I popped my valve covers today and saw some yuck that leads me to believe I need to do an internal enginer clean. I have read some good things about using "Sea Foam" or "B12 Chemtool" in the oil to circulate throught the engine and remove some of the sludge. Has anyone had success at doing this. What did you use, the process and were there any drawbacks such as dried out gaskets, or shrunk o rings???
I used a solution from NAPA that worked very well. It smelled like diesel fuel. (it probaly was or #2 fuel oil) Pour it in and let the car idle for 15 min. Then change the oil. The oil comes out looking like water with some clumps. I was a little nervous about deluting my oil but it didn't seem to damage anything. After that I put fresh oil and a can of NAPA seal softner. No leaks yet. The only reason I done it was because the car set for 10 years with only one oil change. ou:
Dont bother with internal engine cleaners. If the top side of the engine is that gooked up, chances are the engine was only driven short distances and never fully warmed up, and the engine oil wasnt changed as often as it should have been. I bought an '82 Regal with the 3.8 litre in it, changed the valve cover gaskets, and came across the same thing, lotsa gook and gunk. I eventually pulled the motor to rebuild, and the cylinder walls looked like it had 100 plus thousand miles on it, only because the engine was usually running on the choke circuit and never fully warmed up, thus gas washing down the cylinder walls and diluting the oil. The car still had original brakes, shocks, AND Firestone 721 radials on it (which blew out) so I know the mileage was original, so, i wouldnt bother with internal engine cleaners, pull the motor and do it right, you'll be miles ahead:grin: Mark
I agree with what Mark said. Either the oil wasn't changed at the correct intervals, or it was driven for very short intervals and never FULLY warmed up. Maybe BOTH! For the most part, I don't believe in miracles or 'mechanic-in-a-can' when it comes to automobiles. I say get you a case or two of high-detergent oil and a bunch of filters and change the oil about every 1500-2000 miles for a while. Make SURE that EVERY TIME the engine is started that it is FULLY WARMED UP, before shutting it off! Then towards the end of summer or so, pull the valve covers off again and see how it looks. I'll BET it looks alot cleaner! Stay away from putting anything other than just dino-oil in your engine! If you really MUST clean it out, just use an EXTRA quart of diesel or kerosene (kerosene is the main ingredient in those 'snake-oil' cleaners anyways) added to the normal amount of oil AFTER the engine is fully warmed up. Run at an IDLE for 30 mins and then drain. in MY OPINION, this is NOT GOOD for the bearings or the cylinder walls! You run the risk of doing more damage than good! Keep it at an idle.... Just my opinions and/or experiences..
Thnaks everyone, these are good suggestions, Any particular type of oil that is high in detergent, Quaker, Penns, Specility type. The detergent oil sounds like the best option.
Let sleeping dogs lie.... Be careful....most of that gunk is best left where it is! A 'cleaner' may just dislodge it, circulate the gunk thru the motor, damage your bearings, and clog your oil pump pickup. If you want to do a limited cleaning, use a shop vac to remove what you can from the heads, then drop the oil pan and give it a good cleaning.
yup. me too. slap it back together. start saving money for an engine build. you're just going to have problems sooner if you knock it loose.
Re: Let sleeping dogs lie.... I agree! If you want to go a step further, you might want to pull the valve covers, intake manifold, and pan, clean out what you can get to with a brush, pouring some diesel or kerosene through the heads/intake valley to wash loose stuff through. Don't forget to make sure the oil pickup screen is clear when you're done.
