Sludge Problems with 3.4L ??

[nacho]

I was wondering if this has ever been an issue with the 3.4 V6 only because when I take my oil fill cap off, there seems to be a brownish coating like varnish on the metal parts visible in there. The inside if the cap also has a light film of a dried brown crust inside it.

This particular engine only has 116k on it and has been well maintained with only regular 5w-30 oil. No synthetic oils have been used in it so far. The oil is still fairly clean after 3k miles and still right at the full line.

Just wondering if that brown color is normal for these engines or should all the metal parts I see inside the oil fill reservoir be clean?

 

[durrell]

Mine's the same way. Always assumed it to be normal.

 

[Jared Pabis]

I was wondering if this has ever been an issue with the 3.4 V6 only because when I take my oil fill cap off, there seems to be a brownish coating like varnish on the metal parts visible in there. The inside if the cap also has a light film of a dried brown crust inside it.

This particular engine only has 116k on it and has been well maintained with only regular 5w-30 oil. No synthetic oils have been used in it so far. The oil is still fairly clean after 3k miles and still right at the full line.

Just wondering if that brown color is normal for these engines or should all the metal parts I see inside the oil fill reservoir be clean?

I have the same issue.

 

[chris360hawks]

Pretty sure it's normal to have that in every car.

 

[theizzardking]

Never seen the inside of those clean on any car I've ever owned , except in a few engines I put together, lol

If its clean you have no oil in your motor , you only need to worry if it's a strange color or had water droplets in it , it should look brownish red and be clean, as in no grit in the film .

 

[rjaudi]

You want to see a light brown tint on everything on the heads. If you see dark brown or black that is the start of sludge.

 

[28petey]

Just looking at the intake on this used motor I could see the varnish was 10 times worse than my intake …replacing the motor and now I’m working on the oil pan and I can see the start of sludge but what do you do? I’ll see if I can post a picture but there’s definitely sludge buildup.. Can you flush the system?

 

[jgue467]

QUOTE=nacho;692908]I was wondering if this has ever been an issue with the 3.4 V6 only because when I take my oil fill cap off, there seems to be a brownish coating like varnish on the metal parts visible in there....

...[/QUOTE]

That is NOT sludge. And if you removed the VCs - it should look like this.

 

[Hungryhawk]

Do the other 3.4 V6 owners responding here about also having slight discoloration inside valve cover , also use conventional oils ( non-synthetic)?
I generally use synthetic oils as they are very affordable, especially in 5 qt jugs. An engine oil additive used a time or two will clean up that discoloration. Then you could start using synthetic. Which does not leave much discoloration. It also does not create sludge as easily.
I use synthetic in all my vehicles for this very reason and also for protection of engine internals from a cooling system failure. Quality synthetic oils will perform at higher temperatures.

 

[pluton]

This is what sludge looks like

Photo said to be of a 5VZ-E engine, maybe Tacoma or 4Runner:

 

[T4R2014]

Engines are a little bit "dirty" by nature. It's controlled explosions. Is it really a shock that constant heat cycling of petroleum lubricants coupled with combustion byproducts produces a little bit of residue on a static surface? Now if your transmission is doing that, you have an issue.

Also, if you have sludge you don't touch it. Just change your oil. Fasting acting chemicals are exactly how you clog an oil passage. That's a much bigger threat than sludge.