We did this a couple times on cars at the first shop I worked at. Pretty nasty job pressure washing the bottom end... Like Time Traveller said, we blew 'em dry and sprayed 'em with oil; ***embled, then we ran them up with fresh oil until hot, and changed the oil to check for any water contamination. Seemed to work just fine. -Bill
Motor oil only..... But first pull the pan and clean it out. I would then use a diesel motor oil like Rotella that is high detergent which will help clean it out slowly. Oil changes often will help clean it out and add to its life. Ron
As easy as it is to break down a 216, if it were mine, I'd remove both the pan and the head and let the local machine shop degunk them. Just realize that, if it's the stock '48 engine, the pan will have an oil squirting manifold in it for the connecting rods, and the aim of the six nozzles means EVERYTHING to the engine not burning out a rod bearing, so don't knock any of them out of alignment!
honetly the best way on that old 216 is to drop the pan. You can do it in the car but will have to dosconnect your idler arm and pitman arm ***mebly well thats atleast how you do it on 51 thru 54 but you do have front engine mounts on that engine. Aslo since it has set in the barn for that long you may also want to look at the crank and rods since you will have babbot bearings. Plus you wont only have sludge just in the pan also take the valve cover of to really take care of you sludge problem. And since the max oil pressure on that engine while running around say 2500 rpm will only be around 14psi take your oil screen and pick up out sludge will most likley be located there as well.
when i brought home my 36 ford, with orignal 21 stud flathead , i changed the oil i put in 3 qts and the stick said that it was full. I talked to some freinds of mine thay said that the pan was full of sludge. It was i pulled it off and ther was about 1 1/2 of **** in it. and you could not see through the oil pump screen. the best way is to remove the pan and clean it out. I dont think that all that solvent stuff will clean all that mess , taking it apart is the best way, good luck ,Brendog
well i added 1 qt of atf and ran it for about 200 miles , drained it ,no sludge.actually quit smoking too. im still going to pull the pan anyway. i have changed the oil 3 times and it looks pretty good.
Yep. People that don't know that motor, that are simply parrotting something they've heard from other nimrods, should know that loosening up that sludge is asking for trouble. The main bearings are lubricated by gravity from sludge chambers above the bearing, and loosening up sludge can plug the p***ageways and lead to immediate failure. Also the timeing gear is supplied by a little tiny hole and the loosening up of captured sludge will ALWAYS plug up that p***ageway. The sludge is collected and is rather hard, does not circulate. It's of no consequence unless disturbed. Either run it with normal oil and hope for the best, or pull the pan. Adding something that will loosen the sludge is the worst possible alternative.........
point well taken ,pulling the pan this weekend.hopefully the atf didnt break much loose. thanks for all the advice
The Jalopy Journal
