engine cleaning

[dusterbd13]

ok, this will probably sound stupid, but im not much of an engine guy. only built a couple, and never even thought about doing what id like to do.

i picked up a "low milage" engine for my truck. i dont know what the odometer read, as the dash was yanked. i dont know how tthe motor ran, as the VATS and hacked wiring harness had it disabled. i do know that i only paid 75 bucks, so it was worth the gamble.

as soon as i get a car out of the shop, im going to beginy to geting gaskets replaced and inspect this motor. i have to swap the oil pan fpr my truck, so ill have the ability to check the rods and mains. the plugs and oil are clean, so im not too worried about the rings and head gaskets.

i plan on replacing what is worn, cleaning and painting, and putting it in.

what i would like to do while i have it apart is clean any sludge, carbon, etc out. is there any reason i shouldnt? what is the best way to do this with and assembled long block? i was thinking a bunch of cans of brakecleaner and shop air. any better ideas? i really dont want to pull it farther apart than i have to. if it needs machine work or rings, ill have it hot tanked and rebuild the while thing, negating this question.

also, should i put head gaskets in since im alreadi in for every other gasket? what about other parts? water pump, oil pump, and freeze plugs are a given.

michael

[b-man]

If you are not going to disassemble the long block, you should leave well enough alone.

Once you get it in the car and running you can clean the carbon out of the combustion chambers and off the piston tops with GM Top End Cleaner.

To gently clean any sludge buildup on the inside of the engine use some Auto-Rx. It will slowly loosen and clean up sludge and deposit it in your oil filter without breaking it off in big chunks that can clog up the oil pickup screen. It also slowly cleans up the piston ring pack, freeing them up and possibly gaining better compression on an older engine: http://auto-rx.com

I'm using Auto-Rx in my GTO and WS6 as well as my '06 Civic. The GTO has an old 455 (factory original 1974 short block) so I'm trying it to clean it up a little inside and free up the ring pack. The WS6 and Civic are both newer low-mileage cars, I'm hoping to keep their engines clean inside from the beginning.

[Yoda4561]

Yeah if you're not going to take it apart, then I'd recommend just using a good quality oil and a 3000 mile change interval, for the first few oil changes. Clean any gunk out of the bottom of the oil pan while it's out of course, that'll keep it from getting stirred up with fresh oil and clogging everything. I've found most "engine flush" additives are really good at screwing stuff up when an engine is REALLY dirty, so I now avoid them like the plague unless I'm planning on tearing the whole assembly apart. Never tried Auto-RX in particular, but it has a good reputation.