Does this picture show lack of maintenance?

[somick]

I finally removed oil pan on my 92 Loyale. And that what I saw:

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/album.php?albumid=268&pictureid=3865

 

Valve covers inside were the same color. Especially on the passenger side.

 

I am the only owner of this car. Oil has been changed religiously every 3000 miles. I must admit that I did not pay big attention to the brand but the Penzoil was the most often brand that I used. About 4 years ago I started treated my engine with Seafoam through the intake once a year, but never put it in the oil.

 

Unfortunately the last four years the car has been driven by my relative who put less than 3000 miles on it. I did the maintenance anyway: changed oil every 6 months.

 

What did I do wrong?

[ShawnW]

Im failing to see the problem. A majority of the engines I purchase used look just like that inside. That cleans off easily in my parts washing equipment. Poorly maintained ones take hours more to clean but yours wouldn't fall into that category. Expecting it to look like bare aluminum and brand new isn't realistic.

[987687]

That looks great to me. It's not all sludgy and black. It's the colour oil because hot oil has been getting into the aluminum for the last 20 years.

If it was bad, there would be sludge built up around all the bolt holes and crevices. That looks really clean.

[idosubaru]

+1, dirty ones and ill maintained ones have none of that light brownish they're just black.

[GeneralDisorder]

On the one hand you wouldn't see that in an engine run with synthetic. But on the other hand what you have there is not unusual. I don't like to see it but as mentioned it's present in 99% of the vehicles on the road that aren't using exclusively synthetic oils. It's inevitable but really says nothing about the mechanical condition. It's just oil varnish and it's one of the main points in favor of synthetics. They have a MUCH higher tolerance for heat and will not leave this behind.

 

GD

Edited December 29, 2012 by GeneralDisorder

[nipper]

Yup looks normal from here.

[81EA81]

For comparison here is the inside of the passenger side valve cover on my '86 EA82 at 288,000 miles when I first picked it up. sorry no oil pan pics

 

 

This is the EA81 in my '86 Brat at 167,000 miles

 

 

http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa389/SUB_RU/84%20Subaru%20GL/FILE0516_zps7c0f73d1.jpg

 

Here is a the EA81 in my '84 wagon at 274,000 miles

 

 

In all honestly its not too dirty. I bet most of the build up is from the Penzoil that was ran in that engine. I have heard lot of stories about Penzoil being bad oil that likes to sludge everything up.

 

You can run seafoam in the oil from now on just before an oil change.

And try not to use Penzoil.

[MilesFox]

This looks relatively normal and is indicative of normal operation.

[somick]

Thank you guys!

 

To be honest I did expect it to be like polished aluminum. But I take it...

 

Sam