Really Dirty Engine?

I have a smooth running 331 Cadillac engine. By smooth I mean like put your gl*** of water on it and see the small ripples smooth. However when you take off the valve cover it looks like a candle blew up in there. All that old Parafin wax coating is on everything and not just a little I mean thick as caramel on an apple thick. I know the most thorough answer is to take the whole engine apart and hot tank everything and then put it all back together with new bearings and rings at the very least. That will happen eventually, but in the mean time after I s****e and clean all the stuff off the top end is there something that will loosen up the sludge and let the engine be cleaned through regular filtration in the short term? I hate to pull this apart already, I'm really looking forward to driving in my '33 this summer.


Thank you,

Tim

 

let sleeping dogs lie...

 

Like the above poster and his avatar suggest, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

 

I would leave it as is and just do routine oil changes. Wait until you want to do the rebuild thing, mess with it now and you may be doing the task earlier than expected.

I had the s***miest looking 283 in the world in a '66 caprice beater I had years back. Outside, inside, it was a greasy mess. Like yours, it idled fine, ran great in cold or hot weather and even in the rain.. with the oil-soaked OEM wires.

Bob

 

eXactly - your oil pressre and everything else will go south - no s****ing - no motor flush chemicals. Change the oil as often or as seldom as you like - but leave the dog alone....

 

Thanks Guys,

That's what I was thinking but man is it filthy. I guess like an M&M or Skittle it'll melt in the hot tank not in the interim.


Tim

 

what temp thermostat is it?

 

My first 56 Bel Air 265 was like that. I could get it to idle smooth at a very low rev. The hydraulic tappets were loud though (I'm sure because of the deposit build up). Back then, I thought I could aleviate the noise through tappet adjustment. I remember removing the cover and it seemed like there was just enough room left for the valvetrain to move. I then dug all of that out and fooled with the tappet adjustment. The engine never ran smooth, after that.
I'd suggest ridding yours of all visible deposits and then run a high-detergent (mineral and not synthetic) oil through, changing the oil at frequent intervals. Avoid anything except long distance, perferably freeway, travel. Extreme deposits of this nature are the result of elderly ownership of vehicles used at short operational intervals within short distances.
As mentioned in the previous post, engine temperature is of utmost importance. Cleansing the engine in the manner of which I reccomend would be a vain undertaking with a faulty thermostat

 

you get that stuff stirred up, you're only asking for trouble. Wait until the rebuild to clean.

 

He's got an oil filter. The mud will just settle to the bottom and get picked up there. He should make it a point to change the filter frequently, though. Besides, from what he claims, it'll be a long while until his engine will need a rebuild. Those old Caddies are known for their high quality engines

 

And plug the pick up screen to the oil pump----LEAVE IT ALONE , cover it up and run it.

 

Plugging his oil intake will give him a reason to rebuild, though

 

Sure it has a filter, but it will kill the pump before it settles in the filter. A mate had a Willys Jeep in the 70s, it had a waxy motor and ran diesel oil in it, it was dead in a week!!! Leave it !!!. JW

 

Diesel oil is quite radical. It would be like giving your car a laxative which leads to cardiac arrest caused by a clogged artery. If anything, use the proper oil formulated for such duty

 

I know that and was just giving an example of what happens when that sh!t gets loose in there. JW

 

Don't mess with it. If you disturb the crud on the top end it will end up in the pan. Just leave it alone for now, no one will know but you (and us). Ken

 

As many have stated leave well enough alone and drive it.

In the late 80's we picked up a whistle clean Ford LTD wagon with a 351M which had a broken valve spring, when we took of the valve cover it was sludge city, we changed the valve springs and closed it back up. It also had really noisy lifters and we decided to change the oil every 300-500 miles with the absolute cheapest oil we could find and after 3 or 4 of the oil changes the lifters cleaned out enough that they were quiet forever.

 

Dont mess with it!

get the engine operating temp up ( check thermostat) and change the oil often with a good filter. It will clean up on its own

when its time for a rebuild is when you deal with whats left

 

331 Cads only have a partial flow oil filtration anyway.**** would go through the entire engine if you disturbed it.As the others said,if it ain't broken,don't fix it.

 

That wax is what is keeping it smooth.

I have flushed old engines with #2 diesel before, fill with oil add a quart and run it for about 20 minutes. then drain, pull the pan clean it real well and fill with oil and run it again for 20 minutes or so, then drain clean the pan and then just keep an eye on oil pressure after that.

My experience is that it is just a quick fix and the engines did not last forever after that. Some went a long ways and others didn't.

If you just want to cruise it for the loud season maybe letting it alone is a good idea like tb33anda3rd said first crack out of the barrel. I may go one step farther (or is that further ) and pull the pan and clean the **** out of it prior to hitting the road with it.

 

I agree with what has been said too, dont **** with it. OR tear it right down, and clean everything. No in between ****, you will just hurt the engine and your wallet later.

That said, I'd still clean it out myself, pull it and tear it down, keep everything in order and put it all back where it came from and just clean everything, then lube it and put it back together. I'd hate to have it **** up some junk and plug the oil pump and run the engine dry.... Ruining a nice day or cruise.. I have ran my engine that I did just that to for the last 3 years, no new bearings or rings just new gaskets and seals. I race it as much as possible too.

Its amazing how well engines run in bad cir***stances sometimes.

 

vacuumed off the loose stuffI disturbed from removing the valve cover put new gaskets in it and closed her up. I ran it before and so it'll be.


Thanks,
Tim

 

I traded for a 32 coupe with an old 282 in it. I went to change the oil and the old canister filter was filled with tar like substance.I removed the valve covers, intake and pan and washed everything with kerosene. Changed the oil a few times and never had a problem with it. Not recommended but it worked for me>\.

 

Hey Roadster that sounds like my Dad. He had a 49 Buick straight 8 that was gummed up . We put 1 quart of varsol and 4 qts of 10 weight oil in it and ran it for 20 min. Drained it, filled it with 10 w 30 and drove it till I blew the clutch out of it. I never got to drive it again after he got it fixed. But it ran for years.

 

You can get most of that chocolate out, by removing the valve covers and intake manifold, if the others have scared you away from doing it my way. Those pre-PCV engines with draft tubes suffered piston blow-by saunas which disappeared upon the debut of vaccuum ventilation. Wherever there wasn't a direct oil splash, the residue would just collect to anywhere it could. Under the manifold would be the area of most of those deposits.
Once you're done, you can can run that special oil developed for removing deposits. This is especially important to free those old styled oil rings and the lubrication ports in the oil ring piston grooves. This should ***ure a minimum of exhaust port carbon build-up, afterwards.
In any event, it's best do deal with it chemically to keep those pistons and cylinders properly oiled.
I'd check on gasket availabilty, first

 

I would rebuild, just not a fan of sludge

 

Like grampa used to say....Don't wake a sleeping baby to feed it.

 

well if ya aint gonna rebuild it now thats the best thing.you get some of that sludge movin in that engine and you can and probably would clog up a oil p***age.i dont care what you add to the oil or do to that engine to clean it without a complete teardown your going to get some sluge you missed movin and there goes a engine.seen it happen to many times.tried to tell my buddies back in the day not to add this or that to one but some didnt listen. glad they didnt i got paid to rebuild them.

 

What did gramps say about waking their mothers at feeding time?

 

If it was my motor I would dis***emble it enough to clean it out before using,if its that dirty up top just imagine how bad it is in the oil pan. The motor that was in my wagon had the pick up screen completely covered in sludge,it had oil pressure when cold but when it got hot it completely lost oil pressure and if I only known I could have dropped the pan and might have been able to save it.