FIXING The UNFIXABLE Engine In My CHEAP 2011 Chevy Camaro RS *SLUDGE REMOVAL* 

Miracle stuff that dislodge sludge fast will put alot of stuff in the strainer. Would drop the pan and change the strainer at least.

GM released a TSB for these engines and a "recall" for I believe 2009-2013 models as per the class action. Their solution was to reprogram the ECM for 3k mile oil changes instead of 5k or 6k. It's been a while since I was willing to touch one so you'll want to look that up. The PCV fix would be better but you know, manufacturers want the cheapest solution possible, even if it costs you double in oil changes. Pull those valve covers and the RH will be dark while the LH looks perfect. So much for R&D before release!

I’ve done this myself on what was considered a junk engine without any special products. Just did seven oil changes in one day. Saved a truck that I bought for next to nothing. Kept it for many years of heavy use changing the oil every 2500-3000 miles after the initial cleaning. With all the detergents in modern oils extra additives are not necessary.

Doing the cats and getting new screens/filters for the solenoids will definitely make this engine run 100% better. I can't wait to see those chains and guides inside the engine!

You have no clue how impatient i've been for this video. You're definitely making your way to the top of my favorite RU-vidr list!

This is fast becoming one of my favorite channels. Keep up the great job!!

11:40 that before and after shot is truly amazing. I cringe thinking about revving the engine to static 3000 rpm in neutral for such long periods, engines aren't made for that but apparently it's not blowing up either LOL. Good video.

3.6 engine has poor venting on one side valve cover that's why it's cleaner on one side. Timing chains always go bad on these because of that.

An owner giving up on a car because of what a dealer says; obviously the dealer has a conflict of interest. Dealers are notorious for creating work ticket estimates that exceed the value of the car so they can give the "You may as well just trade it" pitch.

I hope JR does a mod for the PCV. It would help a lot with preventing sludge in future.

I do appreciate all these videos. I had mentioned in another video that i just picked up a 2010 RS with 74k miles on it. And with all you're maintenance videos it'll give me an idea of what I may need to do down the road. Or what I can do to prevent it. I'm a crew chief at an auto center. So I have the mechanical skill. But its good to see stuff first hand before it catches me by surprise. Keep it up dude! Thanks again!

Great video I've had the dealer use bg products the clean my fuel injectors and it worked good but I do my oil changes every 3000 miles

I love the look of these late model Camaros. The instrument pod absolutely sucks though! I hope that stuff worked and am looking forward to seeing it opened up and the timing chain change.

I know a lot of people hate this engine (3.6L V6 direct injection) but I have had good luck with it. Used to own a 2008 Buick Enclave. Had that engine for about 10 years, 150,000 miles. Really never had trouble with it. Used BG products every 30,000 miles to keep the direct injection system clean, and the engine was good. I believe this engine comes down to maintenance, but most don't do it correctly as GM has nothing in the maintenance plan about cleaning the direct injection system. Same thing goes for the 2.0L Ecotec turbo 4 cylinder direct injection engine which I now have in a 2018 Buick Envision. Cleaned it again with BG products at 30,000 and so far no issues but a young 36,000 miles.

It's sad seeing how the previous owner maintained this car as these really are great cars. I have a 2010 SS with a full bolt on and cammed LS3, and it has been the best and most reliable car I have owned. I am sure JR will get this one back in top shape though!

I've been a Technician for 38 years and I can tell you that your chances of success is slim to none. Plugged pick up screen, stuck oil pressure relief valve and or oil filter full of sludge chowder. Completely contaminated VVT oil circuits.

About the main thing I look at is that . The oil slug that possibly wasn't all removed from oil pan will get sucked up by oil pickup tube and clog up the screen . I would remove the oil pan just so u know 100% that it is clean inside the oil pan in the oil pump screen is not clogged at all .

You fixing and/or flipping cars that regular guys can buy is what we love you for. Keep it up. Your content is great.

JR was finally forced to use funnels....

