An Old Timer's Oil Flush...

when i was a kid , we used kerosene to flush motors . no oil but only ran them for a few minutes . worked well .

 

bilstein oil flush machine at a euro shop

 

I worked at a service station in the early 50s as my first job..Engine flushing was a common thing to do with oil changes..
we used 4 qts kero with 1 qt oil,,let idle for 15 minutes,drain,refill with new oil and filter(I say filter as some did not have filters in those days)

 

hehehehehehhee....
ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

 

I did this when I was a kid In the '80s on my first '60 olds. I used some engine flush that came in an old style oil can, can't remember what it was called (CDI,CDL?). The car had been sitting for ten years. It didn'tseam to hurt it, but I think it leaked more oil afterwards. Somebody told me at the time it was a bad idea because the sludge I was trying to remove was helping hold the motor together.
I was also told that back before the 70's, oil had a high ash content, which is why you always saw sludge. Nowadays it is refined better and you never see sludge. So if an engine has been rebuilt in the last 30 years, I wouldn't think this would be needed.

 

Actually what I was told was that some oils like quaker state or penzoil or havoline had a high parafin content and that is why they sludged up. I do know that some oils are worse than others.

 

The ATF or diesel/ kerosene flush works great.

What I do on an older " unknown" engine is pull the tin and s****e/ brush clean as much sludge and goo off as I can prior to doing a flush.


I had a old 460 in a LINCOLIN years ago that had a bad sludge issue.

I pulled the valve covers and oil pan and intake and cleaned as much sludge out as I could with brushes and diesel fuel.

Put it all back together and did a diesel 50/50 mix with oil for about 30 minutes.

Then drained and refilled with new oil when I got in the morning for 1 week

After that the oil was clean and no sludge to speak of

On an unknown engine to do a flush without inspecting inside of the engine I would be a little Leary of plugging something up and doing more damage

Then I drove the car every day back and forth to work ( about 40 minutes one way) then when I got to work

 

I bought a 55 Chrysler that had been sitting for 20 years. I tryed to start it and failed, so I decided to rebuild it.

When I took of the oil pan, I discovered about 1 and 1/2" of sludge all around the area where the oil pickup screen was located.
I could only imagin what would happen if I had gotten it running and had flushed the engine with kerosene..

 

When I was racing, one night I ended up in a sand bank, covering the engine with sand. I put in a couple of quarts of kerosene and ran it for a few minutes, then changed the oil. Cleaned it up real good with zero problems. This was on a Y-block Ford 272.
Tom

 

I worked as a mechanic in a s/w Louisiana refinery lots of heat and a 10mph speed limit. Engine sludge and stuck lifters was a common problem we used CD2 by alemite it worked wonders. We added two bottles and drove for a day before oil change.

 

I have used the flush on older wore out engines, right before an oil change never a problem.

Old story, I was told in the 80s Quaker State oil had changed to a parifin (wax) base insted of a petrolyum base, and never to use it. I never did and still dont.
Im sure it was a castrol or penzol guy that started that rummar. I dont know if there is any truth to it or not.

Godspeed
MrC.

 

The Quaker State thing was around at least in the early 70's, maybe earlier. On another note, I'd used Valvoline religuosly for over ten years, in an OT since new. Tore it down for bearings, and damn near cried. Helluva mess, but a PVC problem was the real culprit. Still shyed me away from the big V.

 

I was hearing about the parifin thing clear back in the '60s and not from industry reps from mechanics that had been around a lot longer than I have.

I do know this they say the proof is in the pudding and that is what you get with an oil with a high parifin content.

 

I had the same thing happen to me,that Don's Hot Rods,had. While my wife was out of town I thought I would tune up her car, and flush the engine. It was a 79 LTD,that was all Gunked up from the previous owners driving habits. Well the next day after about 50 miles of driving,the engine threw a rod. On tear down I found the oil screen plugged solid with chunks of hard sludge.

