Hey guys. Since its been nice out around here Ive been using my '54 as a daily driver and on my way home from work the other day I noticed a ticking coming from the engine. So I pulled the valve cover today (and spent a couple hours cleaning it...man was that thing NASTY on the inside) and checked to make sure there was no stuck or broken lifters. Everything seemed to move as it should with the motor running and looked pretty good. It gets a little louder after the engines warmed up. Im thinking I just need to adjust the valve lash. Anyone have any good tips on doing this? I found some info online and I ordered the shop manual but its not here yet...Im also gonna do an oil and filter change. Im not sure whats in there now or how old it is. I read a couple oil threads and saw some guys suggest valvoline vr1 20w-50 and some just straight non-detergent 30w. I was just going to do 10w-30 but after reading those threads Im also wondering what anyone else running the 223 is using. Thanks for any help!
I'm running 15w-40 diesel oil but that's what I have handy and plan on pulling the six for a v-8. Here's a LINK to a site for engine specs.
You're in a sticky (pun intended) situation here, uglysteve. The built-up "sludge" needs to come out of your motor...but not all at once. If your valve cover area was bad, your oil pan will be much, much worse. The build-up is caused by using non-detergent oil AND long-term neglect of basic service functions. Here's how I'd deal with it: Drop the pan (I know, I know...an ugly job at best) and clean it out. Clean the bottom inside of the motor as best as you can at the same time. Then use the cheapest detergent oil you can buy along with the cheapest oil filters you can find (to keep the cost down) AND CHANGE THE OIL VERY FREQUENTLY - LIKE ONCE A WEEK AT LEAST IF YOU DRIVE IT EVERY DAY. Add a pint (blue bottle) of STP with every oil change. It's rich in ZDDP (the anti-friction agent your non-roller rocker motor needs, especially in the cam/lifter area) and isn't very expensive at WalMart. You can also add a half-pint of Marvel Mystery Oil and/or a half-pint of Dexron ATF for a little more detergent action if you want to. Just be careful not to over-fill your crankcase. DO NOT use an "engine flush" type additive. This will get TOO MUCH of the goo moving all at once, contaminating your oil with particulate faster than the oil filter can filter it out. The old phrase, "If a little's good, a lot will be better" DOES NOT APPLY HERE. You've got to dislodge the sludge slowly or you'll risk ruining the whole engine, especially if the oil filter gets clogged (if you've got a full-flow oil filter). If yours is the partial-flow type, change the oil more often and the filter less often. Note: If you've got a partial-flow oil filter, check to be sure that the oil lines going to it and from it are clear. They sludge up just like everything else and often get clogged so that your oil filter isn't working at all. Eventually you'll find that your oil stays cleaner longer. This is a sign that your work is paying off. Your only other safe alternative is to remove the engine, dis***emble it, clean all the parts sqeeky clean and then put it back together again. I've seen this done more than once on used motors (in sound condition) and it works very well but does cost time and money... Good luck!
****. I did an oil change yesterday and i used some engine flush stuff BEFORE i changed the oil. I put it in, ran the engine for 5 minutes, then drained everything out. Is that gonna be a problem? It was this stuff. I refilled it with the VR1 20w-50 (because of the higher zddp) and I bought a few cheap FRAM filters to use since i figured i'd have to be changing the oil often til its all cleaned out. I was planning on changing it again in a couple of days, as well as dropping the pan and cleaning that out So I feel like I was on the right track but now Im just worried that I blew it with the gunk flush stuff I put in. Thanks for the help guys.
Steve,save yourself some bucks and use this: http://www.autozone.com/autozone/ac...motor-oil/_/N-26qq?itemIdentifier=516264_0_0_ it is high in detergent but not excessive as some Diesel oils are and a little more ZDDP than the VR 1 the FRAM filters have less filtration for about the same price or less the STP filters at Autozone will work better for you.The GUNK Flush probably won't be a problem and you are on the right track by cleaning the pan and screen out later.Then you could go back to the VR-1 and a Motorcraft filter or NAPA Gold.After running the engine after the flush what color does the dipstick show?
I run valvoline vr-1 20w-50. I find the link below to be a valuable resource when doing anything with my engine. It is for a 1958 ford, but the engine specs should be pretty close. http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/manuals/Ford/1958/Service/01/1958FordGroup1/index.html
Well I just changed the oil again and it was still pretty black. The filter was already pretty plugged up. i guess ill just do it again in a few days. and the next time i have a day off of work i'll pull the pan and give it a good cleaning. Pretty psyched to see what that thing looks like... Thanks again for all the help you guys I really appreciate it.
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