I watched with great interest. I have an '11 Chevy Traverse with this engine, 125k on the clock. When I bought it last year, was told the timing chains and tensioners were done, showed paperwork. Car ran well, but I went ahead and dropped the oil and changed the filter. When I looked down the oil fill, saw a LOT of varnish on the cam. I bought a gallon of good ol' Marvel Mystery Oil and put about a quart and a half in. Topped the oil and drove her about 150-200 miles and dropped the oil again. New filter and oil, another quart and a half of Marvel, oil, and drove her another 200 miles. Dropped the oil and it came out MUCH cleaner than before. Rinse and repeat. I've put about 1k of miles on her, powerful and smooth. Almost time for another change now. Looked down the fill hole and was quite surprised that the cam was almost completely clean!!! After the next change, I'll drop the oil at 3k miles and a new filter every time. Good old Marvel to the rescue!! I had no idea about the cleaner you used on the Camaro; might have gone that way instead. Previous owner was lax about oil changes like on your car John. But took great care of all cosmetics and all other mechanicals on this girl! Oil changes are EASY. Can't understand why folks let them slide!!!!! Cheaper than a new engine, as my dad used to say!

Looks great! I’d pop open the oil pan to see if the sludge went to the pan

One of the few RU-vid channels that I watch videos cover to cover. You and Chris fix.

WOW! That seemed to do a ton with breaking down that sludge. I've had the B&G cooling system and trans flushes done before with awesome results. Might have this done on my high mileage cars!

Had two of these flushes done. 1000 bucks later same codes and sludge. Kia cadenza 46k miles. I really hoped it would work. BG even gave the mechanic a second kit and he just charged me for the oil changes and labor.

Nice video, looking forward to the next ones. Just a note though, when adding fuel cleaner, use a clean funnel! When I inspect oil filters, I cut out a section of the media and lay it out, the folds are where the debris will collect. It will be much easier to see and pass a magnet over it to draw out any iron. Works good on iron block diesels but, might not be much help on aluminum gas engines.

I’ve had a few cars I’ve been able to revive with BG products. When you got over 6qts buy the 32oz bottle of EPR and a couple cans of MOA. EPR also amazing in diesels

I normally use diesel to remove engine sludge. Before an oil change I put a quart of diesel in the oil and run it an idle for 10 min then drain the oil. Had pretty good results so far.

I’ve done lots of chain kits on Vz and Ve Commodores. Sludgy engines due to poor ventilation. It pays to drop the sump and manually clean all the sludge out safely rather than flushing. Replace the oil pick up O-ring and strainer while you’re in there 👍

In the old days when we had a sledged up engine like that we drained the oil and used kerosene to clean out the engine. Worked in anything that quakerstate had been used in.

I love cartridge filters. I had one on the 2.2 Ecotech on the '04 Ion 1 that I owned. It made a fraction of a mess that the regular filters on my other vehicles make changing them. The only one I didn't like was the cartridge filter in the '91 Grand Am LE because it was on the bottom of the engine and the cap was thin sheet metal and the molded 'nut' stripped from it.

Once you see sludge, build up and an engine. It is an absolute indicator that the damage is already done

Would you still get sludge if you regularly changed oil with an oil extractor through dipstick. I've change mine yearly every 3k there's nothing on filter, or on the cap and car runs just fine.

i worked at a VW performance shop we used to put diesel gas in to the engine it would fix the stuck lifters 99% of the time

Might want to have J & J Auto Wrecking on the lookout for a low mileage Camaro Engine

A few moments later.... "Looks like we have to put in a new engine"

I've had good luck with BG products in the past. I don't have any experience with this particular one though. Hopefully it saves you some money and work. Love your channel.

“Never fix an engine” eh, more of a guideline than a rule… Makes for good video… :)

Haven't gotten more than 20 seconds in but as a fuel and lubrications expert BG is the shiz it won't fix broken but it's amazing how well it works.

I use BG Products at work. Mainly on diesel trucks. I sent a link to my BG rep so he can enjoy your journey too.

BG is good stuff. They make an additive that helps every single system on a vehicle. Just added their tire air additive. Supposed to keep the tires from dry rotting and from developing stiff spots in the sidewall.

Filling the crankcase with diesel and running it also achieves the same results. Excellent flush and cleaner. Very cheap as well.

I was never really a fan of additives and “snake oils”. But after selling BG products for several years at a dealership, I’d have no hesitation recommending their stuff for their intended purposes.

I wonder what the inside of the oil pan looks like.

Vent the un pcv'd valve cover. Seems to be the reason alloytec's keep dropping chains. R.I.P HOLDEN

Car Ninjas shop: Mini, BMW, Fiat, BMW, Mercedes... Chevy.

