What’s your favorite way, potions, elixirs and magic to purge the guacamole out of the block? I want to take it all apart, clean it and reassemble it because I don’t think there’s a better way. That is also the most time consuming taking more clicks off the Calendar that he doesn’t have and the most costly too. The engine is out, heads off, front off, pan off.
If the engine is out I have done it with a case of brake kleen on an engine stand with good results. If it’s an engine I want to last and it’s tore down that far I usually pull rod and main caps to inspect. If the bearings are good, I’ll pull pistons and crank cam and lifters to power wash the block. Then reassemble.
Let’s say it isn’t built like a Swiss watch and a SBC I’d plumb a pick up hose to oil pump and prime (let oil fall where it will onto a catch pan) until clear enough for comfort.
Pressure wash it ? Hotsy parts washer ? Brake clean ? varsol in a spray bottle ? piss on it ? With the engine out. It’s all what the customer is willing to pay at this point . Billable hours are billable hours 1 hour ? 2 hours ? 8 hours ? how much does he want to spend ? I’ve had good luck with the engine in the car simply pulling the valve covers and cleaning under them as best I can then doing a bunch of oil changes in quick succession . with the engine out , like Tony Montana said , “The world is yours “
if its a runner new oil and drive till hot , drain and repeat, hot engine (HOT not warm so more than a slow trip around the block) repeat as necessary plus new filter when your happy (I dont mean 10 changes 2 should get it done if it gets HOT) then a early oil change , dont go full normal distance before changing .
I think the important question is why and how did the gunk get inside of the motor in the first place? Old motor, or newer? Has the cause of the gunk being there in the first place been corrected? Was it nasty enough you may be concerned about the condition of the rod, main, or cam bearings? You did inspect them, right? With the motor out of the car, heads off, front off, and oil pan off, hose it down with brake clean, dry it off, give everything afresh coat of oil, reassemble with new gaskets, and install in the car, put in fresh oil and filter, run the motor for a 1/2 hour after it reaches operating temp, change the oil and filter, and see where your at.
Hey 31Vic; I wouldn't do this on a known good mill, but to get one going, or "help it along for awhile", bring it back from the almost dead on a small budget, this'll(techniques from the 40's->60's) help: Since the heads, pan n front cover are already off, I'm guessing a whole lotta gunk in the mill, or one that either didn't get many oil/filter(if it had one)changes, or non-detergent oil was used. Can I also "ass/u/me" that the block/heads/ect aren't cracked & it's only from condensation? Anyway, I'd set it over a large thin container, & use a scraper to get what hard n sorta hard gunk off of the insides of the block. Then I'd use kerosene & a bristle brush to scrub as much mush & loose stuff from everywhere I could reach as possible. Kinda a messy job, as you want to orientate the mill so's the gunk n kerosene drops out of the mill, not back into it. Should be able to get most of the insides pretty clean that way. Suppose you could run an extra quart of kerosene in the 1st oil change(run at idle only) after it gets buttoned up, to clean out the passageways, but that does come w/a few concerns(Like, say, how much junk will go thru the bearings quickly?). If the insides weren't horrible, esp w/o caked-gunk, after getting buttoned up, I'd just use a couple of oil n filter changes(these could include a quart of Marvell Mystery Oil, or GM EOS, or SeaFoam - again at idle only, so's not to hurt the bearings by loading them), & on the 3rd one - before it goes back on the road - I'd use moble1 synthetic to help clean it up/out. If the bearings didn't rattle before, they shouldn't afterwards. Maybe a day to do this... ? (not w/my back issues, but any normal guy... ) . Oh, & if the milky is from only condensation, I'd discretely use a proper-sized PCV valve to slow that way down. PS: I'm not being condescending here - you did ask. . I do believe I'm quite aware of your abilities from past posts - some of which, sadly, have been "disappeared". Marcus...
Fix the source of the problem. Reassemble. Run up to temp. Drain oil and change filter. Repeat. Done. Devin
We used to go with a quart of kero and cheap oil at idle for a while, to hot. Need hot to purge water. (milky ) Drain hot and fill with clean good oil. Assuming it's apart and milky due to head gasket blown. The area of concern is internal. So tell us this isn't a race mill.
Is the milk oil all over and sludgy in the block? I’d imagine most has dropped out by now? I’d stick the pickup in oil, have a tub under it, spin the pump and rotate the engine by hand. Would get the majority out. Heck, alls I’ve ever done after needing a head gasket was drain the oil, refill and run it and change it 40/50 miles later. I’m assuming you had a lot of coolant/water in it though? Something must be making you uncomfortable about the shape of things?
A little more info- Yes it’s a Race engine I didn’t build- all fresh as of April 2022 it’s clean as a whistle. My diagnosis says cracked head because I’ve ruled out everything else but have no confirmation via bench tested head as of yet, neither pressure or magnaflux test performed yet. Im concerned about watery oil in the lifters, bearings, and everywhere else internal. And leftover water drops in there afterwards.
In my past life as a Test Engineer for a powersports manufacturer, we would often end up with a submerged engine during the course of field testing. (Think ATV getting drowned during a river crossing, or a snowmobile going through the ice, it happens). The procedure was to pull the spark plugs and oil filter, and drain the oil. Refill the crankcase and put a new oil filter on. We would then spin the motor to clear the combustion chamber of any water, and make sure the new oil was circulating properly, before reinstalling the spark plugs. Then, refire the motor and make sure it got up to temp, drive it 20 to 50 more miles (or however long it took you to get back to the shop / truck), before doing a 2nd complete oil and filter change again. Vary rarely would we have a problem with a motor after that, generally would get 1000's of more miles out them. Note, the main difference from automotive engines is that these motors had roller bearings rather than plane bearings, and the roller bearings were much more tolerant of contamination or poor oiling than plane bearings. However, we did drown a few engines with plane bearings, and used the same procedure with good success. The 2 stroke sled engines were notorious for scoring a cylinder if they took a gulp of lake water though, which makes sense if you think about how a 2 stroke operates.
If it is milky and you know or suspect antifreeze got in the oil, you had better check the rod and main bearings. Ethylene glycol attacks the bearing surfaces.
The first thing I would do is pull a couple rod caps and main bearing caps and look at bearings. If bearings are wiped you have your answer. I would then spray down engine internals with Purple Power or Super Clean followed by kerosene in a spray bottle. Install oil pan don’t worry about gasket and roll upright. Put three or four quarts of kerosene in pan. Then spin oil pump with drill motor to flush out oil galleries while rotating engine by hand. Drain kerosene and put engine back together. Run engine with cheap oil and new filter up to temperatures then change oil. The hard part is over with engine out and partly disassembled.
Please no Purple Power. I've no knowledge of Super Clean. I did Purple Power parts that oxidized. Very ugly. If the you can just run it hot, the moisture will be bye bye. I sit corrected by Boneyard51 below. It is right to do right, clean and dry. Engines get moisture ( Condensation ) in side all the time. Running them drives it away.
Well, I read that it is a race engine and is out on the stand with the pan off and heads off! I would completely disassemble it and inspect all the bearing and rings etc. Then clean it as you would any new engine. Making sure all passages are clean. Compressed air will help here, backed up with a cleaner afterwards , such as brake clean. Bones
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