Suggestions on How To Clean This Oily Mess - Valvetrain Pic

[slow&rusty]

I recently purchased this '86 635 and knee deep in catching up on deferred maintenance.

I pulled off the valve cover last weekend to discover this mess, any ideas on how to best clean the gummy and coked mess (without removal)? I was thinking maybe Seafoam and then an immediate oil change or oil changes?




Thanks,
Yasin

[pavulon]

Is there some good reason to clean it all off at one time? I'm not sure that circulating all all of the build-up at one time is a good idea. While I understand the temptation to seafoam it, I'd consider running some high detergent oil for extended times at normal operating temps as well as changing and examining the oil filter between changes. Ymmv.

[wdfifteen]

I’ve seen much, much worse. You may cause more problems knocking chunks off into the bowels of the engine than leaving it on there would ever cause. I’d button it back up, use good, high detergent oil, and change the oil frequently.

[fastfredracing]

I agree, Id leave it and change your oil frequently . Once you start to knock it all loose, you will never be able to retrieve it, and it will eventually end up clogging up your pick up tube.

[slow&rusty]

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

What high detergent dino oil do you recommend?

[Scott Douglas]

You are aware that you can run SeaFoam in the oil. I'd just sub a qt/can of SeaFoam for a qt of oil and be gentle on how I use the car for a couple hundred miles, then drain and do it again.
I'd use one of the oils for high mileage cars.
We did this with the El Camino my brother and I resurrected from a 20-yr nap and I did it with a very high mileage pickup a neighbor was giving to his son. The truck is doing fine out in AZ and the Elco was sold to a guy who was going to restore it.

[flatbutt]

Wouldn't running the Seafoam with the oil still risk clogging? I've never used SF so please pardon my ignorance.

[Scott Douglas]

I don't think it would since it isn't going to have any 'scrubbing' action to it, just the contact that oil being pumped up to the rockers would have normally. It'd be a lot slower than going in and scraping it out by hand. The Elco we worked on had sludge that we (I) removed with a screw driver and putty knife, just to get the worst of it out. Engine ran fine when we started it and the lifters never made a sound. I have a video somewhere of the start up. It surprised both of us since we'd seen the inside of the valve cover. Thought it would clatter like all get out.

[masraum]

THat doesn't look bad at all to me. Actually, for a vehicle that's >30 years old, I'd say that looked really good.

I wouldn't worry about that at all.

[Scott Douglas]

I'm with Steve, it's not that bad.
Maybe run some Marvel Mystery oil in it for a few oil changes if you're really worried about it and don't want to 'have' to change the oil that soon.

[slow&rusty]

Sea Foam to the rescue!

[Evans, Marv]

Good luck & let us know how it works out, but I'm from the school of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

[speeder]

Pretty much what everyone else said and yeah, it's not that bad. That engine went a little too long between oil changes but I've seen much, much worse. I've also seen a lot better but that won't help you now.

Change oil a little more frequently than needed and throw in a quart of ATF a couple hundred miles before you change the oil. It's extremely detergent. I'm not sure what is in Seafoam, it's some type of strong solvent and I personally would not use it the same way as ATF, which is still oil. Seafood will unstick anything but I would not drive around long w it in my crankcase, myself. Different strategy w that than the ATF, which you can leave in as long as you want, (in small quantity compared to oil), the ATF does a beautiful job of freeing sticky oil control piston rings and can reduce oil consumption in some cases.

At any rate, leaving that the way it is will cause no harm and trying to clean it aggressively could.

[speeder]

BTW, I have a bunch of parts for that car that I'd give you a deal on. Is it an automatic or manual?

[T77911S]

when I pulled my oil pan on my 330ci to change the gasket I found that the pickup tube was about 50% blocked.
I have not looked at the valve train but you may be better off pulling the oil pan.

[slow&rusty]

Denis - I do like the ATF recommendation, good advice. I just PM'd you on the parts you have for sale.
Yasin

[Tobra]

If you do the ATF trick, you may want to drain a quart right before an oil change, put in a quart of ATF and let it run with no load on it for 30-60 minutes. It is oil, but it is also pretty thin, which always made me nervous. I have seen it quiet down hydraulic lifters a LOT after doing it.

Another formula from miataland If you do the kerosene flush, let it drain out, leave the fill cap off and go have lunch or something, to let the volatile parts evaporate If you use 75% ATF mix, definitely run it without any load on the engine.

2TWISTY
Overdrive
Member # 11301

This "knocking" sounds more like the classic Miata HLA tick.

Your car has hydraulic lifters and sometimes you can't get oil into them fast enough for them to stay totally inflated, so they tick.

When you check the oil, make sure the car has sat for a few minutes NOT RUNNING. For an accurate measure, I like to wait about 5-10 minutes.

There are a number of "solutions" to the HLA clatter, and every one of them involves changing your oil.

My favorite is to do 2 oil changes.

On the first, put a cheap filter in the car and put 1 qt of really thick oil and 3 quarts of auto tranny fluid (yes, ATF) in the engine and run it for about an hour.

Drain that out. While the drain plug is off, run about a gallon of kerosene through the engine to flush it out good.

Then, put your good Mazda OEM, Mobil1, or Purolator (NOT FRAM!) oil filter on the car and fill with your favorite oil (dino or synth)

Others will just tell you to adjust the viscocity of the oil.

I have found the adjusting the viscocity only moves the problem to one end or the other. If you go thicker to address the hot tick, you're more likely to cold tick. If you go thinner to address cold tick, you're more likely to hit tick.

I believe that the lifters tick because the hole in them that allows the oil in is too small, and over time this hole closes up a little due to varnishing of the oil and other deposits.

The strong detergents in the ATF help to dissolve these varnishes, restoring these holes to closer to their original size.

I have no proof of this, but in my experience, my method works for longer than the others I've seen. I usually get 3-4 oil changes at 3-5000 miles before ticking comes back.

The ticking won't really hurt anything, we're talking about thousandths of an inch here, but it sure is annoying to have your nice pretty car clacking at the stoplights...

[JackDidley]

+1 for the leave it alone vote. I would change the oil often.

[Jeff Alton]

Have had great results with Liqui Moly engine flush for this sort of thing...

[HaroldMHedge]

In my youth I remember using Gunk Motor Flush on several of my early cars with high sludge levels. Itdidn't seem to hurt anything and did clean some of the sludge.

Amsoil has an intersting page on engine flushing.
Is an engine flush good or bad?