ahhh ok. just curious. when ever i drain my oil it feels just like new oil just dark colored.

i should have just googled it, bunch of info on it with our motors.

 

Looks normal still using a fram filter too

 

So having some sludge is no more or less an indication of engine health. It might or might not be a problem.

 

There is one thing you all forgot. Sludge is most commonly formed from short trips to the corner store. The problem is worse in the cooler climates. Condensation forms inside your engine and in order to get rid of it your engine needs to reach full operating temperature to burn it off. My Dakota takes about 10 - 15 mins of driving before the cooling system gets to a steady 198 degrees. Buying a vehicle with low mileage is not always a good thing if the owner says he just uses it to get his mail or for short trips to the store than I would be willing to bet there is tons of sludge in there. This is why the owners manual tells you to also change your oil every three months even if you don't have many miles on the oil.

 

In like 2-5 min of driving my truck reaches temp. Dont know why but sure is nice in the winter.

 

Pbadgely is right folks. Just about the worst thing of all for producing sludge is short hop, never-gets-warmed-up driving, especially in cold weather.

FYI- the fact that the temp gauge reads normal operating temperature within a few minutes does *Not* mean your engine is completely up to operating temp yet. This usually requires about 20 minutes of driving(NOT idling in the driveway!).

My 3.9 reads full warm in less than 5 minutes too. But that's just the coolant at the temp sensor, showing that your thermostat is doing its job. It takes longer for the block, motor oil, etc to heat up completely. Think of it as a large thermal mass that lags behind, & for the first 15-20 minutes has to catch up to the reading on the temp gauge.

 

This is true. Which is why if you store a vehicle for the winter it does no good to just go out and start it in the garage for 15 minutes once a month. In fact it is actually worse for the motor. You need a nice day to take it out for a half hour drive.

 

I use a ScanGauge too monitor my vehicles sensors. Dash gauges are junk IMO and can never be relied on for acurate readings. In under ten mins my Dakota reaches 202 degrees but with in seconds it drops back to between 170 and 190 depending on how cold it is. That the T-stat opening and letting a rush of cold coolant in from the rad. This cycle continues for another 5 mins until the temp stabilizes to the T-stats spec of 198.

If your looking at a truck with low mileage always ask what his daily trips were like, long or short. Like others have said remove the oil cap and feel around inside for any sludge build up. The problem with the 1st and some 2nd gen Dakotas is it doesn't take much sludge build up to toast an engine. These engines the oil sump pick up is to close to the bottom of the oil pan making them more prone to engine failure if you get any sort of build up of junk in the oil pan.

 

This is why I change my oil every 3 months OR 3k miles. My engine was PRISTINE when i cracked my valvecovers to put on the 1.7s. My neighbor said "Got new heads huh" I said, No, they are the stockers.

But the engine had only 48K miles on it (2001) and the oil was changed regularly (Mobil 1).

I also use lucas oil additive at every oil change. I have heard bad things about it and saw "the video." But that was not very believable ebcause it was not under the high temp conditions of a motor, just some gears spinning at very high RPMs.

I also put a tablespoon of the lucas assembly lube in my oil. The added zinc helps keep parts from wearing quickly. Race oils have zinc in it, but emissions laws forbids zinc to be added to oils in streetcars.

 

BTW, if you have oil that looks dirty but when you dip your finger in it and your finger looks brown BUT TRANSLUCENT and the drip on your finger is black...that means that your oil is doing its job and bringing the carbon to the bottom of the pan and not letting it cake on your engine parts. Most synthetics do that.

I used to use castrol GTX, but I still had sludge in my 1996. With my 2001 it has only been synthetic (once I used syn blend but that was because i needed to change oil and there was a special).