[Chevello]

Pulled my distributor tonight so that I could make it a little easier to change the vacuum can (and also to help give me the impetus to paint the top of the engine). It was a little hard to get started coming out and when I finally wiggled it enough, it came out like a solid cylinder of black nastiness. My 4 year old was out in the garage with me, and as it came out, she went "EEEeeeeeeeewwwww!!" Same thing I was thinking, kid

It has me wondering if Seafoam is going to help get this thing cleaned up, or if it is just going to loosen all that nasty mess so it can circulate around in there. I'd sure like it if this engine lasts me until the middle of next summer. I'll probably only put a hundred miles or so on it before then.

 

[JohnC]

I bought an Accord at auction once and it had some problems with it so I pulled the valve cover and the rocker area looked like had dumped a bad of charcoal briquet debris in there. Everything as caked with this brittle appearing black deposits. Long story short, it had a few problems but the engine lasted me nearly 200K miles after that incident. I did do Seafoam once and used other "engine cleaners" also. To my knowledge they didn't cause any problems.

 

[Tom Mobley]

I wouldn't do that. It'll break a bunch of stuff loose which will plug the oil filter and cause it to bypass. not good.

 

[Chevello]

I've heard of people pulling a valve cover and there being so much crap in there it looked like the cover was still there.

I know that if I try to clean it all out I better not stop until it's rebuilt, so I think I'll pretend I didn't see it.

 

[YankeeRodder]

I would think you could do it slowly. Use a high detergent oil like Delo, change it every 2000 miles for 4-5 oil changes. But still a gamble, I'm with you, just treat it as it has been treated, it's lasted this long.

 

[texomatom]

Pulled my distributor tonight so that I could make it a little easier to change the vacuum can (and also to help give me the impetus to paint the top of the engine). It was a little hard to get started coming out and when I finally wiggled it enough, it came out like a solid cylinder of black nastiness. My 4 year old was out in the garage with me, and as it came out, she went "EEEeeeeeeeewwwww!!" Same thing I was thinking, kid

It has me wondering if Seafoam is going to help get this thing cleaned up, or if it is just going to loosen all that nasty mess so it can circulate around in there. I'd sure like it if this engine lasts me until the middle of next summer. I'll probably only put a hundred miles or so on it before then.

I'll probably only put a hundred miles or so on it before then.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
With this in mind, I'd pretend I never saw it
It's lasted this long, it'll probably go another 100 miles.

Tom

 

[Randy Mosier]

I bought an Accord at auction once and it had some problems with it so I pulled the valve cover and the rocker area looked like had dumped a bad of charcoal briquet debris in there. Everything as caked with this brittle appearing black deposits. Long story short, it had a few problems but the engine lasted me nearly 200K miles after that incident. I did do Seafoam once and used other "engine cleaners" also. To my knowledge they didn't cause any problems.

There a lot of people who think that just because Japanese cars have a reputation for lasting hundreds of thousands of miles, it means they don't ever need maintenance.

A mechanic at a Lexus dealership told me about a car that came in with a blown engine with 93,000 miles on the odometer. It was all gunked up and when asked if he changed the oil regularly, the owner actually said no, because Japanese cars are supposed to last forever and never need maintenance!

 

[Chevello]

It went back in, so that was a good sign. It also ran after I got everything connected back up, so that was an even better sign. I guess I'll see how long it lasts.

The outside is much cleaner now too.
Was

Is

Not so embarrassing when someone wants to see under the hood now. Still lots to do before it's even good and started, but at least now I'll be able to avoid being the "I've got one of those too, it's at home in the garage" guy at the cruise night. And anyone who wants their car to look REALLY good can park next to me.

 

[dyno jonn]

I used to spray the engine compartment down with Gunk engine degreaser then drive down to the quarter car wash and hose it off. Don't think there are any quarter car washes left any more though. The engine heat made the degreaser work better. I'd pop the cap and wires off, bag the distributor and go for it. Aah, the good old days, when gas was cheap and the car washes were too.....

 

[Sid Coleman]

That must be a PA car. They used a lot of Quaker-Sludge oil back in the day

 

[Chevello]

I have a little harbor freight pressure washer that I use. I've used it enough that I'm probably down to a quarter per wash now.

Quaker sludge? But it was cheap! Car has Castrol stickers for it's next oil change due reminder. Just can't read the date our mileage on it. I think it was overdue though

 

[Doug Garland]

Don't know if I would recommend this, but I watched it years ago. Had a friend, a mechanic, do the sea foam tip to his 305 in his truck. It was all gummed up, and had developed a spark knock as well. It didn't help, so he took diesel fuel, and ran it for several cycles through the engine. He would run it till it started ticking, and then drop the oil pan and clean it out. He did this 5-6 more times, and there were chunks of oil that looked like charcoal every time he pulled the pan. The last time, he did it, it was just a thick sludge, and he washed it down once more, pulled the pan, and did an oil change. The truck is still running, and that was 15 yrs ago.

 

[badrad]

I would throw a qt of Marvel Mystery oil in it. It should help dissolve the deposits a little slower than Seafoam or others. I cleaned my engine out like that in my first truck and a bunch of gunk came out, then it lost most oil pressure.

 

[LeoP]

Leave it alone

 

[Chevello]

Leave it alone

That's kind of what I'm thinking. I'll probably change the oil and filter again after it has been up to temp and on the road a couple of times, but I don't think I want to mess with it too much. Next step is finding what it will fail on inspection and fixing those things. I don't want to go causing myself extra trouble.

 

[Bad66Chevelle454]

Ive heard of running a quart of transmission fluid in place of one quart of oil as well. If I remember right they just started it up, let it idle for an hour or so, then drained it all back out and put in fresh oil. I guess the transmission fluid acts as a detergent.

 

[dell72]

My 65 Skylark has a L31 vortec 350 I pulled from a 99 Tahoe. A friend's girlfriend owned it anf never changed oil in 4 years. Cleaned it with castrol super clean and ran it. Engine has great compression and oil psi