'Black Gunck' under valve cover?? Need Help!

[wizedkyle01]

Hey i was removing the front valve cover today to replace the valve seal because there has been a oil leak around it. When we took the cover off and looked inside there was this black gunck all over the place, is this normal? and should we do something about it?. It is a '96 MX-3 with 120,000kms.

[93vtecklr]

That's caked on oil.

[wizedkyle01]

whats the best way to clean it off or is it not worth trying??

[_-Night-Shade-_]

HOOOOOOOOLY I've never seen the underside of the VC that bad! Jesus christ that thing looks like it's never had an oil change!

[wizedkyle01]

we're not exactly sure what to do? or what is causing it? we only noticed because there was a oil leak around the valve cover so we replaced the seal n found that crap underneath.

[Ryan]

holy mother of crap.


How mechanically inclined are you?

Not - put that cover back on and slap that baby on the market ASAP
Lots - DE swap that baby
Got a fat wallet - get an engine swapped in for you.
Got time? try and treat it


Keep in mind its not just those visble surfaces. your crank, and all the journals and passageways will look like that. Thats like having blood the consistency of molasses with chunks to boot.

[_-Night-Shade-_]

All I can say is, since you're probably not gonna take it apart, PLENTY OF SEAFOAM and then you better only run synthetic in it from now on and do the oil changes on time. It should clear it up with time more or less.

[mitmaks]

do engine flush and replace with good oil and filter.

[wizedkyle01]

We just replaced oil filter, and changed oil (the oil looks clean) and changed spark plugs but there is a sh*t load of oil on the spark plugs and you couldnt see 1 plug it was covered in oil and one had no oil at all, so im thinking the best thing is put it on the market...

[Ryan]

The oil in the wells was also caused by the bad valvecover gasket. That should be fixed now

[SuperK]

I would also vote engine flush.
that's an intense picture. I would like to see it resurrected.

[wizedkyle01]

how much would we be looking at roughly for engine flush/clean?

[chrome730]

im sure i have the same problem

[93vtecklr]

Swap that b----, now!!! God damnit I've never seen one that bad, you need probably 55-60 engine flushes to clean that, I bet your head under the IM looks the same. That is bloody horrible. A car with that low K should never look like that. Ghastly, OMG BATMAN!

[Nd4SpdSe]

Wow. I've never seen it so bad on a motor before...was the oil ever changed?