I changed my valve cover gasket and found THICK sludge on the cover, lifters, valves, etc.. I cleaned the cover well, but i couldnt do much on the lifters, valves, etc. I used a knife, flat head, razor, etc and destroyed a vacuum to suck a lot of it up but toward the back, lots of loose sludge remained that i had scraped but didnt vacuum. i put RTV, gasket and cover back and turn it on, no problems. i drove it around for 3 min no problems. well i was headed to my gfs, and then a slight tick began. As i neared the neighborhood it was a LOUD tick. as i got near the house, it was sputtering, misfiring, shaking, the RPMS were pulsing, and obnoxious tick. The oil pressure also read 0 on the cluster. I hope i didnt ruin my engine. what oil additive can help? what else can i do?? PLEASE HELP!

 

Sounds like a plugged oil pump pickup screen, probably have to drop the pan and take a peek.

 

oh no, that doesnt sound good, any writeups? is it hard? is it costly?

 

 

X2. I'm guessing that some of that sludge made its way through the system and plugged up your pickup screen. Fortunately, cleaning it up isn't difficult. Jack your Jeep up and support it with jack stands on the frame rails so the suspension is completely unloaded. Remove the pan (after you drain the oil, of course) and have a new gasket ready. You may need to unbolt the exhaust downpipe as well. Oil pump sediment screen sits on a post near the bottom of the pan. Clean it off, put the pan back on with a new gasket and you're ready to roll.

If you drive it in the condition it's in you'll cook your engine for sure. So don't

 

The biggest problem is the jeep is at my Girlfriends house now! Im going to buy Marvel mystery oil additive to see if it will help. its a 10-15min drive home, do yall think itll make it? also if i drop the oil pan, clean the oil pump screen, clean everything else of sludge because i know itll be bad, and reinstall everything with a new gasket, do you think there will be another problem? a more serious one like broken engine components D:

 

No. I think you're engine is ruined already. I hope I'm wrong but it doesn't sound like I am. Don't drive it, don't even start it. Have it towed home if you can't work on it at your girlfriend's.

 

Whatever you do, don't start it again until you can pull the pan and clean the oil pickup screen.

Thowing in the mystery oil additive is not going to do anything before you end up seizing the engine.

Pulling the pan isn't that hard. I strongly recommend you do that before you start the engine again. Have a friend tow you home with a chain if you can't afford a tow truck, like F1 said..

 

When you drain your oil check for metal/shiney deposits in the oil. If you notice that you could have a problem...

 

My best guess is that some sludge and other crud got loose and clogged the pickup screen, as previously stated. To drop the oil pan can be a major pain in the ***. I had to disconnect my lower shock bolts and steering stabilizer to get the axle to drop enough to clear the pan, and it was still tight and we needed to use a pry bar (very carefully).

-Spend the extra bucks for the fancy blue Felpro reusable rubber gasket with the aluminum inserts around the bolt holes. Never go back to the cork unless you really have to. While you have the pan off, might as well do the rear main seal if that leaks. That's a whole other process (which is why I just recently had my pan off). Spend the extra money for better gaskets, especially reusable ones. It's definitely worth it.

-I'd also recommend not driving it until everything is cleaned out. Inspect the drained oil for any metal shavings, they should glisten in the sun or with a flashlight. Stick a magnet in the oil too and see if anything comes out. Small specs are fine, but bigger shavings or chunks are a no-no. Normal wear will leave little glitter-like specs in the oil, depending on mileage. I'm just about to hit 240k, so I don't really have any specs anymore, haha. My last bearing when I did my RMS was perfect, even score lines and no abnormal wear.

-Drop the pan and clean it all out, then get back to us on what happens. Good luck!

 

Don't drive it!!!!!! fix it at the g/fs that mystery junk will not fix your problem!!!! just so you know

 

Hey rooster, if you got a FB check out my club. The link is in my signature. We're not too far out from upper Jersey. Most of us are from the Lehigh Valley area in PA.

 

check ur pump pickup but if ur looking for an addetive try seafoaming ur engine after u clean the pump pickup screen put half the bottle in oil at the next change and drive it for a few hundred miles and then change ur oil again

 

I never liked seafoam in the oil. It can dislodge crud and clog the pickup yet again. Just clean the sludge out of the pan and leave it at that. Some crud is better to be left in there.

 

i agree do not seafoam the oil....