Yep I got lucky with my grand marquis because while it was owned by an old man he drove long distances and the maintenance was done. Thing doesn't burn any oil between 7k (full synthetic oil) and gets 30 mpg highway. I avoid those "old lady only drove it to church" cars because from my experience those cars have a lot issues. Cars don't like sitting they like being driven on the highway for a long period of time. My Jeep has 230k but other than typical wear and tear (steering parts and suspension) the engine and transmission are strong. The engine will shove you to the back of your' seat when you floor it and the transmission shifts fast and smooth. I was debating buying a 2009-2012 Wrangler when work picks up but you know what instead of spending 20k I'll just spend 1,300k fixing this one up (that's for every single issue this Jeep has). Okay I'm done de-railing this thread.

 

I replaced my leaky valve cover gasket soon after buying it in 2013
It was clean and looked good!
I am running mobile 1 5W-30 synthetic/Mopar oil filter

 

Cruiser, will my oil pressure drop down as the sludge slowly gets removed? I'm not really sure if it the sending unit actually works, but I ordered a new Mopar one that should be here soon. I'm doing all the connections in your tips when the weather clears up now that the Ox-Gard showed up, maybe that will help it read properly too?

 

Worse than this engine? Holy mother of car Gods! I don't understand how people can let them get like this, although when I was much younger (18-20) I did treat my old 73 Mustang like crap. I was terrible at keeping that engine maintained properly and ended up having a valve break and shatter one of the pistons driving down the highway at 70 mph.

 

It shouldn't drop at all.

Get the dose of Rotella and MMO in there and drive it.

 

That's the danger of going the high-detergent route. Those chunks can clog small passages and trash a bearing.