Detergent oil after 20yrs of Non Detergent

[Ryan_M]

My 3A came to me equipped with a NOS(??) replacement L-Head that was installed roughly 20 years ago. It was never equipped with an oil filter and the PO faithfully used non-detergent oil. I have since installed a new oil filter and was going to use detergent oil. A point was made that perhaps by making the switch from non-detergent to detergent oil, I may loosen up crud inside the motor/oil pan and cause problems. Anybody dealt with this? Does it matter?

[rocketeer]

Yes, it's possible that accumulated crud from 20 years of using non-detergent oil can be released by switching to detergent oil. However, if the rings are tight and it doesn't burn oil you may be able to convert it to detergent oil but you will need to faithfully change oil filters regularly to get the suspended crud out of the engine. If you notice an increase in oil usage I think I would switch back to non-detergent oil rather than push the issue. The real concern here, though, is the oil pump screen. If that gets clogged then you could have real problems, if not noticed in time.

So, after all that, perhaps the prudent thing to do would be to drop the pan and see how clean, or not clean, it is inside there. If it's fairly clean then give it a try but if it's fairly cruddy then I would try to stick with non-detergent (which is getting more difficult to find).

Larry

[Carls_jeep]

Dropping the pan to check and clean it is a good idea. You can put a big pan under it and use a garden chemical sprayer to flush out the engine with kerosene. Clean the pan and pickup screen and put it together. It will get messy so wear old cloths that you may have to throw away.

If you do the above then I would change the oil and filter again after about 200 miles.

[Ryan_M]

Well I thought I was done with the dirty work but looks like I have another project to do while I waiting on the body work to be completed. I shall drop the pan and make a mess.

[Ryan_M]

Oil-pan-ectomy complete. If you want to know what kind of build-up to expect after 20 years with no oil filter and non-detergent oil here's what it looks like. I was surprised how clean it was. A little bit of sediment had collected in that small dent below the drain plug but that's all. Anyways, I cleaned the pan, pickup screen, and motor as best I could with kerosene. I am now a huge fan of "Kerosene in a Spray Bottle" - thank you carlsjeep. Just need to be sure not to let the wife use that spray bottle down in the vegetable garden!

You'll notice water in the oil, which obviously is not good, but I think it is due to sloppy practices when I was cleaning the motor with the exhaust manifold and fuel pump removed.....I hope so at least. I've read all kinds of terrible other things that could be causing it. I'll cycle a few oil changes and keep my fingers crossed that it is an isolated incident.

[rocketeer]

That is surprisingly clean, evidence, I think, that the PO was diligent in changing oil regularly.

Larry

[Comanche_County]

This man is falsifying his claims, That pan is waaaayyyy too clean, I see no rust holes anywhere in that oil pan, and the oil is also not burnt black sludge like on a true Willys which I can usually smell the burnt oil through my trusty laptop screen, which means its obviously not a Willys, I'm watching you sir. �lol �;D

[Ryan_M]

This man is falsifying his claims, That pan is waaaayyyy too clean, I see no rust holes anywhere in that oil pan, and the oil is also not burnt black sludge like on a true Willys which I can usually smell the burnt oil through my trusty laptop screen, which means its obviously not a Willys, I'm watching you sir. �lol �;D

Haha you had me going there for a minute. The PO was very good at regular maintenance, which was recorded with a complete service log - written in pencil - on the top front of the tub. I did, however, reduce the vehicle's curb weight by roughly 300lbs after the first round of exterior washing and degreasing.

[Carls_jeep]

  Ryan, just keep that spray tank in your shop, it's also good for spraying a lot of things in the shop. You can still use it for spraying RoundUp and other weed killers. That way she can use her sprayer for growing instead of killing.

I'm glad your engine is clean. I have been using Rotella 15w40 in everything I own for many years and never had a problem. Many are going to synthetic oil but I am old school and don't intend to change to synthetic.