Some of the reading I have done blames sludge on being a problem with dodge's. All I really want to know is how exactly do I check to see if a vehical I am buying has this problem, short of dropping the oil pan ?

 

There are a couple of ways -

But first - sludge isn't any greater problem for a dodge than any other make. Its about the oil used & how often changed. Any engine not properly maintained will have issues with sludge.

So - to check.

1. remove the oil filler cap & stick in a finger & feel around - especially the underside of the valve cover. It should be pretty oily but not sticky. If there is lots of sticky junk under the valve cover the rest of the engine is a mess.

2. When you start the engine listen for the 'tick tick tick' sound of the lifters. Almost sounds like a diesel engine. The lifters have little springs in them that keep the valves tight so you don't have to adjust valve lashing like you do on antique flat heads. When sludge builds up - these springs can't bounce back quite as quick as they should resulting in a slight tapping sound.

This tapping sound does not mean the engine is in bad shape - just dirty - You can get many years of use out of a tapping lifter so don't be afraid if the truck is noisy - just plan to clean it out.

 

I would disagree with this statement. The older magnum engines with the "beer barrel" intake has a removable plenum on the bottom of the intake. This gasket falls apart long before the remainder of the engine wears out. You can determine if you have this problem by looking down the throttle body with a flashlight. If you see oil in the intake, you had better get it fixed before the cross contamination of fuel into the oil creates huge amounts of sludge, and over time prematurely kills the engine.

 

When you say older,how much older are you talking. IO'm hoping for some thing in the 2000's but money is a big factor on fixed income.

 

News to me! thanks for the education.

 

Yes we just did the plenum gasket in my buddys ram. If your wondering they used that style intake until they stopped making the 3.9,5.2's and 5.9's. Really doing a plenum gasket is not that hard.

 

changed the oil today and i wiped out the inside of the crank case filler neck, it was pretty gross, thick black grime that was really gritty. wondering about my motor now...

 

Could be bad but consider this My 95 grand cherokee has had that build up since 140k our local mechanic told us about it we never did anything about it now has 216k on the original motor and has never been opened up. Im going to do valve cover gaskets on my truck soon since they are starting to leak and I hope mine is not to bad.

 

when you change the oil in the jeep is it ever thick or gritty? or does it look normal?

 

Thats common on 4.7s thunder because of the condensation that builds up in there. It's hard to tell with a 4.7 because there are no lifters and you can't feel around really.