Flushing Engine

I had to remove head on my Super A to get at a stuck valve. I have that problem taken care of. I also removed the oil pan. The oil pump screen was filthy. Also drained maybe quart of water out of pan first. Wondering if I should flush the engine block since it is all open. By flushing I mean spray something (water?) in the holes in the top of cylinder block and letting it drain out the bottom hopefully washing out all gunk in the process.

If this can be done, where do spray the water? Also thinking of spraying water up through bottom.

Any help is always apprciated.
 
Thinking of flushing due to all the carbon I scraped off valves and pistons. Also a lot of foamy oily gunk.

I used a shop vac as I was scraping to get most of the crap.
 
I would not use water. I flush out the top and bottom of the engine block with a degreaser gun that attaches to my air hose and a separate hose on the gun is inserted into a container of diesel fuel. When you press the button/trigger on the degreaser gun it uses the venturi effect to suck out diesel fuel and mixes with the air flow to flush out grease and grim around the outside of the bearing,journals, valves, etc. I have used it on small and large diesel and gas engines with good results. On the larger diesel I can insert it into the oil pan drain and/or valve cover openings to flush out the top and bottom. After a flush, I let the diesel perk down to the pan before I add new oil. If you had any heavy flush or contaminates in the engine you can flush, refill with good used oil, drain, flush, add old oil, flush, and then add new oil. IIRC, I bought the degreaser gun at HF or Northern Tools.
 
GUNK sells a good engine flush in quarts. It's mostly light weight petroleum solvents and maybe some detergents. Bring your engine up to temperature, add it to your engine oil and let it idle for 5 to 10 minutes before draining the oil. Diesel fuel would be an OK solvent in a well ventilated area. ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid) is a great cleaner because it is very high in detergents without a lot of volatile fumes.

Please be careful using a Shop Vac, Shop Vacs and hydrocarbon fumes can make some spectacular explosions and fires, but a firefighter would know that.
 
If you flush with petroleum base solvent, be careful not to get it in the water jacket. Radiator hoses don't like oil, once in the cooling system it's hard to get it out.

Are you done cleaning the block surface? It needs to be clean down to the bright metal, scraped, sanded, Scotchbrite, whatever it takes to get it clean. Then the bolt threads need to be chased with a tap. All that needs to be done first, as it generates more grit.

The main areas to clean up the grit are the edges of the pistons, the area between the piston and cylinder wall above the top ring, and the tops of the lifters where the pushrods sit. A vacuum with a small tube taped to the hose works well.
 
Thanks for the advice. I was planning on doing this outside. I have the head off and the oil pan off. I was planning on just spraying water but now diesel fuel on and let it drain. Then spraying up through the bottom and let it drain. Maybe one more time through the top. Then put everything back together in a few days after my gaskets arrive.

When spraying through the head, which holes lead down to oil pan? There are a lot of hoIes. I am thinking maybe these are clogged? Maybe I can run a thin wire through to clear.
 
Thanks Steve. I fogot to mention I already have the radiator, hoses, fan, and siphon (I think that's what it is called
there is no water pump) off too.
 
I prefer to use mineral spirits to flush oil side of block with a siphon type gun. How did the water get into the block? The water and oil mixture causes the sludge build up.
 
You need the radiator off then you can remove the lower return. Then you can have access to the lower part of the block. There are small holes size of a nickle where the coolant flows to that passage. Use a piece of stiff wire to clean those holes and compressed air they usually are plugged and the coolant cant flow thru. You can usually find lots of crud blocking those holes. There is no other way to get those holes cleaned without pulling the cleeves not uncommon to find half and inch or more crud setting at the bottom blocking them.
 
I'm assuming water in oil pan from 20+ years of blowing snow, maybe bad head gasket. Maybe from me pressure washing it Yesterday with loosened (hand tight) valve cover.
 
get a syphon air gun, compressor and a couple gallons of varsol and go to it. you dont want water inside an engine.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top