What is this charcoal / sludge in my oil pan?

IMG_20181114_044020.jpg
IMG_20181114_044020.jpg
 
Thank you everyone for responding I really appreciate the help I hope to God it's not piston rings or anything upwards of that. I most definitely will report back afterwards. If your interested in an update. I'm pretty slow, so I might take a week. Thanks again all ❣️
Stay safe
Stay together
Be kind
❤️💞💕

You can rule out piston rings and other serious issues by doing a compression test.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MsLarr
You can rule out piston rings and other serious issues by doing a compression test.
Well I guess I'm going to have to start learning how to do something new. Is it confusing or is it easy to know? I guess I'm going to find out pretty soon I have to do that as soon as I get everything put back together this afternoon so I'll let you know Chris probably this weekend or early next week.
 
Well I guess I'm going to have to start learning how to do something new. Is it confusing or is it easy to know? I guess I'm going to find out pretty soon I have to do that as soon as I get everything put back together this afternoon so I'll let you know Chris probably this weekend or early next week.

If you can remove the spark plugs yourself and have a compression testing gauge (which you can get at any auto part store or a really highly rated one on Amazon here), then you can do it yourself with very little skill.

Check out this how-to video:

 
  • Like
Reactions: MsLarr
The only time I have seen that was on an old blazer I was tearing down to rebuild. The guy at the machine shop asked if I ran pennzoil, and there was a quart u der the seat when I bought it. He said paraffin based oils break down like that over time. Under the valve covers it was really bad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MsLarr
If it was running fine before the tear down, and there's no sign of disaster, I wouldn't sweat it. You're probably an over thinker like me :)

If that chunk of carbon truly slipped past the piston ring, your engine would be one big 'ole goose egg. No way you would have any compression what-so-ever.

I honestly think you knocked foreign contaminates into it when you dropped the pan.

Put it back together. Get a magnetic drain plug. Check again at the next oil change. If no new contaminates found, you're good to go.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MsLarr
This last couple of years I've been doing all my own maintenance on my TJ. I bought the Jeep in 2004 it had seven miles on it. Recently I noticed that what appeared to be oil on the driveway. It wasn't much just a few drops maybe everyday or every other day. So I got everything necessary and it took me the last month to get two screws out of the starter to get it out of the way of some books that were in the oil pan. And then it took me another week to get the exhaust pipe out of the way. So I finally got the oil pan down yesterday. I expected to see some Sledge a magnet and possibly metal slivers or whatever because my Jeep now has around a hundred thirty thousand miles. But I didn't find that at all. There was no magnet. But there were items that look like pebbles are rocks that were jagged and very irregular in shape. I was extremely concerned cuz I thought it was Pisa to the engine like something had broken. But I hadn't had any issues with my engine running. I took the pieces out and put them on a paper towel and started doing research or trying to. nobody had any answers for me there's nothing on the internet that I could find. I even asked some mechanics that I know that in the family and friends. No one had any answers. After a few hours I went back out because my brother told me to hit it with a hammer to see what it was made of. I don't know if this was a good thing or bad thing because I noticed the items or what seems to be more like pebbles than anything we're slightly different because they were dry now. They were very light. Whereas before I wasn't sure if they were aluminum pieces or pebbles. Now I could crumble them with my fingers and they just turn to dust like charcoal. I smelled them and they had a petroleum smell to them. Does this make sense to anybody out there?
Do you tend to drive your Jeep extremely conservatively? Do you consistently shift at only low engine rpms or do you regularly rev it hard to higher rpms?
 
  • Like
Reactions: MsLarr
Do you tend to drive your Jeep extremely conservatively? Do you consistently shift at only low engine rpms or do you regularly rev it hard to higher rpms?
No. I do drive long distances and my Jeep is an automatic. I was wondering if possibly the reason is because about 10 years ago my brother pulled off the elbow from the top of the engine and a little piece of the Ring had broke. oil would seep out and overtime Leaked oil, it was like that for a long time. So I'm wondering if it's due to the fact our Jeeps run hot plus I had that leak and may have caused the oil to bake.
 
Last edited:
If it was running fine before the tear down, and there's no sign of disaster, I wouldn't sweat it. You're probably an over thinker like me :)

If that chunk of carbon truly slipped past the piston ring, your engine would be one big 'ole goose egg. No way you would have any compression what-so-ever.

