Hi!

Just talking apart the engine (V6) to replace the head gaskets, and I noticed a lot of oil sludge buildup on many parts. Not sure if this is considered normal or not? I'll clean it all up nicely of course, just wondering where this much stuff is coming from. I also noticed oil in my air filter (basically along the half that faces the passenger compartment), which of course explains how it got into the intake in the first place. I'll replace the PCV just in case.
I've bought this truck cheap at an auction, and it was a fleet vehicle before, so probably didn't get much TLC. Here's what the parts look like:

Intake:


Top of the engine:


Top of valves:


Passenger side valve cover:


Any comments appreciated,

Thomas

 

its worse than normal and has really been lacking in TLC.

scrape off as much as you can, everywhere, and plan on removing the oil pan, cleaning it, and i'd replace the oil pump.

also after all that scraping and disturbance, you'll want to flush the engine valley with kerosene to wash all the debris out.

 

WOW Mine was about half that bad did the kerosene cleaned oil pan i use flush once a year and change oil every 2500 - 3000 till it was nice and clean

 

that is pretty bad.... if you clean er up good and maybe flush it, switchin to synthetic may help keepin it clean

 

Weird thing is, the oil itself looks pretty clean. They must have changed it right before I bought it, but it's still looking nice and not-too-black after driving it about 600 miles.
Just reading in the manual how to take off the oil pan. Do I really need to disconnect the engine mounts and lift the engine up to that?!

 

Don't forget to address the plenum gasket since you already have it removed...

 

+1 on that!

 

Wow you may have to run some kerocene in there . That's real gunked up

 

Geez, you'd be better off pulling the engine and completely rebuilding it. There is no telling if any of that crud and grime has broken off and plugged one or more of the oil galleys, pushrods, and/or lifters. That is a badly neglected engine and IN NO WAY is "normal".

 

Yeah, I'll replace all the gaskets I encounter in removing the heads. I bought a full engine gasket kit, so that should have all I need. I hope to get by without rebuilding at first, even though I know it'd be the right thing to do to pull the engine. Worst case, the gunk clogs something up and the engine seizes, then I can still pull it and rebuild it, or just put another one in. Just don't want to make that investment at this point, the truck isn't in the right shape to warrant that (though the body looks surprisingly good, comparatively)