Q: I had my oil changed and they told me I have sludge on my engine, how can I clean it up to prevent any damage?

Although unfortunate, a limited presence of sludge in an engine does not necessarily require intervention. Really, the extent of the contamination would have to be confirmed before any useful advice could be given to you. If the sludge is limited to contamination in the cylinder head area, and there is no blockage of the oil pick up screen or oil galleys in the engine, your best course may be to simply change the oil more often for a while and use high quality synthetic oil. If the engine is heavily contaminated, though, the valve cover and oil pan should be removed to assess the situation and indeed manually clean as much as possible prior to introducing any cleaning compounds. There are products on the market such as SeaFoam and Auto-Rx but, again, use of those products would be premature, and could worsen your situation (if, for example, they loosen material that then gets entrained in the oil pump, pick up screen and passageways), until your engine could be carefully examined by a knowledgeable professional. If you desire an inspection and consideration of this issue, the same could be conveniently done during an oil/filter change, scheduled at your convenience right at your location. If you have further questions or concerns, do not hesitate to re-contact YourMechanic as we are always here to help you.