New member here and have a question. Any good ideas of getting out engine oil sludge?? I inherited a 2008 Chevy HHR that has a cam follower, "lifter", that is either stuck or gone bad. I pulled off the cam cover and the sludge is horrible. Any ideas about getting it out. I think this is why I've got such bad valve train noise. I thought about filling the crank case up with marvel mystery oil and letting it sit over night then running it for 5 or 10 minutes and draining it changing oil and do it again.

 

I would probably go with some SeaFoam in the crankcase for a few hundred miles.

However, I don't know what you call sludge or valve train noise. Everyone has their owns ideas.

 

Well I had my 9yo son turn it over with the key, and I looked at the valve train just now. Everything is free moving correctly and no noise there, but the noise is coming from the timing chain slapping the guide in between the cam gears. I think I'm going to put the plugs and coils back on minus the cover and start it real quick and make sure that's the exact noise. I still have to deal with the sludge.

 

Sounds like we have similar problems. My 08 had broken the nylon guide that runs down the intake side. When I took the front cover off it came out in 4 pieces. I would be very careful trying to start with the cover removed. There's going to be oil flying everywhere when you do. If you want to compare our "sludge" you can check out my thread here
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/hhr-...erboard-54048/

Hope you find your noise, I'm sure the guides can be done while the engine is in the car but it would be a real pain.

Danby

 

I will certainly take a look. I thought the sludge had caused a follower to get stuck in the bore, causing the noise. After a lot of reading on here, I think my tensioner is bad, and is letting the chain slap the guide between the cam shaft gears. Everything is all original, just had the 2 recalls done for the ignition cylinder and the electric steering going out.

 

Just an FYI, I tried that as well. Replaced the tensioner because it's very easy in comparison. Then the noise got worse and could have been the straw that broke the guides back (lol). I didn't have the valve cover off before I did the tensioner, so I'm not sure if the guide was broken already or not.

Good luck!

 

If there is that much slapping then it's the chain & guides. A kit comes with the tensioner, you can get a complete kit on eBay for under $150.

 

I did not want to hear that!! I've got a tensioner on order, be here tomorrow. Will try that first. The guide on top looks good. If that doesn't fix I guess everything will get replaced. Does anyone have any good how to write ups on changing the timing set??

 

Be watching your PM. I will send a gift this evening.

 

I pulled my tensioner just now, the plunger stayed with the tensioner. Should the plunger be loose?? I had to put mine in a vise and use vise grips to get the plunger out.