What to clean an old engine (inside)

mommucked

mommucked

Endeavoring to persevere
Joined
Sep 26, 2011
Location
Rural Apex n.c.
I have a 1982 toyota 22R w 85k. It has sat for 5 years, being run to temp and drove a few miles every few ,4 months. I'm going to R&R the timing chain/oil pump etc. soon. I can't remember the last time I changed the oil (years) but it is clean. I was thinking about a shock treatment of marvel mystery oil or seafoam etc. in the crankcase before the tear down. Any advice on this, don't do it? or a better product for this old, all original motor? all advice is welcome.
 
Put a quart of kerosene in and let it idle to temp. Then change oil.

Edit. If you’re tearing it down for a rebuild, why? Strip it and take it to an engine shop and let them wash it.
 
Lot's of ways, as this video and strang1 has shown. Me I am similar to strange1, but lil different.
First, as soon as I see the gunk buildup, I plug the return holes with something. paper towels, toilet paper, smaller pieces of a cut up shop rag. then I scrap, and then I vacuum. I drop the oil out of the pan, replace the drain plug and the take a squirt bottle with diesel fuel or Kerosene and spray it on. let it sit, and repeat several times allowing it to break down as much of what is still stuck on the head, rockers and so on. All the while keeping the oil return holes plugged. At this point, I found I like the cut up shop rags best.
When the diesel fuel has seeped through the material, I carefully vacuum around the returns, holding the rags in place with a screw driver. Then I flush the top of the heads with the diesel fuel letting it drop anything left into the pan.
When this is done, the top is pretty clean. Then I fill with diesel fluid, pouring through the top about a gallon on each side. Then let it just sit in the pan(without cranking it) go back and then drop it out. This allowed the oil screen blockages, and walls of oil pan to get cleaned off.
Next step, 4 qts of oil, and 1 qt of kero or diesel fluid, crank it, lot it idle, no revs, just idle. sill engine temp comes up.
Drop oil again, fill with oil again with fresh oil and new filter, drive it 500-1000 miles, change again, and done.
 
Stuntman Autoworks said:
Change the oil and filter like a normal service.
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This.
As long as it was in good running condition before, nothing has really changed or had the opportunity to change. I'd pull the plugs and spin the engine over by hand. If it turns easily and without drama, put the plugs back in and change the oil.
 
Not a fan of putting solvents in the oil if there is no need, unless you wont be running it with the diluted oil.. Oil works best when there aren't solvents in it, and I'd rather not risk oil film breakdown by running solvent-diluted oil through it. Put some good synthetic in it if you don't already; the detergent package will help clean things up. I wouldn't assume there's a lot of crap that needs cleaning out with only 85k unless you have good evidence of that.

I know everyone has their own "system", but it doesn't sound like there's a need for anything severe in this case. Change the oil to get rid of the old (probably condensation diluted) oil, and let 'er eat.
 
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I had the bright idea of running ATF 4/5 with oil to clean the inside of my old willys engine, it worked really well on the cleaning. Right after that I had to change every single seal in the engine!
 
I will say that diesel fuel works really, really good! Just ask any LB7 Duramax owner that's had bad injectors....which would be all of them. :D
 
Croatan_Kid said:
I will say that diesel fuel works really, really good! Just ask any LB7 Duramax owner that's had bad injectors....which would be all of them. :D
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It works so good it can dilute oil and wipe out bearings.
 
Damn dude....sarcasm. :rolleyes:

It does take a while though. When I bought my truck the dude had been cruising around with a crankcase full of diesel for God knows how long. I put injectors in it shortly after buying it. According to my last oil analysis, I'm far below the averages for all of the metals that make up the bearings....so there's that.

@mommucked I'd probably just do a normal oil change in your case.
 
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Croatan_Kid said:
Damn dude....sarcasm. :rolleyes:
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Just full disclosure, you never know who might read this thread and think that doing an oil change with diesel fuel will be a good idea to help clean the engine and they end up ruining it.
 
I thank ya'll for the replies. I'm just gonna break it down and see what I got. The valve seals are probably shot after 36 years and I'll need to R&R the head ....may turn into a rebuild.
 
Unless it's smoking, why bother? Does it even need a timing chain and oil pump or do you just want to change them?
 
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