Engine sludge

[LRMAN]

I dropped the oil pan for a new gasket today in hopes of slowing down the steady flow of oil that rivals the Alaskan pipeline. If we get just a few more rovers in the US, we will have enough spilled oil saturated into the ground to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. There was 1/2" of oily sludge in the pan that I scraped out with a big putty knife. I then cleaned it with some Brake Kleen. Otherwise the lower end looked pretty good.

[willincalgary]

Did you pull the pan off a cold engine or was it run recently? Just wondering whether this represents an immovable sludge, that while the engine is running is stationary in the bottom of the pan, or whether this has settled out of the oil and and would normally be mixed in. Looks sort of wet to me (as in containing water).

I've done two gaskets trying to stem the flow. Always leaks in the same place at the back of the pan. I think the seals around the back bearing support are done.

[LRMAN]

I warmed up the engine and then drained the oil. This is what was left. Absolutely no signs of water. Mine was leaking in the same area at the rear of the engine. The main bearing cap sits a little lower then the rest of the gasket mating surface which I think accounts for the leak. I used a heavy duty gasket with some blue RTV to try and fill some of the gaps in the surface. After the RTV sets up over night I will re-torque the bolts.

Then on to the diff seals.

[willincalgary]

I warmed up the engine and then drained the oil. This is what was left. Absolutely no signs of water. Mine was leaking in the same area at the rear of the engine. The main bearing cap sits a little lower then the rest of the gasket mating surface which I think accounts for the leak. I used a heavy duty gasket with some blue RTV to try and fill some of the gaps in the surface. After the RTV sets up over night I will re-torque the bolts.

Then on to the diff seals.

I used a gasket maker (not the blue stuff) and managed to reduce it to an occasional drip!

[bmohan55]

Replaced my seal recently and still leaked in the back, oil was dripping thru the left corner bolt hole. I put teflon tape on that bolt and it slowed it down considerably...all things being relative on a Series.