excessum

I was literally moments away of buying a 2008 G37 Coupe that had 26K miles on it for $27,000 and I just had it inspected by a family friend mechanic. He stuck his fingers in the hole where the oil cap is (I keep forgetting the name of this part) and when he pulled his finger out, there was a huge chunk of sludge on his finger. He did this multiple times and sludge kept coming out from his finger. From what he told me this is a really bad indication for the future reliability on the engine of the car and that freaked me out. I was told it would be a huge risk to jump on this and not know what will happen with the car within the next 2-4 years. There was 1 single owner that had it on lease and it was bought through an auction by this random dealer. Essentially, the previous owner probably never changed the oil or only made 1 single oil change for the entire 4 years they owned it, mind you it has 26K miles. This was the general deal breaker for me and I backed off. I sort of feel sick to my stomach dodging this deal because I really love the car and I was stoked on getting a new car. Does anyone have experience with Oil Sludge build up for G37's? Are they pretty good at dealing with oil sludge? Can I try flushing it out a bit by changing oil every 1000 miles and try to clean it up a bit? Does that even help or will that cause more issues? I want a G37 more than anything right now. Everyone's insight on this is much appreciated. I'm very intermediate when it comes to Engine issues and engine maintenance. thanks in advance!

NeverBoneStock

iTrader: (25)

Honestly , this has fail all over it .. Take it to a different mechanic who actually does not base a engines health by fingering it .. Just some advise ..

Black Betty

iTrader: (60)

Your mechanic isn't skilled if that's how he determines that an engine has sludge or has been abused. I'd really like to see the sludge, take a photo and post it please.

From people on this forum who actually own the car I've heard of no sludge problems thus far. I have 80K on my car and it's just fine. Some have more.

excessum

Well unfortunately I had to take the car back to the dealer because they had another possible sale on the line. It sort of looked like this - http://www.carbibles.com/images/sludgeflakes.jpg - however it was much more than just these flakes, it was much thicker and consistent - it would cover his entire top finger in comparison to the picture. I see what you're saying about how sticking your finger down the Oil cap filler isn't a good indicator for sludge build up but he also checked the oil dip stick and it had sludge build up at the end of the stick and he would use his fingers to scrape some of it off. Not sure if that proves anything either, I just forgot to mention that. Sadly, I wish I took pictures of this. Is there anything else that could cause this? The car has 26K miles on it, so would neglected maintenance be a cause? The car was leased to 1 owner for 4 years, so maybe it was a company car or something else. From what I understand, if you neglect oil maintenance then you are pretty much not doing your engine a favor....Thanks for the advise gents

Rad_Slinger

iTrader: (12)

haha

ZOSTER33

iTrader: (7)

I don't know about you guys but FINGERING IT always help me determine just how well lubed it is...

Dulanicki

Regardless how well he fingered it or not, there should not be any sludge, especially on the bottom of the dip stick. Especially with only 26k miles. Indication the vehicle was not properly maintained.
However, difficult to say if there is any lasting damage because of this. The car may be very reliable or it may be a money pit. If I was in situation, I would stay away. Especially if you do have issues, Infiniti may void warranty on the engine due to neglect.

defeated

second/third/fourth run like hell, especially at that price, you could do a lot better. Even with neglected oil changes, I can't imagine what would cause our cars to sludge up like that. Coolant leak is the only thing that springs to mind, and I've always seen that chocolate milk the oil up, or leave a big white mass on the inside of the oil cap.

ZOSTER33

iTrader: (7)

All kidding aside here. Engine sludge could pose a serious problem down the road. The previous owner neglected to change his oil as recommended and if and when he/she did they more than likely used some cheap oil. Which is why you should always use a good synthetic oil like Mobil1 or Royal Purple and a good quality oil filter. I use a K&N filter and Royal Purple. Check out this article on the effects of oil sludge and how checking the oil filter cap itself is not conclusive.

http://www.schleeter.com/oil-sludge.htm

dimsler

iTrader: (7)

If the cars been sitting for a while without being started you may potentially get some condensation, water will condense, mix with the oil, it'll first turn milky, then brown, then it'll look like sludge,

This is what sludge is, its the by-product of Oil and Water

But it'll generally be gunked up in a few places only, and a hard drive should burn it all off. These motors aren't very prone to sludge they have a really nice windage tray, and they separate water and oil really well if the case arises.

I bet all it needed was a good oil change and ensuring they run synthetic.



pictures of condensation on an oil cap.