Advice on Maintenance/Service (Fluids and filters).

Hello folks, haven't made too many threads but i own myself a lovely K11C Equation 3dr 1.0, and apserlutely love it,

I got given the car by my folks with 100k miles on it and its about 11 years old now, working flawlessly, (Well there are some things here and there...)

Basically i want to give the car a good huge overhail, service and recondition (Rusting etc etc) so i'll have a blog going soon enough i hope,

Problem is i'm a bit worried, the fluids haven't been changed *AT ALL* in the last 10 years (And no, unfortunately im not exagerating), i wan't to bleed and purge all the reservoirs, and replace the neccesary filters, but ultimately my question is, is it safe to do so.

I'm also guessing people are wondering if their is a heavy rattle too (timing chain + no maintenance must mean horrid damage right?)

Well when the engines cold and idling, it doesnt make any sound, i put my foot on the gas lightly the engine will idle much lower, and for about a minute we have some rattle, but my guess is maybe exhaust heat shield? Some clamp perhaps too because when the engine is warm and idling any form or slowly, it doesn't rattle (Just tweets like a bird but i think its the alternator/water pump belt). So i hope the engine is generally ok but again, just want to know do you think its safe to completely purge the engine oil because it plays a part in cleaning the engine from what i understand.

The car has no features as such like PAS or air con so its a nice plain model so it just has the basic things.

Rust is hitting the car quite hard so bleeding the fluids, i'm hoping the nuts/bolts are removable but i'm sure a bit of WD40 here and there will help me out.

Sorry i talk alot, but i intend to stick with my k11 quite a fair bit over the next few years and wan't it in good shape.

Cheers
Migs.
 

r-reg-sr

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Site Supporter
do you talk alot:laugh:
a haynes manual covering your model is priceless
priceless?na na it costs
you got the right idea mate nice!!!
 

Guy

Has gone over to the oily side...
Club Member
Just a quick tip. You can buy a spray from Halfords called Penetrating Spray - works way better than anything else (especially WD40) for removing stuck thing :).
 
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MrMigs08
Oh i got the haynes alright ;), amazing book,

But like i said, 10 year old oil can become sludge like? And i want to get rid of it all, does anyone know if it will harm my engine if i purge the system? (Engine Oil)

They say dirt pockets can build from what i've read on google (Mind you that was 284 thousand miles on someones engine haha)

Thanks for the tip 6.5, i will pick up a can (I assume :p)
 

Guy

Has gone over to the oily side...
Club Member
Trust me chaps, I used to have a Series 3 Land rover - I know all about removing rusted on bolts (I still have the occasional nightmmare about a particularly stubborn brake master cylinder grr). I read up on using oil flushes before doing a change. General internet concensus is don't bother. If you really want to get your engine cleaned out, change the oil for some ultra cheap supermarket rubbish and do a couple of hundred miles. Then change it out for the pukka stuff :).
 
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MrMigs08
Hmm interesting, should i drain all the old oil after a run out? (So its more of a liquid substance if it isn't already?) and then fill it with cheap stuff, then pukka could do 1k miles and then a swap out, what about the oil filter, i really appreciate this by the way (I have alot of rusting underside with rusted bolts so thats great that you have some good experience with anti rusting),

Although tell you what, 10 year old suspension springs, 3 out of 4 have apserlutely no rust or corrosion strangely :S.
 

Guy

Has gone over to the oily side...
Club Member
Spring steel has a lot of silicon in the alloy. I think that is why they don't rust much. If you're feeling flush (no pun intended), use a new filter with the flushing oil and another one when you put the decent stuff in :).
 
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MrMigs08
Right, i shall do that then, two sets of filters coming right up! :),

Edit : Just Re-Read, straight swap it is, again thanks buddy, i will get pictures soon and the blog up, hopefully i can get my machine lasting a long time :).
 

Guy

Has gone over to the oily side...
Club Member
An engine with clean, quality oil will last forever (well, nearly) :laugh:.
 
Flushing the engine like that could loosen so much of the deposits that it will do more harm than good.

If it was me I'd change the oil and filter and then change it again in a couple of hundred miles, you want the deposits removed slowly, then another few hundred miles down the road you could change the oil again.

Edit, just realised the reference to flushing oil was I believe to the cheap standard oil, so yes follow the advice given as it seems I'm in agreement.
 
