Cleaning Out the Oil Pan and other Parts

"A few weeks ago there was a m

"A few weeks ago there was a mention of adding transmission fluid and running the engine to loosen up and help clean out some sludge and junk that may build up in the engine. Possibly just picking up the commercially prepared stuff that does this as well at 2X the price HOWEVER... a few thoughts

Naturally, I am thinking I should try to do this just prior to winterization this December or January before the new oil change.

IF this is a good idea, how much fluid do I add to the crankcase and how long would I run the engine for as well as..Load vs. no load and RPM?"

Careful! Ever heard the expre

Careful! Ever heard the expression: "Let sleeping dogs lie." Loosening up all that crud could cause you a lot of trouble.

Jeff

"The several high time BB i&#3

"The several high time BB i've been inside of have been remarkably clean. I did see some hard, carbon-ish deposits in the bottom of an oil pan once, but no reasonable liquid was going to attack that. (needed a putty knife). If you are on a 50 hour oil change schedule, I'd be very surprised if you saw sludge. In any case, take a peek inside the valve cover for an inspection before you pour stuff in the oil."

"My oil schedule changes are b

"My oil schedule changes are better than that HOWEVER, When I had the cooling system and Valve meltdown fiasco, When disassembling the engine, about 1 quart of antifreeze fell intot he lifter valley. I have since suck out and changed oils many times in the first few cases JUST to insure a good startup after the valve job.

I was just wondering if it would do any good to help clean things up a bit IF the previous owners had neglected any of the service intervals. They certainly neglected everything else so its not s stretch of the imagination.

Jeff, I fully understand those sentiments ! I am just noticing that after 12 to 20 hours, my oil pressure in the one engine drops about 15% or so. As soon as I change a filter, she is back to normal until its due for a complete change."

"How about this: Pull the val

"How about this: Pull the valve covers and see if there's any sludge build up. If so, you can remove some of it with a scraper and a vacuum cleaner. If not, put her back together and open a cool one! But that's about all you could do if she's sludged up really bad.

On the decreasing oil pressure with time, it may be caused by oil trapped up top due to sludged up return holes. If so, this has got to be cured! Running on frothed oil can cause temporary oil starvation pressure losses you might not see it on the gage. Not a good idea!

Jeff"

"Since the weekend looks shot

"Since the weekend looks shot already, I will give it a go Saturday. Winds are pretty steady and the seas are at 4-7. The 4 part gets me a little but with the 7, I really throw in the towel (literally)."

"1 QT is all I would add, and

"1 QT is all I would add, and then run at nothing more than fast idle - no load.

I found a slightly better trick albeit more expensive......full synthetic oil. It will clean out all that little crap, given enough passes thru the gallies."

""after 12 to 20 hours, my

""after 12 to 20 hours, my oil pressure in the one engine drops"

My stb engine did that for 10 years until I finally replaced the broken ring and messed up piston. Lots of blowby loaded up the filter with something, maybe soot. Are you using the full sized filters (PH8A sized)?"

"Dave: Yes,(PH8 sized but

"Dave: Yes,(PH8 sized but Crusader labeled) When I had the heads off, there was nothing out of the ordinary at the tops, all cylinder were clean when I turned the crank. I realize that does not show rings or th elikely hood a a split. It is my starboard engine too.

Mark: I had thought about using synthetic as I can get another 2 month use out if it which could add up to about 24-32 hours by then. WHICH viscosity are you thinking? I run full synthetic in both my F-150 (214,000 mi) and the wife's Subruban ((101,000 mi) and of course so far the F-150 runs like new and passes NJ inspection with ease(smog).

Since I have not seen any 40wt synthetic oil I was thinking maybe 20-50?"

"started with 20w-50 and now u

"started with 20w-50 and now use the 15w-50. Do the same in both vehicles, mowers, etc around here....

Change the filter at the 100 hr mark and add enough to bring the oil to the full line. Only empty the crankcase in the winter."

"Mobile 1 has a 0W-40. Here&#

"Mobile 1 has a 0W-40. Here's a great read that promotes thin oil. http://www.focfloridaregion.com/"

"Dave, I did not read the ent

"Dave, I did not read the entire text but what I did get thru is quite interesting. A good read desribes it well...and it is a great understanding of lubricating oil. I need to plan on reading the whole thing.

Is this red car your "other " ride?.

A Brief UNRELATED story: Rode to Daytona bike week several years ago and it poured rain from Delaware to Palm Coast where our last minute room was. So bad was the rain, the radios on the bikes were sounding the severe weather alerts on occasion.

The lady in the toll booth at the Delawre Memorial bridge said" Man, I've seen a lot of bikes goin south today but you're the ONLY TWO ridin' 'em !"

We get into the place for our room in Fla after 20 hours of wet riding, there was a Ferrari convention and display in the parking lot of this hotel. As we walked into the lobby SOAKED, shoes squishing, water dripping from 100 lbs of soaked leather, my friend Bob says to the manager.." I am sure we look like a hell of a site to you" he replied.." No, if you wanted to see a sight you should have seen all those Ferrari guys draped over the hoods of their cars while it was hailing 10 minutes ago !""