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Browniepetersen

Put the 50 sedan up on a lift yesterday to drop the oil pan. This is always a treat but even more difficult since there were no oil leaks around the pan. This effort was because I did not know the history of the car. I expect that it had sat around for a number of years and there could be some sludg in the bottom. All the bolts came loose and I was unhappy about dropping the front suspension in order to pull out the pan but when I looked inside it was well worth the effort. Where the oil pump draws oil there was a pocket in the sludge. There were several clear cut channels through the sludge where the oil ran back to the pump pocket. When I measured the sludge,that by the way was more like jello, it was 4 1/2 inches deep. We cleaned the oil pump screen (not bad considering the sludge) and pulled the caps to check on the bearings. All was tight and all the clearances were right on speck. It ended up being four hours of work that when I drove the car it even sounded better as tooled around the block. So, when was the last time you pulled your oil pan???

Oldcar_Mechanic

I think that was a great idea. Most people that buy old cars never even look at the oil, they just drive them.

I think no matter what the previous owner says (unless it's someone you can really trust) this should be done on all cars bought just for the reasons you did yours.

Good thing you did, eh?

Good job
Ron

dougson

When I cleaned the oil pan from my 308 I noticed that the pickup/screen had worn a small area on the pan so thin that outside rust had created pin holes in the area. I had to have the affected area brazed to seal it.

Lee ODell

I'm glad I took the advice from experienced hudson owners when I bought my 47 Hudson PU, to drop the oil pan and tray to clean them. The truck had been setting for years and both the tray and oil pan were full of thick sludge. The pre stepdown Hudson connecting rods have scoopers that scoop oil from the tray and feed oil to the bearings. That's the only way for oil to get to the bearings. Had I started the engine before cleaning, the bearings would have received crud instead of clean oil and the bearing would have been ruined.

Thanks for bringing this subject up again. It is a good reminder since many Hudsons do not get used enough to keep sludge from collecting throughout the engine.

One thing I learned as an aircraft mechanic is; that airplanes wear out faster when they are not being used regularly. The same truth holds true with automobiles. They need to be driven for long periods of time rather than to occationally start them once a week, to help prevent sludge buildup.

Lee O'Dell

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