Flushing engine internally

[Tjibbe]

I want to clean old oil sludge around valves and inside tappet cover.
Also planned to spray some around crankshaft and conrods as sump is removed.
Fordson owners manual states on p35 that paraffin should not be used.
Why would this be ?
Tjibbe

[oehrick]

That's interesting, did it suggest what should be used ??

The only thing I can think of is it might contaminate new oil if it had not dried out before refilling, but if it was a TVO Major it'd get plenty past the rings under normal working anyway

No doubt someone will know the right reason, so I'll watch with interest too

Good luck with the washout, whatever you end up using.

If you mix paraffin and washing-up detergent then brush or spray on you can wash off with water spray (Jizer or Gunk are the trade names for this stuff in the UK) much cheaper than buying it

Rick

[Dandy Dave]

Over here we use to use some water in a can, rev a motor up, and pour it slowly though the intake to rid an older moter of carbon deposits. Sometimes also ATF fluid was used. Dandy Dave!

[oehrick]

Not heard of that one DD - get it wrong and loose a gasket or head I guess

I read the query as wanting to clean the oil side, not the combustion side - part fill sump with hot water & detergent and let it churn ?? I'd not be brave enough to try it but a number of our coastal fishing boat hauling Majors have ended up running submerged and after a sump dump and relube seem to run on OK.

Rick

[Dandy Dave]

Not heard of that one DD - get it wrong and loose a gasket or head I guess

I read the query as wanting to clean the oil side, not the combustion side - part fill sump with hot water & detergent and let it churn ?? I'd not be brave enough to try it but a number of our coastal fishing boat hauling Majors have ended up running submerged and after a sump dump and relube seem to run on OK.

Rick

An old guy around the neighborhood use to do that on gasoline automobiles. It would break the carbon up on the valves and pistons. I have an old 1924 McCormick 15-30 in the shed that has a water injection option when running on Kerosene. I would never do it to a Diesel. Dandy Dave!

[Tjibbe]

Thanks for the comments and alternatives suggested.
Definitely only the oil side will be cleaned. Dave, Inet also mentions ATF as a flushing agent.
Adding water thru carb intake on petrol engines was a popular way to "decoke" engines in my young days. Don't know if it really worked that well.
I since discovered that normal BP grade paraffin/kerosene contains much water and may result in rust. Maybe that is why the handbook warns against paraffin.
Liquid paraffin - ex drug store/pharmacy - is a pure mineral oil, but pricey. I cant see some surface rust as a major sin either, as it will be refilled asap afterwards.
Yes, I am also not brave enough for the churning hot water and detergent in the sump !

[oehrick]

I since discovered that normal BP grade paraffin/kerosene contains much water and may result in rust. Maybe that is why the handbook warns against paraffin.
Liquid paraffin - ex drug store/pharmacy - is a pure mineral oil, but pricey. I cant see some surface rust as a major sin either, as it will be refilled asap afterwards.
Yes, I am also not brave enough for the churning hot water and detergent in the sump !

What about straight heating kerosene ?

Brought back memories of an old textile mill steam engine driver, the engine was always overloaded and condensing water was taken from the adjacent canal, one day someone dropped an open 45 gallon drum of Stergene (industrial detergent) into the canal upstream of their intake, mid-morning his vacuum started to drop so he goes down into the (usually unlit) 'cellar' under the engine to see if he had a condenser gland or valve loose, it was waist deep in suds, as he was trying to find some planks to cover the hotwell with to reduce the amount of foam, he hears his counterpart from the next door mill shout down 'How's your vacuum George, I'm stopped' to which he replied 'if you want to talk you'll have to come down, I'm laundering my overalls'

'Took three days to get it out of the system', he said after telling me the tale 'Bai 'eck lad I've sin some laundries in me time but never one possing suds laike that !'

Good luck

[Tjibbe]

Oehrick ;
Wonderful story - I imagine he could top any laundry detergent advert with those overalls !

[Pavel]

Certainly not suggested, that alone recommended, in the manual, but I've had great success with Oven Cleaner for getting rid of gunge and carbon deposits from the interiors of engines. A good hose off, after a suitable lapse of time to allow it to work, and allowing drainage over night, has worked fine for me -- especially with the sump pan off -- and sometimes with a little extra help from compressed air.

Pavel

[oehrick]

Hey thats a brilliant bit of lateral thinking Pavel, does it soften the stuck on bits of gasket / sealant as well ?

Tjibbe, the good mill engine drivers were the ones to be found sitting in an armchair reading a newspaper most of the day, having made any adjustments and oiled round before start-up and doing any maintenance t weekends.

On the odd occasion some inexperienced manager queried this they would get a reply like 'the boilers are at pressure, the engine is turning over at the right speed and all your machines are making you money, the time to worry is when the boilerman is throwing coal on like the world is ending, the engine is slow or stopped, I'm dashing about like a lunatic and your machine operators are going home early - now go away !'

The guys I most admire are the few millwrights who, when your 3000hp engine dropped a crankpin or broke a 2 ft dia crankshaft, worked night and day to scheme how to fit a replacement while making it, Thankfully the last of the Lancashire guys recorded some of his working life, makes our restorations seem pretty trivial stuff - they'd rebore a cylinder big enough to stand up in then make a new piston and rings to fit it


Rick

[Pavel]

Never tried it, Rick, 'cos I always scrape mine off and finish up by using a rotary wire brush in a power drill. But I have found that oven cleaner does leave an oil free metal surface so that capillary action does not cause oil creep later.

Pavel

[oehrick]

Didn't know if you'd spread it over a gasketed edge Pavel

I don't think SWMBO has used it in years for its proper purpose, ISTR it took the surface off some ali bits on the cooker top so presume its probably pretty caustic, if so should be pretty good at getting oil out of porosity.

Wonder why its not been banned - the general public must be dying in their thousands from exposure to such dangerous stuff !!

Cheers & beers

[Dandy Dave]

If I have the sump off of an engine, I have cleaned some up by High Pressure Washing all the gunk from top to bottom. And then blew them out good with an air compressor and blow gun to get rid of any water laying anywhere. I find Mineral Spirits also works good for a cleaner. Oven cleaner works well and will take the older paint off. When you are done, be sure to oil the moving parts well before you put it back together. Dandy Dave!