Non-Detergent Motor Oil

[swedishsteel]

My wife just bought a '36 pickup from a fellow that has it had 52 years, restored for 50 of that and hardly driven in all that time. Twenty years ago he trailered it to a few car shows and he would regularly start it up and "drive it around the block". I'm guessing he put less that 200 miles on it while he's had it. He told me he used non detergent 30w oil in it. He lives about 5 miles from us so I drove it home and the oil pressure was good--30+ lbs. A week or so later we drove it into town for and ice cream cone, about 15 miles round trip. By the time we got home the oil pressure was running less than 20 lbs at highway speed. I immediately drained the oil when I got home and after the thin hot oil was out, I watched as sludge started to plop out. So yesterday I pulled the pan off and there was about 1/4 inch of sludge in the bottom and the oil pump screen was substantially blocked. Moral of the story--don't use non detergent oil, and......if you start it, drive it long enough and fast enough to get the oil hot so the moisture and other nasty crap will vaporize and get ventilated out of the block. Putzing "around the block" and shutting it off is the worst thing you can do for a motor. Regards and drive it like you stole it. Rod