Cleaning engine interior

[Putnam_Ct]

I have a 31 Coupe DG8. I do not know how long it has been sitting, I bought it in April of this year.

I was told the oil pan was dropped and screen cleaned etc. I have looked up through the drain plug and all looks very clean.

I recently used a pressurized tank to force oil up through the oil pump, hping to get some oil up into the engine before turning it over. I drained the oil to repump it up into the engine and found it to be very black. I am concerned that the engine has sat to long and the oil in upper parts of the engine has turned to sludge.

I have had several old timers tell me to force kerosene through the system until it come out rather clean. Then it would be okay to switch to oil and change that several times to get the kerosene out.

Has anyone ever done this? What are your thoughts? The only other thing I guess would be to pull the engine and have it boiled out.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Pete

[pepstrebeck]

I have done the kerosene flush on my model T, model A and 31 Buick but have not had the need to do it my Dodge, but would not hesitate. With each car there were no adverse effects at all. With the model T it was flushed out to get rid of build-up on the magneto from using synthetic motor oil, one of the additives started sticking to the magneto and it started running quite bad. Flushed it out, no problems. With the A the oil was as black and thick as roofing tar, flushed it out, no problems. The Buick had sat for a good number of years (35) and I was unsure of the cleanliness of the engine and flushed it out before I even started it, and as with the other two, no problems, other than it took three gallons of kerosene.

The model T and A both ran better and smoother afterwards, but as for the Buick I had no frame of reference to start with. In each case it was the same:

Remove spark plugs

Drain the oil and fill with kerosene

Crank engine over (I did it about 25-30 times) then drain kerosene

Refill with fresh oil, one quart low, then crank engine over again

Drain oil, refill with fresh oil, full

Crank the engine over again

Drain oil and refill with fresh oil

Replace spark plugs, and enjoy

This is what I have done on three different vehicles with good results and no adverse effects or problems. The T and the A were done three years ago and the Buick was done just this May and each runs very well. The only downside is getting rid of the waste kerosene and oil (in the case of the Buick, 12 gallons), it all just sat in the garage until hazardous waste day at the local recycling center. Good luck with your endeavor, and please keep us posted, Pep.

[Rusty_OToole]

If you put the contaminated kerosene in a 5 gallon pail with a tight fitting lid, in a month or so the sludge will settle to the bottom and you can pour off the clear kerosene or syphon it off. Then use it for parts washing.

When the kerosene or varsol is too oily for cleaning you can let it settle once more and put the clear liquid into your furnace oil tank. Do not do this with black contaminated solvent you have to let it settle first.

[Jan Arnett]

I do it a little different. If there is visible sludge in the pan you should pull the pan. Kerosene will only disolve a little of the sludge and if there is a lot of it is not going to help. If there is only a little sludge then fill with kerosene and let it sit for a couple of weeks before draining. Do not turn over an engine with Kersosene as it has very little lubrication properties. Old engines are less sensitive to sludge then modern engines due to babbet bearings which are softer.

[Putnam_Ct]

Thanks for the advice. I will be at it next week. I have everything else done and ready to go. Hopefully next weekend I will have it running!

I will let you all know how I make aout.

Thanks,

Pete