There is sludge on my oil cap so I know there is sludge in my engine. How should I go about tackling this with seafoam? Amount to use, duration, etc? I have a big seafoam thread in the SC forum, but I want to use this specifically to remove sludge.

 

Which car is it? The Merc?

Just because there is sludge on the cap doesn't mean there is any in your engine. Only surefire way to tell is to pull a valve cover. In cases like this:











...Then you are WAYYYYYYY beyond seafoam. If you have the kind of sludge that causes catastrophic engine failure then your oil filter would look like this the last time you changed your oil:



If it looks like this:





Then it is caused by nothing more than excessive idling, cold weather operation, or frequent short trips, and seafoam will take care of it. It is simply condensation buildup. In this case I would put one can of seafoam in the oil fill about 3-500 miles before your next oil change. Then, right before you change the oil, also run a can through the intake, off the brake booster hose.

 

I prefer to use Marvel Mystery OIl over Seafoam. It's gentler, seems to be more effective, and cost even less for a 32oz bottle. Google search will yield lots of good reviews. Here is a good opportunity for you to pull out an inspection camera if you have one. As ArmyofOne mentioned, the cap may not tell you everything.

 

I have a slight lifter tick in my 1mZ-fe engine.
I'm not sure if I have sludge but I am gonna try adding Marvel Mystery Oil in it this weekend.
Have read a few good things about it online so it's worth a try.

 

What is the best way to prevent oil sludge since I know a lot of these rx300 engines have had the issue of oil sludge ending up building up in them; is there a sure fire way to prevent it besides regular oil changes every 4-5000 miles like dumping a bottle of oil system cleaner through the system before a oil change? or is that going to extreme?

 

Sorry this took so long to respond yes its on the mercedes. here is my oil cap so you can see what it looks like. I will check out the mystery oil and seafoam in a moment I'm about to the auto parts store

 

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Well I tried Marvel Mystery Oil and after 200 miles, it has not solved my issue.
I'm gonna take my car to an indy and see if they can spot the issue.

 

No amount of additive will remove the ticking noise if the issue is somewhere else. When was the last time you did a valve adjustment? MMO will clean up sludge, but it will not fix valve clearance issue.

 

Do you do alot of short trips? Besides infrequent maintenance, short trips can be the cause because the oil doesnt get hot enough to steam off any moisture.

Try the seafoam method for both pre-oil change and after. http://seafoamsales.com/using-in-crankcase-oil/

run the motor long and hot, minimum 1/2 hour on the highway and use a high detergent oil like conventional pennzoil. It may take a few treatments and oil changes to see results.

@Oceanview valve tick is sometimes a hard problem to solve if it is a mechanical issue like clearance, but you might get lucky by a top end cleaning. Seafoam or just hot distilled water through your brake booster line can break up carbon deposits.

 

I drove the car for about 500 miles with the seafoam in it and changed it. Much peppier now. So it definitely helped in my case. That was just in the oil so gonna add about 3oz to the gas

 

Glad to hear you have positive results. IMO, seafoam is not very effective in the fuel system. Berryman's B-12 is a better product at cleaning injectors.

 

First time seafoaming my car and I felt throttle response was slightly better.