 

Back in the 40's I use to go with my Dad
to do his Oil Change, All the Men in our area
would go to this place that had a in ground lift
and they would Change the Oil & Drop the oil pan
and Clean it out, This was on a 36 Plymouth
2 door sedan
which would be a Ritual at the Time
and sometimes he would do a Flush with Kerosene

just my 3.5 cents

 

If I thought the sludge was minor enough not to overwhelm the pickup screen I'd still worry what level of dilution with kero, etc would leave the oil too thin to create a decently thick hydrodynamic wedge in the rod and main bearings for any driving, or protect the cam and lifters at all, even just idling, even with the remnants of ZZDP enriched oil

 

Running any engine with only kerosene or diesel surely won't do your bearings any good. If an engine has a lot of compression, even worse. I have pulled valve covers off engines that had run Quakerstate for 80k and found the valve springs running in p***ages of hard built up paraffin at least 1.5 in high. On one engine, I know the oil was changed every 3k. The lifters were plugged up and rattling. If I felt an engine had to be flushed, personally I'd pull the pan and intake and go from there. Just my $.02

 

I did the 1 qt diesel and the old oil inna OT 4 cyl. no load on the motor, just idle.
Got alot of crud when I changed oil. Also put 1/2 a gallon in the gas tank and it relit the converter. a 500 mile day later and it breezed right through emmisions.
$50.00 car they were gonna s****.

 

Too bad that wasnt the age of video cameras, it would have been a big hit on YouTube.

 

I knew a guy who used to drain the oil out of his 66 Mustang, fill it with kerosene and run it for about two minutes at every oil change. Didn't seem to hurt anything, he had the car several years with no problems. Doesn't look like anything I would do.

 

My first car had sludge so bad it did not want to come out. My dad told me to get as much out as I could, then put 1 gallon of diesel fuel mixed with 1 quart oil. Let it idle for 30 minutes, shut it off then drain. After that I ran that 327 for 7 years no problems, did routine oil changes but ran great.

 

All good info and stories in here. I just picked up a pan gasket for the Buick and I'm planning on dropping the pan, cleaning out as much as I can manually and then doing a quick kerosene/oil flush.

For what its worth, the motor in question is a Buick 248 OHV Strait-8. It has good oil pressure and power, but still has some lifter noise after three oil changes, and I'm still getting sludge. As far as I know the car sat for about 10-15 years before I bought it and started going through it. Everything seems to be in tip-top condition, it only has 19k original miles on it, and yes, given the originality of the car and its condition I believe the mileage.

I'll let you guys know how it goes...

 

I work with a guy (ASE tech for 30 yrs) that decided to flush his OT 6.5 diesel. We have a Wynn's machine that pumps and filters kerosene solution in the engine while it's not running. Well super genius thought it would be better if it was running while this solution was being pumped in. It ran about 10 minutes before it locked up tighter than ****s hat band. Ended up replacing crank and bearings doh!

The machine does a decent job, it pumps in the fluid and ****ed out through the drain and filtered. Less chance of clogging the pick-up screen.

 

I used to pour kerosene into my old Yblock Ford and run it on straight kerosene for just a few seconds, enough to slosh around in there and wash out the gunk. It was a Yblock and they are tough as tractors but I wouldn't do it on a good engine.

 

That,or showing a guy pop the hood at a gas station,,pump a gallon of Chevron with Techron into the rocker cover,,& drive home....home being only "15 minutes" away.
No more than a gallon though,,

 

If it's that bad take off the pan and s****e it out. You don't want that **** going through your oil pump and bearings.

The last car I had, that someone gave the engine flush treatment to, was a 52 New Yorker 331 hemi. When I took the engine apart it looked like someone mashed up a couple of boxes of corn flakes and mixed it in the oil. Previous owner told me he thought he would do the engine a favor and flush it out so he bought a can of engine flush and poured it in.

Luckily the bearings survived but I had to replace the oil pump and take the lifters apart and clean them out. They had special lifters, that are no longer made, that can be taken apart.

 

Quaker state and Penzoil are pretty much the same, If you use it You will notice that when you change your oil it is Not Black like other Oils, I worked for maher Oil company for almost 12 years, And Universial Oil Co for another 2 years. For the most part Oil is Oil, Conoco, phillips, Parts House brands etc....Are all the same. Just like gasoline. I almost can not control myself from bursting out laughing at someone when they tell me their car runs better on One stations gas than another.....Its in their head, As I hauled the **** for 12 years and know it is all the same. I have seen all the compare test on all brand Oils, And personaly I Use rotella 15/40 In all my late model Cars. And I buy my gas wherever the closest place is when I am on emty.

 

Onliest time I ever flushed an engine was when I forgot to put the drain plug back in the pan and poured the new oil in and then watched it spread out evenly across the garage floor.

 

Dropping the pan and cleaning out the sludge by hand is the best way to it. Dont try to "flush" anything through the engine, you dont want all that **** going through the bearings.

 

I was also told this info by a very good mechanic.