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MrMigs08
Yeah, thats why i want to be very cautious of the change because, as mentioned i'm aware that a direct swap could do some harm because of all the deposits, 10 years old and it was slightly drained in the first years because of it being over topped up, i hope they've used a quality oil, but since theres no permanent rattle (Timing chain) i dont think the engines too bad at the minute.
 
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MrMigs08
Hey guys guess who, well i cant tell because i am true newb for cars,

But i'd say my engine is in pretty bad/severe condition (But i could be wrong!),

Sorry for double post but i didnt want to create second thread just incase, but my CG10 is looking quite sludgy :(

20101012002v.jpg


This picture is the engine setled for a day, normally the golden parts are black but its good to see their healthy, but look at the sludge build up on the right hand side, i'd imagine this may sit on cylinder heads and rest of cam too? also the cam is more orange where the sludge rests, but i do need your guys opinion before i rev it too hard and it explodes xD lol, ok no but is there hope for this cg 10?!
 

Guy

Has gone over to the oily side...
Club Member
You should find that the first run with cheap crap will remove some of the sludge but when you refill with pukka tuff full of anti-sludge additives, that will remove most of the remaining sludge ie the first run of rubbish stuff and the first run of pukka stuff should clean the engine out pretty well. After that, you should be fine :).
 
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MrMigs08
Lets hope so, its always relieving to hear this 6.5, thanks, i appreciate it!!

But i think oils even come through pcv valve (And now i have slightly oily filter inside of airbox too, the micro one?)
 

Seb_

Give me some frogs.
Site Supporter
I've checked through the oil engine hole, I have the same sludge as you Mig, I will take a picture tomorrow by daylight.
 
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MrMigs08
Yeah please do seb, im interested in the state of engines.

I see my friends k11 the other day, his engine is in beaut condition, whole cams are completely gold, i will soon have stuff i need for flush, some more time (I've been advised to try a full flush but looking at this cr*d this won't run around the engine well.) I think more is building up since i use it as well, so no more thrashing at all, gota be driving casually but not too slow.

Aparently sludge blocks the oil from getting to vital areas so we need to sort this out!!

Cheers
Migs

Seb check pcv valve filter for me too can you?
 

frank

Club Member
Yeah please do seb, im interested in the state of engines.

I see my friends k11 the other day, his engine is in beaut condition, whole cams are completely gold, i will soon have stuff i need for flush, some more time (I've been advised to try a full flush but looking at this cr*d this won't run around the engine well.) I think more is building up since i use it as well, so no more thrashing at all, gota be driving casually but not too slow.

Aparently sludge blocks the oil from getting to vital areas so we need to sort this out!!

Cheers
Migs

Seb check pcv valve filter for me too can you?

i doubt if flushing oil will shift any of the crap in the cam area, it may shift some from the crankcase where there is a lot of splash.
personally i would lift the camcover and use a paintbrush and diesel fuel, then a flush, then some oil
 
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MrMigs08
Hmm frank, what are the risk of fraying/snapping the cam cover screw heads? You know i have a problem with snapping all the 10mm bolt heads haha.
 
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MrMigs08
Hehe right, will start slowly collecting bits for this 'Project' Lol!

Oils, filters, penetrating spray, whats next? :)

Cheers Guys!

Screws have only slight rust on the heads but im certain the threads will be slightly siezed so need that spray.

The oil is smelling strongly of petrol (Well sludge rather)

I'd also like to add, oil was topped up (Probs to full) 1-2 months ago,
Its now at the bottom of the dots on the dipstick so empty. (Dots anyway, sure the sump has some sat on the bottom)
 
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MrMigs08
Hmm aye, i think your engine is quite ok for now :) i think aslong as engine circulation is quite good, the sludge won't affect engine too much, the main concern is when we operate at high rev i think, thats when oil is really needed!

I dont think syringe would work well, i had to use a large amount of elbow greese to scrape some junk off the cam believe it or not, its really think petrol smelly oil..

I'd say franks idea is best, but there is 1 main concern with siezing screws however, 6.5's got so much faith in his penetrating spray i think it'l work,

I get some 10-40 or 15-45 oil tommorow to top up but i need new filter next!

Sludge really is horrid, but from what i can see, cam condition is good!
 
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