I have a '46 Ford Flathead, engine that has lot of sludge in the lifter valley. I know the right thing to do, is pull out and hot tank. However do not have the fund to accommodate, this fix. Does anyone think it will alright to clean out with solvent and brush, drain into the oil pan, and then clean that out. I have heard old time remedies of kerosene in oil. Or are there any other suggestions? Thanks to all who respond.
If you have the oil pan with the large clean out on the bottom you might get away with it. Otherwise I would recommend you have the pan off. All the sludge is going to go down into the lower end and cause problems. One school of thought is to leave the sludge alone, especially if it isn't causing any problems, then if you do a rebuild clean it all out.
Giving your engine a good flushing isn't going to damage anything. Chances are that you are close to needing an overhaul but this could buy you a little time by keeping what's left cleaned and lubed. The sludge got there by either neglect from never changing oil or as the result of excessive wear.
I have the same problem on an engine I have. I am afraid to put detergent oil in for fear it would loosen up all the sludge and clog up the oil p***ages like a heart attack. Would one be smarter to use non detergent oil so the sludge sits there? "Let sleeping dogs Lie" Of course the best is to rebuild or take apart and clean but not always necessary. How about removing and cleaning out the oil pan and lifter valley? Would that be enough? I as well as many could use some advice from the flathead experts. Gary M
Cleaning out the lifter valley like you suggest sound like the best course as well as the oil pan removal. If you're worried about stuff coming loose and getting into your oil galleries, pull the sump from the oil pump while you have the pan off and clean it too. Flatman
Cleaning is best. My g-grandfather p***ed on the kerosene / fuel oil trick. The thing is you have to keep on it over the years or the stuff is too thick to dissolve easily. Take a chunck out of the intake valley and drop it in some kerosene, you really will have to work it hard to dissolve it (so if you will be much better off at this point manually removing it). As stated I would drop the oil pan, not just that it might be hard to get the sludge out the small hole but your pan will likely have just as much sludge in it right now. I just cleaned out a pan that had about an inch in the bottom, if I would have tried to run like that the oil sump would have been submerged in the sludge. After all your work, the only thing that didn't get cleaned was the oil p***ages in the crank. Sometimes when you finally run them the sludge there lets loose, and its already in the worse possible place, of course many run just fine and never need the crank cleaned, but I would really recommend it when you do decide to rebuild.
like mention ed there is no subs***ute for a tear down and a hot tank cleaning.I had a beater car(reliant k 2.2 efi) got for nothing so putting money in it was out of the question. it had serious harding of tha arteries so a oldtimer told me to replace 2 quarts of oil with atf on the next oil change.then change the oil at 500 mile intervals and repeat the same mix. shure enough a few oil changes later no sludge whatsoever.atf is verry high in detergents just watch oil press carfully good luck
My father talked me into the half kerosene/half oil trick. It did remove a lot of ****, but it also clogged up the oil pump screen. I was able to pull the bottom "ring" off and clean out all of the newly loosened crud that I could reach. But the right way would have been to pull the whole pan. Having said that, I doubt if I'd try it again, other than a last resort thing before a rebuild.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot...I chainged the oil and filter three times after running the engine for about 15 minutes each time, before the oil coming out stopped looking like raw crude oil.
We used to haul them out in the street, wash/scrub with solvent/detergent,then hose[em off. Dry with compressed air, then new gaskets, paint and reinstall them. I suppose for 'quick,and dirty",drop the pan, take the intake off, and do the routine,with the block still in the car...REALLY 'butch' though...
Drop the pan...actually, do that last...remove the little snap-in baffles at bottom of vallev, clean and let anything you can't get out dissolve and run downhill into pan. NOW drop the pan, s****e and brush everything in sight, try to dig out all crud you can see. Once you can't get any more out, start hosing it down in there with spray cleaners, paying attention to all rotating crank and cam stuff, rotate engine by hand and reclean at different positions. Remove oil pump pickup and clean it up. When it's back together, obviously first oil change should be realdamnsoon! Sludge is more a result of poor ventilation than anything else, IMHO. Strongly consider adding a PCV at rebuild time!
Faced with same thing. Intake and pan and pump screen off but full of sludge. Am cleaning pump screen and pan but have been told not to clean out the lifter area or the underside of the pistons (where sludge dripped into when rotating engine on the stand to remove the pan). They figure using solvents will dislodge stuff that will end up working its way into bearings, etc.. I wish I could afford to do it right but I can't right now. Any suggestions greatly accepted.
I would clean out the valley as Bruce suggested. You have to start somewhere to clean it well. Run a 10w-30 detergent and change oil religiously every 400-500 miles. Flushthat**** out of there.
How much does it cost to dis***emble and clean and re***emble with new gaskets? I would clean it up as good as possible. I did clean up an IH 345 once like this. Removed valve covers, intake manifold and oil pan and cleaned everything up as good as possible. That was back when we could purchase stoddard solvent out here in CA, and I washed the whole thing down as good as I could get it, then put it back together with new gaskets and fresh oil & filter. If you can't get cleaning solvent, use brake clean, it works very well to disolve and remove contaminants. But it gets expensive. Also, use adequate ventilation to avoid breathing it in. Modern oils are formulated with very good detergent packages, they will help clean up whatever you can't get to. Change the oil frequently and don't over extend it (that's what caused all the sludge in the first place), and eventually the oil will clean it up. My recommendation as a lubrication engineer is to us a heavy duty diesel engine oil, I like 15W-40 out here in the west, but up in Alberta in the winter time you might want to use 10W-30 instead. Diesel engine oils are well fortified with detergents and dispersants to clean and disperse the contaminants. Good anti-wear performance too.
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