Fellas:

2nd owner of an '03 disco purchased from original owner in Feb. 2013. 69k for miles at time of transaction and now I have a total of 82k for miles. I've done between 4 to 6 oil changes during this time. I've used dino 20-50 and royal purple 20-50 for all oil changes. K&N 3001 oil filter at each oil change. Somewhere in between these oil changes I performed an ATF flush in the crankcase to clean things out some more. I also dropped some seafoam and NAPA motor oil detergent in the crankcase to clean things out. I now am running Rotella t-6, 10-40, synthetic. So here's the scoop:

With each passing oil change, I see some very small pastey deposits in my oil catch pan reservoir. Just wondering if I should be using any other detergents to clean the insides a little more. What I was hoping to do is avoid having to remove the oil pan altogether and power hot wash it clean; to rid it of all oil smudgy deposits.

Any thoughts? Should I be concerned about these small pastey particles?

thanks,
Rob

 

sounds like you could have water getting into your oil

 

2nd that. If it is a peanut butter like deposit you likely have a head gasket issue with coolant entering the oil. You have to top up coolant ever?

 

If you are in Egypt (land of de Nile) and think head gaskets are not the issue, some dye in your coolant may surface in the oil and confirm your worst fears. If I can change them you can do it. It will also give you an opportunity to really clean up the valve train.

 

What do the paste-y particles look like? What color? Are they soft?

 

Thanks fellas. Some answers for readers and commentators.

I've only had to top off the coolant once. At best might have been 6 oz. Did this about 2 to 3 months ago. Seems low again now. bummer.

As for the texture of the oil particles, yes, it seems to be a cross between jiffy smooth peanut butter and maybe crest toothpaste. Again, just not a lot of these particles and frankly, they are so minute it is nearly hard to detect. For example, the size of some of these pastey particles is about 1/4 the size of a penny's diameter. And mind you, you could probably count maybe a dozen of these particles.

As for the color of the oil, I didn't see any discoloration in it. I just changed it again two days ago and frankly, I really wouldn't know what to look for in discoloration.

Yes, pastey particles are soft and nearly black in color. You could pinch and smear these particles between your thumb and pointer finger.

To Mr. Savannah Buzz...what are you referring to when you stated: "...if I can change them you can do it." Head gaskets?

Thanks again fellas

 

Yeah, Buzz is talking about head gaskets.

I'm not convinced you have HG problems. In my admittedly limited experience with blown HGs, the coolant in the oil isn't black. Check out these pics. It seems like coolant tends to be white-ish.

I'm wondering if all the detergents and T6 oil aren't flushing oil residue out of your engine. I'd change a bit more frequently (maybe 4k miles) and take good notes of how much goo you're seeing. Take pictures and post them here.

 

X2. Water in the oil is pretty obvious. It looks very similar to chocolate milk, not black pasty globs.

My guess is the ATF flush dislodged all kinds of gunk and it's now finding its way out...

 

"I'm not convinced you have HG problems" and neither am I---too many guys too quickly jump to conclusions when it comes to head gaskets on Rovers, understandably.

"I'm wondering if all the detergents and T6 oil aren't flushing oil residue out of your engine." So am I. " I'd change a bit more frequently (maybe 4k miles) and take good notes of how much goo you're seeing." I like that idea too. Years ago, we used to use Bardahl, which had a strong affinity for metal, so would work its way down to bare metal on internal engine parts, beneath any and all existing engine carbon, sludge, varnish, and other residue, freeing them from the metal. My own dad, who had a keen instinct with this sort of thing, told me that he once had a car that he used Bardahl in, and found that it cleaned it so thoroughly internally, that it started to burn oil. When he took engine apart, he found the rings and cylinders to be squeaky clean. We learned to use Bardahl only on newer engines, ones without any internal buildup of varnish, residue, etc., to keep the engine clean internally, but to avoid using Bardahl on older engines, since it would clean them up so thoroughly that they would begin to burn oil. I think you are experiencing something similar, from your use of our much more advanced cleaning agents in modern engine oil, and especially from your use of that NAPA detergent you put in oil to clean engine out---I am sure you are seeing results of that NAPA detergent, so why are you so surprised? It is freeing up some of that varnish and carbon inside your engine, so I might be inclined to change oil filters much more frequently until you no longer see such floating contaminants in oil. If you don't like seeing such things in your oil, avoid using NAPA detergent additive to your oil from now on.

 

"My guess is the ATF flush dislodged all kinds of gunk and it's now finding its way out..." Say what? He is talking about deposits in the ENGINE OIL; not in the transmission fluid! Nothing happening in the transmission fluid would ever find its way into the engine oil, so you can't ever get an apple in your orange crate when picking oranges, if you get my drift.