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First oil change in who knows how long......

BeardedBlues

Full Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2012
Messages
592
Like the title says, I'm getting ready to change the oil in my bronco and I have no idea how long it's been since the last change or how often the oil was changed before I got it. I'm expecting the worst and want to take proper precautions so I don't end up burning up the engine due to a large piece of sludge unlodging and clogging up the system.

Anyone have suggestions on how to avoid disaster?
 

bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
Ive seen motors fire up and run with oil that had been in them for 10, 15, maybe 20 years. Im willing to bet that the oil you drain will still be good enough to run. Any gunk will hopefully come out the drain hole if there was any.

Just go about it like any other oil change. if your really worried about it buy cheep walmart super tec oil and change it agian after maybe 500 or 1000 miles to help rinse any wories down the drain!

Will dont dump it down the drain...you know what i ment right? At least dump it in a hole in the back yard!;) Keeps the weeds down!
 

patterdale

Bronco Guru
Joined
May 24, 2010
Messages
1,246
Just get it done. Your pickup strainer and oil filter will stop the sludge problem. If you are really worried change the oil and run a few hundred miles then change again. Better to find out what you have sooner than later. Some sort of oil treatment might help also but I am not a huge fan of "snake oil" treatments. I use them sparingly. For me cleaners are fine but stop leaks are a short term bandaid as they just swell the rubber in seals on oil related problems or clog water passages on cooling problems. On either of these it masks the problem temporarily and when it s**ts it really S**ts.
 

broncnaz

Bronco Guru
Joined
May 22, 2003
Messages
24,341
I wouldnt recommend using any type of flushes or cleaners that will just loosen up any sludge and could plug the filter quick and cause damage. I'd just change it see how it runs and go from there. If you want to check for sludge pull a valve cover that will tell you a lot depending on how much sludge is under it.
 

BronCowie

Contributor
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
8,025
Loc.
Vancouver, WA
Change the oil.
Run 1,000 mi
Change the oil.
Run 1,000 mi
Repeat as necessary until the oil you drain looks clean and has good vicosity to the touch.
 

KyleQ

Bronco Guru
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Messages
5,480
I would say change it, run it for a bit, dump a can of seafoam in it and run it at idle for whatever it says (10 min?) and then change it.
 

WorkerBee

Full Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2011
Messages
224
Loc.
Northern CA
A common old school trick is to change with cheap oil but substitute one quart with ATF. Run it for a few hundred miles and change it again with new fresh oil. You would be amazed how much that ATF will scrub out of there. I don't know if it works for 100% of applications but I have had excellent results doing this on a few motors. Mostly farm equipment in extremely filty conditions.
 

KyleQ

Bronco Guru
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Messages
5,480
^^^
Seafoam works on the same principal... It did WONDERS to my 6.9IDI.
 

blamejane

Bronco Guru
Joined
May 12, 2012
Messages
1,953
What is a good oil to use? I saw another thread recently, where someone was purchasing oil online, old school oil, as they said the oil sold in auto parts stores these days was for the newer engines. I need to add a quart of oil and the NAPA guy said their brand is valvoline, which they said was great.
 

viper982

Full Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2010
Messages
334
Loc.
Beaverton
I use Chevron 10w30 and add a bottle of Edelbrock zinc additive. I also think that Brad Penn makes an oil with zinc already in it...it's pricey though especially with a 7 qt pan
 

galen1970b

Sr. Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2005
Messages
485
When i picked up my 77, after i removed the transmission(for np435 swap) I didnt know what condition the motor was in. I pulled the pan saw about an inch of thick sludge scraped it out cleaned it, and painted it, R2'd the rear main seal since it was there and re-installed it. You'll never know what kind of gunk is in the motor unless you actually take a look. I don't see how really frequent oil changes will get all the sludge out (if that's your goal)with out using oils with heavy detergents.
 
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