since the head was off. Well good luck.

[ceelooboob]

motor turned out to be perfectly fine....needed a really good cleaning and all new seals but it runs perfect(we changed every single seal and gasket on the motor which i guess is a good thing anyway)no real wear anywhere internally on the motor...cams looked good,main bearings all checked out with plasti gage etc etc.....compression tested(results were good) runs smooth no knocking, no burning oil, no smoking....its perfect....and no i didnt bring it back because they give a "startup" warranty which most likely the motor would have started anyway...i showed them pics of the sludge and they offered to "flush" the motor but i am glad i took cpmikes advice and we did it ourselves and cleaned it properly...it took a long time but it turned out better this way.