American engines full of sludgy oil?

Malt_Vinegar

Malt_Vinegar

Malt_Vinegar

Don
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
16,989
Location
In a house
Why do I see so many American engines (even in euro/japanese cars) on youtube/memes/etc with the valve train full of sludgy deposits, and oil in the pan that looks almost like jelly or a semi-solid gloopy mass? I am far from a professional mechanic, but I do a bit of motor tinkering have worked with some very abused/neglected engines, and never once seen anything even close to this. Perhaps some very dark oil, or water contamination via condensation, but its never shown in any way like these engines.

An Example here:
www.youtube.com

How to Clean the Inside of Your Car Motor

check this out,
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

They change their oil so much more regularly than we do "over here" and seem to nuts about it. Is this due to a difference in oil ratings/approvals/etc, in light of their penchant for regular changes?

Really interested to see what others have experienced/seen/heard!
 
I may be way off the mark but they run pretty low grade petrol over there in a lot of places, could it be a build up of all the muck produced when it burns?
 
Petrol in the USA is just as good as over here. Don't be fooled by the octane rating, they use a different rating system than we do.

Those kind of nightmare oil videos are going to be huge miles and no oil changes.
 
Von Luck said:
Petrol in the USA is just as good as over here. Don't be fooled by the octane rating, they use a different rating system than we do.

Those kind of nightmare oil videos are going to be huge miles and no oil changes.
Click to expand...

Yup, no MOTs over there and very very few services. Certainly based on everyone I knew.
 
People are generally encouraged to change their oil far more often in the US than in the UK - it’s quite common for people with regular cars to change the oil every 3000-5000 miles. Like everywhere, there will always be people that don’t do it.
 
geekman said:
People are generally encouraged to change their oil far more often in the US than in the UK - it’s quite common for people with regular cars to change the oil every 3000-5000 miles. Like everywhere, there will always be people that don’t do it.
Click to expand...
Indeed, but it does not explain why they end up with oil like jelly after 10,000 miles or so?!
I mean, I know cars that have been run on the same oil for near decades and they still drain and look like mostly clean engines during/after a change!
 
Last edited:
Malt_Vinegar said:
Indeed, but it does not explain why they end up with oil like jelly after 10,000 miles or so?!
I mean, I know cars that have been run on the same oil for near decades and they still drain and look like mostly clean engines during/after a change!
Click to expand...

Surely it's just them using extreme examples for the videos? As far as I can make out, a lot of those videos where they show engines that look like that inside are examples that have never had the oil changed, or have been driven very hard with very infrequent changes. I have two American market cars, one of which spent the first 8 years of its life in New York, and neither of them look like that inside, and that's with me changing the oil every 10,000 miles. I use American oil, too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom