[dieseldude]

I pulled the heads off my V8 (PT) and after cleaning the head surfaces on the bloc, I was curious to know if the only way of cleaning the debri in the oil and coolant passes in the bloc is to fully disassemble it and clean everything..?? Thank you for any help!

 

[gravzzy]

When I buy a car I pour one quarter of ATF oil in the engine and I change the oil 1 to 2 weeks later. ATF oil is very detergent and cleans most of the gunk in every interstice like it has gone through the dishwasher!! It also cleans the seats of the lifter's one way valve. That's the more realistic way I see to clean a block except dismantling everything and soaking the whole block in solvent...

 

[dieseldude]

I've heard of this method before, is this safe for the seals and gaskets in the motor? I know ATF is detergent however is it really compatible with regular engine oil or is there not a special product available to mix with the oil to clean up the lubrication system? I used a shop vac as i cleaned the surfaces so there was very minimal debri that wound up in the passes, thanks for any suggestions!!

 

[gravzzy]

I wouldn't worry for the seals and gaskets since it's only a quarter diluted in 3-4 other quarters of motor oil, and it's for a limited period of time. I've done it in several vehicles, all old beaten up cars which had plenty of kilometers on the clock and that had the engine all gunked and even then it didn't change a thing with the gaskets... Where they were leaking, they continued leaking the same amount and it didn't develop new leaks...

When you first start your engine after reassembly it's always a good idea to use cheap regular oil and your old oil filter for a week or so to rinse every debris that could have fallen in the engine and then you re-change oil for a good one and the filter too.

 

[littlegreek]

There are products specifically made to remove gunk. Lots of engine cleaners,Seafoam and Motul are a couple....

 

[gravzzy]

I've already used these cleaners in the past but it just seems to me like a pint of laquer thinner that costs 15$... I prefer using oil for the same result...

 

[moonmage007]

Recently, I needed to clean the engine compartment and, realizing that a pressure washer would not work here, I decided to use a pre-cleaner. The beauty of steam cleaning is that it won't damage the wiring. At first I tried the Optima steam cleaner - here is a review on it Do not buy the Optima steamer before reading this , and then switched to Fortador Pro and to this day day I use it.