Remove oil from muffler

santee · 07-30-2004, 10:43 AM

Does anyone have any suggestions for removing oil out of a muffler? I had my 74 2.7 rebuilt and put the old muffler back on. It runs fine but smokes like hell from the old black oil that was thrown in the muffler from the old engine. I plan on replacing the muffler in a couple of months but would like to break in the engine for now.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Stephen

B D · 07-30-2004, 10:51 AM

Take a nice long drive, and drive it like you stole it. That would be the best way in my mind. Or maybe gasoline and a long match, and hose near by?

Randy Webb · 07-30-2004, 10:52 AM

If you're going to junk it then just drill some holes along the bottom. YOu can also pretend you're a souped up civic driver for a while too.

Early_S_Man · 07-30-2004, 10:57 AM

Stephen,

My suggestion would be to put a quart or so of Varsol cleaning solvent in it and slosh it back and forth for five minutes or so, then pour it out. Follow up with another pint or so of the Varsol to get any vestiges of oil out.

Let the muffler sit open and air out overnight, and then remount it and proceed with your break-in.

II6 · 07-30-2004, 06:16 PM

Varsol in the muffler!?!?!?!?

KABOOOOM!

I don't care if you let it sit overnight or even a week, it's going to make a nice firework. ASK ME HOW I KNOW. OH PLEASE DO.

To quote B D, drive it like you stole it.

john walker's workshop · 07-30-2004, 06:51 PM

take it off and have a radiator shop boil and steam clean it.

cyprusx · 07-30-2004, 08:41 PM

Ok... Let it rip... I would like to hear this...

santee · 07-31-2004, 08:49 AM

I am sorry to disappoint everyone!! I ended up using parts cleaner that is not flammable. I cleaned it up last night and took it out this morning. It still has some oil but it is about 3 times better. I'll just let the rest burn out until I get the new muffler.

Sorry I could not provide some excitement with a pic of an exploded muffler!

Thanks again,

Stephen

Grady Clay · 07-31-2004, 09:05 AM

I agree with john W.

After cleaning, rinse with hot soapy water a lot. After you have driven it, take it back off and rinse some more. Never let it sit if wet or may still have radiator cleaning solution in it – get out and drive.

For enlightenment, weigh the muffler before sending to the radiator shop and again after all the cleaning, rinsing, and drying. Good bathroom scales will work just fine.

Good solution, works well.

Best,
Grady

K. Roman · K. Roman's Garage

I removed the muffler and cat placed a pan under them and hung them to drip out as much as they could. Then installed them, went out to the beach at night (no one to see the smoke thus avoiding a ticket) and drove the smoke out of them. Took about 30 minutes of driving to get all the smoke out.

Grady Clay · 07-31-2004, 11:51 AM

Good point.

Do not try and clean a cat. It will $cratch you by failing. Just have everything working properly and drive it.

Best,
Grady

Randy Webb · 07-31-2004, 02:39 PM

OK, Let me get this straight ... all the smoke blew over into Oakland?

Instead of the beach hwy, you should have driven over to Specific Whites and gone up and down the hills.

thevojtiseks · 07-31-2004, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by II6
Varsol in the muffler!?!?!?!?

KABOOOOM!

I don't care if you let it sit overnight or even a week, it's going to make a nice firework. ASK ME HOW I KNOW. OH PLEASE DO.

O.K. So how do you know ??

II6 · 08-01-2004, 09:44 AM

I had my 3.6SC shipped by train across the continent. When I left it with the shipper, it ran fine. When I went to pick it up at the other end, it was a no go. The shipper had actually drained the battery and subsequently boosted it trying to fire it up before even calling me to come and get it. I was uberpissed.

So I when through the drill and checked the fuses, voltage, fuel pressure, etc...By the time I finally figured out that they somehow managed to properly foul all 12 plugs, the lifeless engine had cranked for a good long time without firing (not even a little stumble). I knew by now that the exhaust had a lot of gas in it, so I decided to let it vent in the garage. 5-6 days later, I changed the plugs, turned the key and... KABLAAAM! After putting my eye balls back into their sockets, I jumped out of the car and went to the back of the car to check for damage. Luckily there was no fire, but the garage was now full of smoke. So I opened the garage door. The wind draft cleared most of the smoke out, but some was also pushed past the fire door into the hallway inside the building. I know because that's when the smoke alarm decided to chip in at 120db. Did I mention I live in an appartment building? A loud bang, followed by smoke and the alarm going off does nothing to reassure your typical appartment dweller, I found out. I got to meet the building manager - a very nice lady - as I was fanning the smoke alarm with an old newspaper...

There was no damage to the car, but the exhaust system is brand new and has no rusty old welds. I doubt that my original exhaust would have resisted.

I also have the story of this (then young) Darwin award candidate (cough..ME..cough) who wanted to clean his fuel tank on his racebike by "just dropping a match into the opening". That one ended up as a WOOOF!, not an explosion per se, but a nice quick release of energy. The moron was lucky in that he got away with just some burned hair on the top of his head.

What the hell was he thinking of? Well according to the plan, it was only going to be a "nice little controlled flame" coming out of the hole, like the ones seen on oil rigs. Riiiight.

That tank ended up looking like it was 9 months pregnant (On the plus side, fuel capacity was increased, which was good thing during endurance events).

John Rogers · 08-01-2004, 09:52 AM

I had this happen on my race car a few years ago and ended drilling a pair of holes in the muffler bottom, then welding a pipe boss at each hole. After I flushed the muffler well and let it dry I used pipe plugs in the holes. Worked very well and had to flush it a couple of more times due to engine problems. Good luck

Grady Clay · 08-01-2004, 10:17 AM

II6,

Transport shipping instructions.

You discovered the reason to ship a 911 in "not running" condition. There was a thread a while back where a Pelican got his car delivered but also got to drive all sorts of other's exotica around his neighborhood.

Have your Porsche "first in - last out" and not running, even if it takes throwing away a good battery and draining the fuel tank. There are some situations (international air-freight) where you must drain the oil. In that situation, you want to disable the starter motor and post large signs "No Oil!"

I would also always include instructions pasted to the windows for tie-down and push - pull. Decals for "Push Here" and "No Push." Hand the shipper copies also. You don't want to find a bent tie rod or rear shock. No one wants their nice '69S aluminum decklid dented or muffler filled with oil and fuel.

Best,
Grady