Cleaning internal oil passageways

[jelloslug]

Is there a good way of cleaning the oil passageways inside the engine without dissassembeling the entire thing? When I changed my valve cover gaskets last weekend there was alot of caramel colored deposits in the heads and a little bit of sludge. I would really like to de-sludge the entire engine.

 

[luigisho]

Isn't there some kind of oil flushing agent? May need to do one or two oil changes after to get it all out afterwards.
If you have the original engine in the '90 I'd probably leave it alone. Maybe that's all that's keeping it together!

 

[jelloslug]

Actually, the inside of the heads was alot cleaner than I expected. I expected the worst based on the condition of the interior, but it seems that the oil had been regually changed.

 

[Millersho]

You should just let it fun and not worry about cleaning in the inside of your engine.

Engines form deposits and paths for oil to flow through.

To clean this might give you the opposite results then what your looking for.

Just like sticking Synthetic oil on an engine with over 100K, it's just a big no no.

I bet if you were to take it to a shop and get this done, they would make you sign a waiver or something.
This is just speculation, I've never done it before.

 

[smacd]

It's amazing how regular maintenance will keep an engine clean. I bought my SHO used at 80K without knowing it's history. I have always changed oil religiously and when I removed the oil pan for the first time to reseal it at 130K, I was surprised to see that there was no sign of any deposits in the bottom end. The inside of the engine looked like new. Im my line of work I have seen a few engines that were very neglected and had heavy buildup of varnish and the oil looked like tar. I may be overstating the obvious, but I believe regular maintenance to be the key to keeping your car running for a very long time.

 

[SHOZ123]

I would really be wary of using an internal engine cleaner. That stuff will be floating around in the oil and the viscosity of the oil will be extreamly reduced. Better off using a high detergaent oil and doing frequent oil changes.

Shell Rotella oil is a very high detergent oil that still meets SHO specs.

 

[Mishney]

I learned this trick from an old hot rodder, I don't know how well it works but it may be worth a try. Next oil change swap out 1/2 to 1 qt of oil for tranny fluid. Tranny fluid is highly detergent. Run that for about 250-500 miles and change the oil again. This is supposed to clean out all the gunk and deposits. But I have never tried it.

 

[F-22 Raptor SHO]

guys, guys, guys.....have you already forgotten that switching to Castrol GTX non synthetic oil is like a smoker kicking the habit??? It will clean it all up over time......per SDPATT.

 

[SHOZ123]

So will synthetics. It sounded like jelloslug was in a bit of a hurry for a slug.

 

[jelloslug]

I was thing about running some synthetic for a while but it does 140k on the clock so that might cause more problems that the good it could do, I think I will just go with the Castrol GTX non synthetic. Never herd of the tranny fluid trick, can't think of anything that is in tranny flud that could hurt the engine, anyone eles tried this?

 

[RStalveyARFF]

I have done it a few times in my past engines. It cleans them up quite well.

 

[pjtoledo]

Mishney:
I learned this trick from an old hot rodder, I don't know how well it works but it may be worth a try. Next oil change swap out 1/2 to 1 qt of oil for tranny fluid. Tranny fluid is highly detergent. Run that for about 250-500 miles and change the oil again. This is supposed to clean out all the gunk and deposits. But I have never tried it.

Why would tranny fluid be highly detergent??? Trannies are a sealed system, no air or combustion by-products to contaminate the oil. Yes, I know a little air gets down the tube. Just a little heat to cook the oil every now and then.

Perry Toledo,Ohio

 

[SHOZ123]

I've used a qrt of ATX in older OHV motors for cleaning the lifters.

If you overheat oil it will carbonize on the metal parts. The fluid has detergents that will dissolve this carbon and clean it off of the metal parts of the tranny. This is why dirty ATX fluid is dark and gritty.

 

[SHOZ123]

How's this for pulling up an old post?

Anyway I remember someone asking about cleaning out the internal parts of the motor. Here is a product that will gently work and usually takes two applications from what I have read.

Auto R-X

 

[DavidT]

hmmm, sounds good. Except I wonder if Luigisho and Millersho are right. What happens to all that gunk floating around after it gets loosened up? Is Auto Rx safe on engines with high mileage.
This is a great thread, shoz123, I was going to post about the use of tranny fluid and Shell Rotella and see what you guys thought. I have heard they work great. I have also heard that with stricter regulations coming down on the oil industry, automotive oil will not keep higher quality standards. And that motorcycle oil is the way to go... anybody try it?