I've been doing a bunch of research on it, since I saw the issue. I saw a ton of pics on the internet that were way worse than mine. Although the LIM and the inside of the valve cover gaskets were pretty goopy, the actual head and cam from what I could see looked relatively clean by comparison.

I like the idea of Auto-RX, but I'm a little hesitant to dump a cleaner in yet as I have a lifter that taps for a few seconds when you start the truck. My thought is that there must be an oil passageway partially blocked already, and I don't want to add to a possible issue.

My plan of action right now is as follows:

- change the oil every 500 miles or so w/ Rotella T 10W-30 for the remainder of the warm months of summer. Rotella T because of the higher detergent content.

- Use a good oil filter like the Purolator PureOne every time I dump it.

-after a few cycles I'll pull the pan and check the screen and scrape out any gunk from the bottom

-Another fresh oil change in the fall using the recommended oil from Auto-RX which I think the Rotella is specifically mentioned on their site.

-The rinse cycle should hopefully get the last of the mess out of there

-I'll probably run a second cycle of Auto-RX just to keep my mind at ease

-Switch back over to 5w-30 for the winter months

 

Joshua1023,

I concurred with Captain Hook and RRiddle3 on their comments, what happened to me, was my freeze plugs in the engine block were corrorded,
and to replace them you need to pull the engine out of the bay.

NWCoffee1