These engines are known for stretching timing chains from long maintenance intervals/extended run time at low oil level. I experienced this on an Ultra low mileage Enclave I purchased as a daily driver. One owner Vehicle had 48k miles and CEL came on - timing was off and soon after cats clogged and burned due to running rich. Long story short your going to need timing chains, cats, O2 sensors, check cam actuators and clean out the valve covers/change PCV. You will be surprised how finicky these engines are to maintaining the right amount of oil and interval. These do suffer from too much oil vapor getting sucked from the crank case to intake - CHANGE THE HEADCOVER GASKETS - GM updates the design and didn’t tell anyone. Make sure you get the new ones from the dealer! Good luck brotha - enjoying the channel!

You should be able to see the Oil Pressure and Temp on the dashboard if you toggle through the dash display. I can on my 2014

I use Berriman's B12 Chemtool. It does the same thing. I have bought many lemons in the exact same condition. I could use other solvents, but the price per ounce is about the same, and the b12 works. As for the additive blend that's based on bearing wear.

Should used sea foam next. Change the timing chain and guides. Change the pvc and idle air control valve just in case and clean the oil pan and magnet.

That's what happens when you change the oil every 10k previous owner must have never done routine PM's I was surprised with the flush looks like it did a decent job. Hope it works out for you. 👍

The Car Ninja definitely needs a RU-vid channel and an IG social media manager...JR?

For a leaking evaporator use red angel system sealer, the 2oz bottle, I ve used it on two cars OMG it works great. 2010 mustang, was able to avoid pulling the dash. You know once you have a repair like that it will never be the same.

It is from Oklahoma, noticed a David Stanley Chevrolet sticker on the last video.

Very interesting and i'm curious to know the end result once you fixed all error codes.

Shout out to the Ninja.👍

The variance in RPM was due to the AC compressor kicking on if you look at the part of the video where you are checking the oil pressure you can see it goes off and on.

Cant wait to see under those valve cover John Ross! If that treatment does well, that will be 300 dollars well spent!

Thanks for keeping us entertained with great and plentiful content, JR 👌🏻

A 10 year old v6 Camaro with a possible bad engine for “only” $4k? Seems kinda steep.

Big fan of BG products. But, for this engine I would run Valvoline Premium Blue Restore (available at Cummins dealers). It's designed to run a full service interval and it will clean an engine. In the case of this particular engine I would have done both. Run the BG treatment first, and then the Valvoline for a service envelop. THEN do the engine mechanical stuff :)

I'm digging this diagnosis and repair series even though I don't own a Camaro.

As someone else pointed out unplugged connector at 3.35, worth pointing out to make sure you put it back on as not shown on video.

Wait a minute.......at the very end there you mentioned clogged cats’? That’s a big part of your engine problems.

Major difference with the camera setting for movie mode! Definitely satisfying to see all the junk that came out of there.

BG is good stuff!!

Try RVS engine restore, it works great in these situations. It coats any surfaces where there's metal to metal friction and restores tolerances.

You know with that much sludge it may be a good idea to pull the pan and check the oil pickup screen. Just for safety sake.

Good work. Change all the fluids

I mean it's a 3.6L. I've seen them needing timing chains within the lease.

Really hoping this goes better for you than the BMW did JR. Looks positive so far!

Poor man's equivalent is to add trans fluid to the oil and run, has anyone heard off that?

GM had some of the world's best V6s in the 80s and 90s, GNX, Typhoon, Syclone. Can't forget to mention every 4.3 and 3.8 ever made. WTF happened since then? Should have made an ls based v6 for the new standard.

well I'm changing my oil more often

I’d love to see a fluid sample analysis for wear metals in that goop that came out.