I honestly think you knocked foreign contaminates into it when you dropped the pan.

Put it back together. Get a magnetic drain plug. Check again at the next oil change. If no new contaminates found, you're good to go.
I wasn't having any engine issues except for the fact that there would be a small spot on the driveway every day or two of oil. And my research showed me that it was most likely the main seal. So I decided to go ahead and fix it. And that's when I discovered the problem in the oil pan. And then last night I went underneath the Jeep to replace the seal and I got a good look at the engine and is very dirty and there was more carbon buildup in there not a whole bunch but I would have rather not seen it like that or it not be there. so I'm guessing the problem is because maybe the type of oil I use or my engine was running hot for awhile a year ago and I replaced my water pump back then. It wasn't running overly hot but I noticed that the radiator would boil and I didn't know what to do about it and so I started research and came to the conclusion it was needing a new water pump. so that could have been one of the reasons why the oil is in that condition. My engine might have been running way too hot. But the the gauge on my cluster showed it was running probably about 215 or 220 degrees at most.
Should I clean out my engine w
Before i replace the oil pan?
 
If you can remove the spark plugs yourself and have a compression testing gauge (which you can get at any auto part store or a really highly rated one on Amazon here), then you can do it yourself with very little skill.

Check out this how-to video:

Yes I can. I replaced all the plugs back in June. I may have the tool already. But I always teach myself before a project, probably way too much. I most definitely will watch the video and others before I begin to make sure that I know exactly what I'm doing. Thank you
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chris
Yes I can. I replaced all the plugs back in June. I may have the tool already. But I always teach myself before a project, probably way too much. I most definitely will watch the video and others before I begin to make sure that I know exactly what I'm doing. Thank you

No problem, happy to help!

Don't pay too much attention to the numbers themselves, what you're looking for is relatively consistent numbers among all cylinders. For instance, if all the cylinders are around 150 but one of them is 100, then you have a problem.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MsLarr
I believe this is the tool that I'll need?
And one more question, do I have to have all of the spark plugs removed to do the test or can I do one at a time?1542333962110552904577.jpg
 
I think I figured out what caused the problem. a while ago when my Jeep was about 2 years old, my brother grabbed the PCV elbow on top of the crank case and yanked it off, breaking a piece of the outer ring of the plastic. It leaked oil for years just bubbling out. Since i didn't replace it for such a long time nor did I have a catch can or use any solvents to clean the engine or gas, I think it caused a lot of carbon buildup. From what I hear, you have to remove the intake manifold to clean the top of the valve's and blast it with soda/walnut chips. I don't plan on doing that right now. I'm going to clean up what I can, put the new main seal and put it all back together. Then I'm going to put transmission fluid in there and let it idle for 20 minutes or so, drain it, put the regular oil and a new filter. I might do the transmission fluid twice depending on how dirty the ATF comes out. IT should be pretty dirty. Here's a picture of a piece of the engine I just took off.

IMG_20181115_173416.jpg
 
I wouldn’t run any “cleaners” in my engine. I would wipe down the internals as best you can with a rag. Then blow the loose stuff off with compressed air. Fill it with the cheapest dino oil and filter you can find. Run it up to temp and drain. Fill it up with a new filter and run it for 1500 miles and change the oil and filter again. You should be good to go.
 
  • Like
Reactions: twistedlv
I like to think I'm a critical thinker and don't blindly follow shadetree mechanic principles based on heresay. That being said, I am a believer in Seafoam if used properly.

Here's a good video showing what it can do to a mucked up cylinder:


I typically run 1-2 cans a year through the Jeep. I also think remembering to open up the throttle every once in a while will help keep the engine routinely clean of carbon build up.

That being said, my money is on foreign debris falling in the pan when you removed it.

Can you really rely on youtube for reviews? When the person makes money on views?
 
Can you really rely on youtube for reviews? When the person makes money on views?

That depends on who the audience is. Once you start posting reviews and calling products good that just suck im not going to believe that person. Most people wont. You always have to use common sense and good judgment.

I have used seafoam to un gum out a Harley carb. It did a good enough job for the carb to work and run better. Over time good gas will finish the job.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TimboSlice
No. I do drive long distances and my Jeep is an automatic.
That doesn't necessarily mean you do or don't drive too conservatively or that the engine regularly or never sees higher full-throttle type rpms as is required on a regular basis to keep carbon deposits from forming. :)