Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Wastler
Obviously you have never seen how much or to what extent the sludge can be. Your first sent ace makes no sence.  the oil pump is at the lowest point in the pan, and the pump has a cover pulling in from the bottom, large amounts of sludge certainly restrict good oil flow, and will clog the pump and oil passages. |
Well, Steve, we're making a lot of assumptions about what I have or haven't seen in terms of the amount of sludge that can build up in a motor, aren't we? We could compare notes and I bet I've been in more old motors in compromised states than you have. (see? now I'M making assumptions about you without knowing anything about you, either!) If you had read the post a bit more carefully, you would have noted that I referred to a "good running motor", not a junker that had been neglected for decades and might have had the oil pump inlet (or other passages) occluded by sludge.
Sludge (1/2 inch or maybe more) is a fact of life in pre-detergent oil motors. It's not harmful in MOST cases; it's solid and isn't going anywhere. Disturbing it so that it circulates into the bearings, etc IS harmful. Better to leave it undisturbed until the ENTIRE motor can be cleaned during a rebuild, IMO.