Of course i knew this would happen but here I go:

I was just checking some thing on my engine and i poped the PCV out and cleaned it and then stuck my finger inside of my valve covers , there was a "soft" build up of this dark crap inside. Soft meaing that it was gunked on the walls, but with a scrap of a fingernail it would come off.

What is that and is there any way to clean that crap off?

Now lets say i have a day off and I want screw around with my engine. Ive never even taken apart a lawn mower engine, but im pretty smart and i have common sence. I have like a Chiltons repair book and some other one if i eneded help but, could I just start taking stuff off the top of my engine, such as EGR, Throttle body, and upper intake and clean them all along with like the valve covers.

Now if I did this, what would I need and would there be a chance of breaking anything. The reason i say that is because im big into electronics and when you take on apart, you must be VERY careful because theres a good chance of breaking stuff. How much money should I have to spare and how much time?

Also what would i need? Would i need all new gaskets and stuff like that?

If anyone could give me a run down or a web site that would tell me the basic of this ill appreciate it.

Thanks a lot,

Adam

 

It sounds like you have crud inside your valve covers(has a hole to pour oil and there are 2 of them). I hear that there is a torx bolt in the middle of the upper intake, so that is the only special tool you will need. You will need a gasket for the upper intake, and the valve covers, and maybe the throttle boddy and EGR valve, not sure on those. When you get the valve covers off, I would get the gunk off with a plastic scraper or something, and when you get the thick stuff off, brake cleaner will surly eat up some grease. I would look at about $10-15.

 

So this is just mostly nuts, bolts and gaskets?

What is the chance and the most likely thing to break?

After I degrease everything, like you said, do I have to "wash it off" with water, or just make sure not to put a ton of degreaser on?

Also I live in MI and Murrays "rents" out tools. Do you think they'll have that torx bit?

If not, im sure I can get it from my dad.

Adam

 

I don't know if it'd be worth it to take the whole upper end apart just to clean off some oil deposits. If you do decide to take it apart and clean it though, you can use as much degreaser as you'd like, it will evaporate almost instantly so there's no danger of it ruining your oil. If you want that stuff off the inside of your valve covers, the quickest and best way to remove it is by running synthetic motor oil next time you change your oil. I'm not a beleiver in synthetic as a cradle-to-the-grave type of oil for an engine, but I'll be the first to admit that it has marvelous cleaning abilities. Mobil-1 is the best of the bunch by far. Give a crankcase full of Mobil-1 about a week, and then look again. Synthetic oil will have all deposits flushed clean in no time. Good luck. TK

 

Funny you mentioned this. I watched monster garage of all things yesterday and picked up something that makes sense and applies here. IF you go cleaning the top of the heads and start breaking up stuff and it falls into the pan then unless you are gonna clean it all you run the risk of clogging your oil pump, and that isn't worth the attempt or risk, in my opinion. If it is caked on then it isn't gonna go anywhere or hurt anything so personally it is a risk I would rather not take. Just a thought good luck with whatever you do

 

Yea. If you do not plan to disassemble the entire motor. Then just leave it alone. The valve covers would probably be OK but, if it ain't broke...don't fix it.

 

You will probably introduce more damaging elements by trying to clean it than you will by just leaving it. If you don't notice rough running or oil leaks, don't touch it. If you still want to get it clean, use the synthetic like was mentioned...or better yet if you don't want to shrink any seals...use a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil in the crankcase (and fuel tank) and run for 3K miles. MMO is mostly a strong detergent and should clean without destroying seals.

Also, using a high quality dyno oil and changing within 3Kmiles will help keep the sludge down that you are seeing.

 

Transmission fluid right before an oil change will clean out lots of gunk too. One quart in the crankcase, and drive it about 10 miles, then drain and change oil as usual.

 

Ok, I'm having the same problem, except my engine (92 351W) lost oil pressure. I pulled the pan and this crap is all over the crankcase. Then I pulled the valve cover and it's built up all over everything. I can barely make out the shape of the head bolts thru the crud.
What the hell is this stuff? Paraffin?
I've seen this before on engines where the oil wasn't changed often enough. I bought the rig at 50K miles/5 yrs old and have always changed the oil between 3-5K miles. It now has 106K miles on it, and my Ranger 2.9 with 200K looks better than this. I used either Valvoline or Chevron oil in 10W-30, and I don't use additives.
The engine's coming out, and so far it's been a nightmare of a job, and I don't want to repeat the experience in a few months or next year. It's always been a non-leaking, good running engine (until the oil pressure went away) and now I'm looking at an unexpected rebuild (depending on what I find when I get it out).
Does anybody know what causes this buildup?

 

The "gunk" buildup is normal I am not positive on this but I believe it has something to do with the cycleing of the oil hot to cold and the vapors from the hot oil collecting and hardening that is my guess, your oil psi is more than likely one of two things a bad pump or pump relief valve stuck or your bearings are gone. Good luck

 

What thermostat are you using? I have found that Mobil-1 Supersyn is the only oil that will not leave that crud when using a 160 t-stat. If you bump up to a 180, in my experience even conventional oil will not leave deposits like this. Do you drive long distances? Long trips give the oil plenty of time to heat up and start burning off all the contaminants in it, shorter trips lead to sludge build-up and decreased oil and engine life.

 

It's always had a 195 degree thermostat, and I rarely take short trips. It was stored for a year, and I only started it twice during that time.

 

Absolutely agree on all three sugestions for additive. Synthetic (be careful it sometimes causes small leaks to become SIVES on engines). ATF. I have used that both in the oil and in the gas with good results (lots of detergents). And Marvel Mystery oil. Split a bottle between gas and oil every oil change. Cheers.

You can also scrape it out, but try the others first. Cheap, effective, and easy.

 

Im not sure on my therma. I would have to look at it and tell ya.

Im using Mobil 1 10w-30 Full Syn.

 

I'm familiar with Marvel, but what does it do to the crud buildup? Dissolve it? I'm concerned about knocking too much crap loose. I don't want to clog the oil pump screen again! That's what started this whole nightmare.
If it dissolves into a liquid state, then it seems like you would have contaminated oil.