871 sludge in oil

[Rawze]

Don't know what anyone else would .. but i would not have driven the damn thing 50 miles, nonetheless long enough to let it get into the oil system that badly with it leaking coolant like mad like before finding out EXACTLY where the stuff was going!!!>....

However, not sure about any one else... but this is what I would do if suddenly faced with an ISX full of sludge in the oil system ...

* I would drain the oil,,... ..leaving some buckets under pan with drain plug removed.

* I would cover the hole in the top of the head, front drivers side, that drains into the gear train best I could, and then use a paint brush and diesel fuel and/or charcoal lighter fluid to brush and wash away (using a garden pump sprayer + paint brushes) all the sludge in the top end as best I can... use lots of diesel fuel to wash the rest down to the bottom ... clean the top end all up without taking anything apart. use a vacuum oil sucker to get as much of the the remains/oil/fuel out of the oil catch pockets, etc.

* Then soak everything down in the top end with clean engine oil when all done to wash down the diesel, etc. + do the same for rear drain hole.

* I would pull the top gear train cover and flush the gear train with diesel, followed by oil to help wash things downwards while someone turned engine by hand. - I would ALSO clean out the breather screen on the back side of the gear cover.. it is likely is full of sludge too! .. and will cause turbocharger and/or overhead cam failures if it is internally blocked with sludge, or has become restrictive at all.

* I would then drop the pan and spray everything underside with some diesel or charcoal lighter fluid, using a garden pump sprayer... use a paint brush (and zip-tie paint brush on a stick so that I didn't have to get too close to things) on any deposits, etc... clean out the underside really well.

* Then drop a main bearing and inspect it .. see how much progressive damage was done and make decisions from there.

* Pressurize the coolant system and let it sit over night with 20-psi on it... have someone else turn engine by hand the next day and look/listen for a gurgling cylinder.. see if there is any coolant intrusion into a cylinder, bad head gasket.. etc. while the pan is off it.. even if you don't suspect it, just for good measure.

* Bad head gasket or not ... bad bearing or not ... put it all back together and run it about 50 miles or so with about 20% diesel-to cheap-o engine oil mix to flush out the sludge and the insides really good ... get out all the contaminants I could... even if the engine had to come apart for an inframe. - No sense on tearing into engine that is full of sludge still.

* Even with NO head gasket issues, If there was a lot of copper showing on the main bearing .. then it needs an inframe + rods (or bushings) replaced any ways. =- Otherwise, it is a time-bomb waiting to send a piston thru the block without any warning due to excessive wrist pin wear too.

-= (best case scenario) - If the engine does not need to come apart due to too much accelerated wear (after inspecting that main bearing) .. then after runing it 50 miles with a diesel-oil mix as stated above ... run it about 1500 miles or so with just fresh oil .. and do another oil change.. then again an oil change at about 3,000 miles... and then at regular intervals after that (oil changed based on fuel mileage) ... and making plans to at least replace all the the rod/main bearings in about 3 more oil changes or so regardless + re-inspect the top end + valve adjustment ... to remove any unforeseen accelerated wear from the bottom end, etc. that might have been missed.

-= Otherwise, its inframe time, and a good opportunity to do all the extra things to it to make it another million mile engine again like mentioned here:
ref: http://rawze.com/forums/showthread.php?t...6#pid70606

just some thoughts.. and how I would face such a situation any ways.