Sounds like what the doctor gives you to clean out lol

Jr id be pulling the pan off and checking oil pick up screen after you've put the cleaner through it. it will give you peace of mind if nothing else. Also the sludge that frees itself has to go somewhere..We had an imported Volvo xc90 come in from the importer with oil pressure dropping off at revs. The car had 120000kms on it and was immaculate. So we put a flush through it and then fresh oil and filter. The importer didn't want to spend any money on it because it cuts into his profit. That fixed it for 3 days and it came back again with the same problem, so this time we did it properly . We took the rocker cover off and it was way worse than your car you have there. You could hardly see the cams. We sprayed degreaser on to the cams and brushed the worst of it off and drained it over night So the next morning we pulled off the pan and scraped out the inch and a half of sludge that hadnt drained out over night. You could see the impression the oil pickup had made in the sludge. It was like asoft grease.we took the oil pick up off and set fire to it with some gas in a steel tray outside on bricks. The oil pressure relief came out too and we cleaned it out and refitted it. It burns the sludge off the screen without damaging it. It turns to carbon and washes off with degreaser. We hired a steam cleaner ( A hot pressure washer) Jacked it up and stood on a step ladder and blasted it from the top down and the from the bottom up. a messy job. It went back together . We put fresh oil in it and a filter in it and the importer gave the new owners a free oil change after 1000km of purchase. it worked. We think some one put in the wrong type of oil at some stage in its life. maybe a heavy diesel rated oil.

15:15 AvE: Focus, you fack...

I have used the 5min. Motor Flush product from Gunk/Motor Medic in crappy car engines for years now, with great success. They even have a formula for turbocharged/diesel engines as well.

"Test pipes" coming soon.

Would you please plug in the oil pressure sensor. The connector hanging by the oil filter is driving me nuts.

Why does that look like a can of liquid Swartz, does the car ninja know Yogurt the All-Powerful?

We've got a lot of that red dirt/clay here in Texas too. Not just the OK/TX border.

I've seen way worse engines when I was a ford tech, and we just fixed what was broken and sent them with a warning

Once just open the oil pan and have a look at the pickup tube. It will be really helpful. At times they clog up and you won't have the required oil flow or lubricant happening in the engine.

"never fix an Engine"... Tries to fix one right after he tried to fix one. ;)

Saw that you opened the hood so as to run cooler during that stint at 3K rpm.... that actually is worse, because it allows air to bypass the radiator as the fan draws it in. With the hood closed the air is forced to go through the radiator into the engine compartment, helping the radiator do its job and keep the engine cool.

Could you have purchased another 6 quarts of the rinse oil? Doing that step again to see if the oil comes out any clearer would have been the ticket imo.

Boy that engine is loud.

If your going to do this to any car I'd suggest using a drill to spin the oil pump instead of running the motor. Theres no heat , no risk of combustion, and just safer.

nothing but a commercial

Hey! I used to work for BG in KCMO. Fun fact: BG doesn’t stand for anything. It was a way for the company to get a top corner page in the Yellow pages!

Super satisfying watching all of that sludge come out of that engine.

The penzoil ultra platinum does really well at cleaning varnish as well going forward

So many dealers today won’t go in depth with an engine, it’s replace or go somewhere else. I had one local say a head gasket on an iron block iron head engine needed a new engine.

I had the same exact issue with my aunts cadillac cts 3.6, that has the same exact engine. If your seeing sparkles in the oil filter, thats more likely rod bearing. Our oil sludged up and took out the rod bearings, and me being slick to save money. I just dropped the pan myself, sanded the crankshaft journals smooth and put all new rod bearings, but torqued the problem bearing 10 pounds more and surprisingly that lasted for 2 years, but because they didnt keep up with the oil changes again, they destroyed the engine. This time the mechanic slapped in a new crankshaft, and bearings.

Great vid. In older engines I desludge them by adding a full liter (quart) of diesel fuel

Best engine flush in the world I've seen is shell rotella t4. It freed the rings on my lawnmower that was a 2 quart per mow mosquito fogging unit, doesn't burn a drop now, it cleaned the sludge out of my 900hr rental jetski that Mobil 1 wouldn't touch, I gained near 5mph. It's cheap, so if I have an abused engine, I do 3 or 4 changes over the course of a few hundred miles or 10ish hours of runtime. First few changes it'll look black as diesel oil (convenient since it is diesel oil, that's why it has such strong detergents and particle suspension properties) and eventually it stops turning as black, then you know it's good. Since I'm in a hot environment I run 15w40 in literally everything I own.

Run Royal Purple in it. I was a amazed at how much it helped my sisters Camry. Yes. Even royal purple said that we would have to change the oil and filter after 500 miles if engine was bad. After 500 miles the oil came out black as coal we changed the oil 2 more times at 1k mile intervals finally on the 4th oil change it was staying purple and could last 3k miles.

Hey JR, check the OIL PICKUP!! Make sure it's clean and not blocked, and wipe out the pan as well.

I have seen other people get the camera to focus on shiny objects close up by cupping their hand around the object. Good luck with this one JR!