I just finished doing a intake/head job on my 3.8.. (Intake gasket was leaking so I went all the way.) The sludge build up in this motor is something I expected to see from a 200k + mile motor, not a 120k motor, in other words this car was poorly taken care of. The top end of the motor is sludge free now. Since i put all new lifters in this motor my concern is sludge from the bottom end making its way to the lifter if I did the old ATF, or sea foam trick.

I would just drop the pan and clean the sludge that way, but I'am almost positive you have to drop the K member on these cars to do so.
Does anyone know if I can disconnect motor mounts and hoist the motor up enough to sneak the pan out without dropping the K member??

If hoisting the motor high enough to sneak the pan out is not an option what about running a good synthetic and changing it every 500-1000 miles a couple times.

I'am looking to get the maximum MPG out of this car as it is my dally. I would also like to get maximum life out of this motor.

Any help is very appreciated! Thank you in advance!

 

its probly been overheated. yes you can get the oil pan out by lifting the engine. not easy, you may have to turn the crank to get the counter balances outa the way. if there was antifreeze in the oil at any time i would expect the bearings to go soon. why didnt you throw in a series 3 3.8. probly could have got low miles one for 5 bills.

 

I'd try some Sea Foam and instead of running synthetic and draining that expensive oil out three or four times, just use some cheap store brand until you feel it's clean enough then put the oil of choice in it.

 

I'd stick a bore scope in the drain hole of the pan and see if there even is any sludge in there before losing sleep over it. You can find relatively inexpensive ones on eBay.