A SOLUTION TO SLUDGING ISSUES
Engine-oil sludging has become a nasty headache for mechanical workshops throughout Australia of late, reflecting the driving conditions, fuel quality and missed servicing of the pandemic lockdowns.
Back when my father owned his mechanical workshop, he would occasionally encounter a customer with a sludge-filled engine. The circumstances behind the problem were varied but nearly always involved one of several potential issues. The most common was a poor service history via missed services or extended service intervals. At times you would see severe contamination of coolant or fuel. Component failures on connected systems such as cooling systems and fuel/air were also quite common. Sometimes, though less regularly, we would notice the use of incorrect engine oil (i.e. viscosity/quality), mechanical modifications (i.e. performance hardware/tuning) and now and then just pure neglect or misuse. It was never comfortable explaining the findings of a sludgy situation to the customer. In most cases, they wanted the vehicle repaired to a useable state and in that scenario our family’s workshop had a few options we could suggest:
Replace the engine.
Manually clean the engine.
Sell the vehicle.
Service the engine multiple times (and say a few prayers).
Having options is great for any workshop that provides services to customers but all of these options are costly either in time, finances or a combination of both. A new option, however, has recently become available in Australia that could solve sludge issues while minimising time and financial requirements.
The BG Dynamic Service – where it started
The BG Dynamic Service was originally developed in collaboration with Volkswagen for the North American market in 2007.
Its introduction followed changes in engine technology such as smaller sump capacities, turbocharging and extended service intervals that encouraged the rapid formation of sludge build-up, with some vehicles experiencing the phenomenon in as little as 32,000km on the odometer – for additional insights on this topic, search the web for TB2013233.
The BG Dynamic Service allowed technicians at dealerships and independent workshops alike to clean up sludgefilled engines, providing an alternative to expensive engine-replacement options or time-consuming manual-cleaning methods.
Despite solving a potential catastrophe in warranty repairs for Volkswagen (an estimated $US4.4 million), the BG Dynamic Service was seemingly forgotten as improvements in oil technology and rationalised service intervals helped alleviate the sludging problem in the short term.
Lately, however, new standardised engine technologies have been introduced that place additional load on engine oil such as multiple hydraulic chain tensioners, lifters and timing components that use micropassages, screened fittings and even check valves.
Many manufacturers have again reduced engine-oil capacity while incorporating smaller filters, multiple turbochargers and/or recommending extended service intervals.
All of these changes increase the probability of oil-sludge formation in today’s engines and these engines ending up in workshops. More than ever, the BG Dynamic Service is needed to rescue a sludge-filled engine.
This issue’s cover images are from a 2014 Toyota Kluger with 146,000km on the clock. These vehicles are popular family cars and tend to be candidates for the BG Dynamic Service. It is the same engine platform that Brendon Sorenson illustrated this service on and produced his viral YouTube video from.
The Kluger illustrated low driving performance, produced a bit of smoke and was consuming excessive amounts of fuel and oil. The service was conducted by Patrick Bozzo, owner of Eltham Motors, after finding excessive sludge in the engine.
Bozzo and I struck a friendly wager over whether the service would clean the engine and resolve the issues.
The after photos, however, speak for themselves. Bozzo now uses BG products on every vehicle that enters his workshop for service.
“I thought pre-service you were telling me lies,” said Bozzo. “I 100 per cent didn’t give you the time of day because I thought you were just BS-ing me. “
After the service, I just cannot believe the results, the photos pre and post-treatment are phenomenal. The response in throttle just driving straight away was phenomenal. Highly recommend it, we jumped on board with BG Products straight away.”
For more information contact BG Australia on 02 8968 9368 or make an online enquiry