Hi guys,

Doing some maintenance on my 2003 KJ2 with almost 197,000km.

First 113K km had unknown oil used (Mitsubishi dealership) 15K intervals.

113K km to 176K km it had semi Castrol Magnatec at 10K km intervals.

At 176K km when I bought it I used Penrite HPR10 10-W50 and Castrol Edge Titanium 5-W40.
Next oil change (few hundred km away) I am using Shell Ultra 5-W40.

It seems ok under there, but can someone tell me is that black stuff sludge in the bottom right corner?
And, will I be able to get it cleaner by using high detergent oils, flushes etc?

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c104/spetz83/underValvecover196xxxkm_zps25be99f7.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c104/spetz83/underValvecover196xxxkmblack_zpsb259b905.jpg

That looks very, VERY clean to me.

The tiny amount of sludge in the second photo is nothing to worry about.

well you do have a very heavy coat of varnish inside the block....same like me...

what i done was...put in nulon oil flush, drove the car under 3,000rpm for 5 mins....then let it idle for 20mins, while revving it here and there....drain the oil....put fresh oil and filter in....put nulon lifter free and tune up with the fresh oil....drove for about 2-3000kms....then repeat....this cleared up a FAIR FAIR amount of varnish...but you will never get it all out..


BUT! be warned if you have oil leaks or unkown seals fixed by the "gunk" of the engine...the oil flush and lifter free will clear up the "gunk" and can cause oil leaks of your seals are bad...


that stuff on the corner looks to be the sealant use on the valve cover....i would not worry about it to much....

if you want to clean your heads best, remove them, maching the surface and get them washed through an ultra sonic bath.....benifits...NONE, cost HIGH....time frkn LONG