I'd say a cleaning was desperately needed. Time for a new gasket, no? I wouldn't be surprised if the one (what was left of it) that was on there this morning was the original from 1971. Oy vey.
1950 Chevrolet 3100 (Ol' Roy) 1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1956 Cadillac Sixty Special Fleetwood (The Godfather) | 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado (The Purple Knif) | 1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe | 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
Sprayed some degreaser on it, let it sit for a while and just gently started brushing the crud off. Followed up with sucking all the crud up with the shop vac. Rinsed with an insect sprayer filled with water. Shop vac again. Repeated the process until it looked like I actually cleaned it.
The crud on it was unreal. Half of the gasket wasn't even on the cover/head. If the crud wasn't too bad, I most likely would have left everything undisturbed. Wasn't the case here. Definitely needed some attention.
What about water and contaminants getting into the block?
1950 Chevrolet 3100 (Ol' Roy) 1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1956 Cadillac Sixty Special Fleetwood (The Godfather) | 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado (The Purple Knif) | 1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe | 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
You now have water and grit in the pan and along the pushrods and oil drain holes that go through the head. I would drop the pan and clean it. While the pan is off I would flush the rocker arms with diesel oil or other non-water solvent and catch the drippings in a pan below.
I am hoping someone has a better idea to get you out of this fix. You don't want to circulate that gunk through your oil system and bearings.
You now have water and grit in the pan and along the pushrods and oil drain holes that go through the head. I would drop the pan and clean it. While the pan is off I would flush the rocker arms with diesel oil or other non-water solvent and catch the drippings in a pan below.
I am hoping someone has a better idea to get you out of this fix. You don't want to circulate that gunk through your oil system and bearings.
Kent
I'm most likely just gonna yank the engine out. Its one of the reasons I bought the truck. Learning to do a rebuild is something I've always wanted to do. I'm thinking when I dig deeper, I'm gonna find that the cylinders are toast. :-)
If mine, and not knowing the total capacity of the block I'd pour 5 gallons or so of diesel in, let it set for a few days and drain. Do that a time or two till the flush fluid is somewhat clean. If the engine will crank, Hotrod Lincoln has a good procedure where you add a couple quarts of diesel to the oil overfilling the crankcase, then start the engine, letting it run for twenty minutes (DON'T DRIVE IT) the crank will whip the diesel/oil around washing the block like a solvent washing machine. That'd be my final step of cleaning. Drain the dirty oil/diesel and filter add oil, new filter and drive a while before deciding if a rebuild is called for.
Follow Rons advise, buy three or four cheap oil filters and keep changing them between the diesel flush. The water and cleaners that may be in the pan will burn out in no time, the filter will catch the crude. If the rockers were that dirty, so is the pan, maybe worse. I've pulled dirty engines and cleaned them with a power washer with no ill effects. Pull the sheet metal, soak it down with degreaser, and wash the heck out of it. Leaf blower dry, and soak down with WD40.
If mine, and not knowing the total capacity of the block I'd pour 5 gallons or so of diesel in, let it set for a few days and drain. Do that a time or two till the flush fluid is somewhat clean. If the engine will crank, Hotrod Lincoln has a good procedure where you add a couple quarts of diesel to the oil overfilling the crankcase, then start the engine, letting it run for twenty minutes (DON'T DRIVE IT) the crank will whip the diesel/oil around washing the block like a solvent washing machine. That'd be my final step of cleaning. Drain the dirty oil/diesel and filter add oil, new filter and drive a while before deciding if a rebuild is called for.
Good Luck RonR
Thanks a lot Ron for the advice. Guess it won't hurt to try this first before pulling the engine. I'll keep everyone posted.
Originally Posted by Joe H
Follow Rons advise, buy three or four cheap oil filters and keep changing them between the diesel flush. The water and cleaners that may be in the pan will burn out in no time, the filter will catch the crude. If the rockers were that dirty, so is the pan, maybe worse. I've pulled dirty engines and cleaned them with a power washer with no ill effects. Pull the sheet metal, soak it down with degreaser, and wash the heck out of it. Leaf blower dry, and soak down with WD40.
No, I mean gallons. Drain the oil, reinstall the drain plug and then fill the engine, not just the oil pan, with diesel. It should be noted I’ve never done this, but always thought it would be a good way to de-crud a old engine. After letting it soak and after draining the now dirty diesel I’d pull the spark plugs before cranking it over. Can’t hydrolock it if the plugs are out.
Jerry’s (Hotrod Lincoln) method is very good and you could just do a quick oil change with cheap oil and use his over fill with a couple qts of diesel and run at a fast idlle for 20 minutes trick.
No, I mean gallons. Drain the oil, reinstall the drain plug and then fill the engine, not just the oil pan, with diesel. It should be noted I’ve never done this, but always thought it would be a good way to de-crud a old engine. After letting it soak and after draining the now dirty diesel I’d pull the spark plugs before cranking it over. Can’t hydrolock it if the plugs are out.
Jerry’s (Hotrod Lincoln) method is very good and you could just do a quick oil change with cheap oil and use his over fill with a couple qts of diesel and run at a fast idlle for 20 minutes trick.
P51P28, Just noticed you're fairly new here, so first of all Welcome Aboard! Now back to business, don't know if you've read much on the site yet but we've got a lot of very knowledgeable folks here. Among the best goes by Hotrod Lincoln, aka Jerry. Just in case it helps see the copy/paste below.
Hotrod Lincoln Offline Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer)
A quick way to clean up an engine that has been idle for a long time is to use Diesel fuel. Change the oil, using whatever inexpensive "bottom shelf" generic stuff is available at Walmart, and add 3 quarts of Diesel to the crankcase so the crankshaft counterweights and connecting rods can dip down into the oil/Diesel mixture. This will splash the mix around like the agitator in a washing machine, and break loose any sludge or other debris, as well as possibly dissolving carbon deposits under the piston rings, etc. Run the engine at a fast idle for 15-20 minutes after it reaches normal operating termperature. DO NOT DRIVE THE VEHICLE OR PUT ANY LOAD ON THE ENGINE- - - - -1,000-1,500 RPM max. Drain the mixture while it's hot, taking dirt, sludge, and debris with it. Refill with good oil, (I like 15W-40) and change the filter, if the engine is equipped with one.
This will accomplish one of two results- - - -you'll either have a good running engine you can drive, or you'll create an oil burner that needs to be rebuilt because the piston rings are worn out, and all that was holding them tight against the cylinder walls was carbon and sludge packed behind them. In that case, you'll need to pull the engine and rebuild it- - - -but it's going th be much cleaner than it was before, easier to work on. Win- - - -Win! Jerry
Thank you very much for your help Ron. Got in touch with Hotrod via a Private Message and he told me the exact thing. You and Hotrod have been very helpful. :-)
Last edited by Peggy M; 06/15/202511:55 PM. Reason: remove quote - not necessary
