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Remember this post by SlantSixDan about his flushing soup?
(SSD?)
Hey Mr. DC,
Am just assuming that the following is Daniel's post about his "flushing soup" because of the stylish writing and the extreme empathy for the engine that is evinced (something with which I can relate).
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Careful-careful-careful. Those "engine flush" compounds you can find at the auto parts store can do a tremendous amount of damage.
I have long maintained that your engine is not a toilet (Chevrolet Vega, Cadillac HT4100 and V8-6-4, and Ford 3.0 owners excepted) and therefore does not need flushing except under specific and rare conditions as a corrective measure. Everyone's got a pet theory on how best to flush a crudded-up engine without pulling the pan. Some methods are harmless but ineffective. Some methods are potentially harmful. Some methods are harmless and effective. For best results, pick one of that last kind.
I do not believe there is any such thing as a safe, effective and fast engine flush procedure. You can pick any two of these three: Safe and effective (but not fast), safe and fast (but not effective), effective and fast (but not safe). The risks fall into two categories:
Softening/damaging engine gaskets and seals so they don't seal well any more
Sweeping large amounts of dirt and crud from its resting place into the oil filter, which plugs and goes into bypass mode, sending the cräp directly to the bearings and quickly failing the engine. I watched this happen to a Chev 305 once. It was quite a spectacle.
Those "5-minute engine flush" compounds mostly contain Butyl Cellosolve,
which is a specialized solvent that's very good at one particular task: Cleaning the mayonnaise out of a crankcase that's had coolant in it due to a faulty head (etc.) gasket. Their use in any other situation is risky.
My own engine flush recipe is a delicious blend of Marvel Mystery Oil (very light weight and good at dissolving gums and sludges), Kroil (best penetrant on the planet), ATF (detergent/dispersant with good lubricity), and Berryman B12 ChemTool (good at dissolving crud too tough for Marvel Mystery Oil). My procedure involves warming up the engine, draining the oil, changing the oil filter, replacing the drain plug (!), and pouring in the soup. For a 5-quart crankcase, I usually start with 1/1/2/1 (Marvel/Kroil/ATF/B12). Then start and run the engine in the driveway at around 1200 to 1700 RPM with no sudden acceleration and no load applied, for 15 minutes.
Shut down, drain (really let it drain, walk away for 45 minutes), change the filter again, repeat with new soup for 30 to 45 minutes depending how gross the first batch of soup was when it was drained and how quickly the second batch of soup cruds up. Check the dipstick periodically.
If the 2nd batch of soup comes out coalmine black and full of chunks, run in another batch of soup (and another new filter!) and repeat until chips, chunks and tar stop coming out when you drain it.
You'll note the filter is replaced before any attempt is made to introduce a flushing agent into the crankcase, and the filter is replaced again every time you drain a batch of flushing soup. Without doing this, you run the very real risk of inundating the filter, which will go into bypass mode and send all the loosened-up crud directly to the bearings and other critical parts: Goodbye, engine, it was nice gnawing you.
I've gotten amazing amounts of corruption and trash out of engines using this recipe and method. Other methods and other recipes may work better
for other people with other cars. And as always, be advised that if the engine is really tired and whipped, even a safe flush can cause additional problems in the form of "new" leaks.
This all flush method sounds very reasonable, though it doesn't have much relevance when it comes to Lorrie Van Haul's mighty 225 Slant Six because the Frantz Oil Cleaner never did allow the mighty Slant Six's components to get all "crudded up".
As was noted in this thread, the problem with Lorrie's Oil was due to her having sat idle for sixteen years during which time the carbon in the Oil settled out into the bottom of the Oil Pan.
The removing, cleaning, priming, repainting and re-installation of Lorrie's EIGHT QUART Oil Pan was all it took to solve the problem.
Being preoccupied with other pressing matters, there has been a period of being remiss in not updating you all about Lorrie's condition: She is doing perfectly well!
The NEW Stewart Warner Oil Pressure Gauge was probably installed unnecessarily, as was the NEW Oil Pump, but that wasn't an absolute certainty at the time.
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I wonder how the Fritz/TP filter would handle all the crud from an
SSD Souper Flush ... e.g. could the Fritz filter unit (i.e. roll of
TP be shortened to provide a reservoir for crap during the flush)...
Actually, there is already a 3/4" space above the Frantz Filter Element which would probably be a sufficient volume to contain the "crap" loosened during the flush. Also, it would probably be sufficient to just change the Frantz Filter Element without changing the "soup" if it was found that there was an excess of "crap" loosened by the "soup".
BTW, doing that would be a lot less expensive than changing regular filters.
Lorrie is presently running eight quarts of Valvoline 10W30 Motor Oil. She is putting up 50 PSI at speed on the road and 40 PSI at idle with her mighty 225 Slant Six at operating temperature. And after having gone nearly 600 miles, the Oil is still too clear to see on the Dip Stick. Have to use the brown paper bag trick to see where the Oil level is.
Also, since having Lorrie's Starter rebuilt, starting her, even with the ambient temperature being in the low 20s, takes just a touch of the Start Switch after setting the Choke with a single pump on the Acceleration Pedal.
Once the engine starts, it instantly goes to a 700 RPM idle till operating temperature is reached at which time the idle settles to is turbine smooth 550 RPM.
Lorrie is beginning to once again earn my trust and confidence.
We have been out and about on a number of 40 - 50 mile round trips and she has been performing flawlessly.
BUT, there IS one question: Does anyone know where one might obtain Exterior and Interior Door Handles for a 1967 Dodge P200 Postal Van? Have done numerous searches and have come up empty handed. Lorrie's Door Handles are the "iffiest" part of her existence.
Anyway, would have commented sooner, but have not been receiving notifications that there was activity on this thread until this afternoon.
Hope this finds you all doing well.
JC
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