curious about you thoughts and feelings on this .My brothers 2015 dodge laramie 5.7 hemi wiped a cam out after only 70,000 miles .when we tore it apart to put new cam and lifters in it i noticed an awful lot of sludge and residue for a relatively low mile engine.the job took 3 of us an entire weekend to complete (it was a bit--).hes now wondering about trying to clean it out by running kerosene through it periodically to keep it cleaner on the inside.im not so sure thats a good idea. i have heard of people doing this but i would worry about damage it could cause.what do you guys think?

 

I wonder if using synthetic oil would help prevent the sludge buildup. Synthetic is supposed to remain stable for longer periods of time and at higher temperatures.

 

Might consider a shorter oil change cycle. I wouldn't do the kerosene, I doubt the sensors will like it.

 

If you have any internal deposits in a newer vehicle, you need to learn regular oil change intervals.
I've never seen an issue with 5-6000mi changes. A gold to brown coloration is normal, but there should be no sludge or slimy buildup anywhere.

As for kerosene... never unless it's in your farm tractor.
They sell engine flush for this purpose, or you can also add a quart of trans fluid & run it immediately before the oil change.

 

No to kerosene or you'll probably be replacing the cam again. Breaking sludge out rapidly can cause problems by blocking the oil pump screen and other passages. Use high quality synthetic oil and filters such as Wix or Baldwin and do 3k oil changes until it cleans up...my two cents.
Change the oil when the engine is warm, not cold.
Good luck!!!

 

Boy, I haven't heard of the kerosene trick for cleaning a engine in years, I wouldn't do it on a modern engine,not much lubrication going on there with just kerosene. I have used i quart of ATF and the rest regular oil to de sludgeing a engine but even there I wouldn't run it hard or long, then a good oil change. remember that sludge has to go some where once it's dislodged hopefully not into the pickup screen or plug the drain galleys.... Tedd

 

I agree with high quality oil and filter changes and more frequently than recommended wouldn’t hurt .thanks for the replies .

 

I would mix Marvel Mystery Oil in with regular motor oil for the next few oil changes.

Don W

 

Two things catch my attention. 1. Cam/lifter failure. 2. Sludge/residue build up. Find out what brand motor oil was used, and DON'T use it. Obviously it wasn't lubricating the cam well enough.
Kerosene is ok for cleaning parts, but not in the motor oil. ATF, Rislone or Marvel Mystery Oil added 100 miles before an oil change would be my choice.
.........Just my two cents worth.

 

never heard of kerosene, but back in the old days we would put a quart of transmission fluid in with regular oil. transmission oil is a cleaner and helps desolve sluge. we used to run for an hour or so and then drain and replace with all oil,

 

Jeff,

Those engines are known for cam and lifter issues. I think the lifters might still be on national back order from Chrysler. I think it is a design problem as the lifters are the last thing that gets lubricated, totally backwards from most engines. Might have been some soft cams too for a number of years ? I think all you can do is use the correct synthetic oil as specified in the owners manual and hope for the best.

Too late for yours now but we have found that the rocker arm shafts get a lot of sludge and metal in them when the cams fail. We always pull the plugs out of the ends of the rocker shafts and clean them out.

I would definitely change the oil once or twice after the cam and lifter change.

 

I agree with the others. Don't put kerosene in the crankcase. Use 1 quart of ATF, Marevl Mystery Oil or Rislone to replace 1 quart of oil at the next oil change.

 

I used Rislone to de sludge a Gremlin beater back in the day. The sludge was from a too cool thermostat in my case. The 6 cyl ticked so bad I pulled the valve cover, i scooped out the sludge. Lol. The ticking went away.
short trips are bad for sludge too.

 

When I was in school we had a neighbor (we lived out 8 miles from town) who would change oil his in his 53 Chevy babbit bearing six. He woiuld fill it with "coal oil" (kerosine) and drive it to town and back, drain it out and fill it with non detergent 30 wt. It was still running when I left for college.

 

A quart of diesel, while idling only for 5 minutes is another trick, just before drainig the oil. Not for every oil change, but every 5-10 years might be a good idea.

 

Any attempt to "dissolve" sludge will just fill the hydraulic lifters with crap. Kerosene has no high-pressure anti-wear additives. Don't use it.

Either disassemble and clean, or leave it the hell alone until you're ready to disassemble and clean.

Check the PCV system, thermostat temperature, and oil-change recommendations. I would do a leakdown test on all cylinders to see if any have excessive blow-by. For that matter, a running blow-by test would be a good idea.

 

You realize Risolone is nothing more than kerosene in a can with a few additives for good measure? The whole drawback to this idea has already been stated, you'll loosen up everything in the engine and it will travel everywhere. Not always to the oil filter either.

 

Interesting, I didn't know that.

I use ATF in my diesel engine and fuel tank often. It's a lubricant and causes the injectors chatter less.

 

I'd go to NAPA and buy a half of dozen NAPA Gold filter. Put new oil and filter, run 500 miles, change filter (I always fill up the filter before installing. Change filter only are 1250 miles. Complete oil change and filter at 2,500. No kerosene, btw.

 

I've done this to shift sludge from some old fashioned diesel engines a few times. Back in the day I found using diesel engine oil would help clear sludge out too. BUT I had to change the oil and filter very frequently until all the residue was cleaned out.

However modern engines are very fussy about having exactly the right oil in them, the days of "one size fits all" are history for engine oil.

Roger.

 

I have done this to the old well maintained gas engines over decades. Ford 302, 455 Olds, and a Plymouth 360 and none had engine problems. The 455 I did open up for larger valves and a different cam, with about 90,000 miles on it and it had maybe 1/4-1/2 cup of sludge total, in the heads and cam valley. Now over 20 years later it still doesn't burn oil and has a cranking compression over 200, after lots of oil and filter changes. The 360 still ran like a bandit when sold with over a 100,000 miles on it, and the 302 got taken out in a wreck while parked, with over 100,000 on it and still burned little oil and ran like a champ.

 

Adding one quart of automatic trans fluid 100 miles before you do an LOF if you insist on doing something. On a side note, Hemi engnes have a tendency to eat cams so your far from alone.'

 

Check this out! This guy has an awesome YouTube channel.

 

ive actually seen this video its pretty interesting .I also find it interesting that a couple people on this thread mention excessive cam and lifter wear on these hemi engines.when my brother took his truck to the chrysler dealership they simply told him you "need a new motor something is damaged inside"no mention of cam ,lifters or any details whatsoever.oh and that'll be 200 dollars for the diagnosis.he got the same runaround from a local garage.How in the world can these guys not figure out it needed a cam ?ive convinced him now to just change his oil every 3000 miles using a good synthetic oil and quality filter.time will tell if this is the answer.thanks again for all the comments and suggestions this thread is a big reason why my stubborn big brother is listening to me

 

Yep, a great channel, and the bacon grease for engine oil is really great.


Then does Duralube work


Duralube uses the same active ingredient as Prolong, and here is 540Rats testing of it
https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/201...-test-ranking/