I picked up a 350 from a guy, and he had the intake off for some reason. Well the hood wasnt on the car, and it was under a tree for a few days untill I made it over there and pulled the engine. Well this let all of the little buds and crap fall down into the lifter vally from the trees. I vacuumed as much out as I could, but I know I didnt get it all. So Left the heads and oil pan on, opened the drain plug and pourd 4gallons of oil, but non crap filled oil through the block, going into the lifter vally. It got ALOT of it out, but theres alot still stuck to the rods/crank.

Should I hit it all with brake clean, leaving it all together, or take it all apart and clean it all seperatly. The motor is good, with a rebuild done 8-10k mi ago. I ran a compression test, and visuall saw it run and drive, so i know its all good, or was at least. So I would rather not rebuild.

 

My opinion is to rebuild it. Not only will it make sure you have all of the crap out, but also remember that there was no hood on the car, so morning condensation got in to that engine also. Which means surface rust had a possibility of starting on the piston and the rings.

Again that's just my opinion. Better to be safe than out more $$$$

 

It doesn't necessarily have to be rebuilt exactly, just disassembled, cleaned and reassembled.

 

What do you recomend it be cleaned with? Im not exactly building a motor that I want in the car for more than 6,000mi. Just something to get around on.

Ill tear it all down pretty soon.

 

I dunno about the necessity of tearing the whole thing apart. If you have it out of the car, all you really need to do is pop the pan off, pull the plugs, and blow out and pick out any remaining leaves/etc. I wouldn't use any kind of cleaner though, unless you sprayed it on a rag, and then wiped areas. The problem is that the cleaner breaks down the oil, and if it gets on wear surfaces, it could damage something before fresh oil replaces it.

I'd only recommend teardown if there was a sand storm and tons of dirt got in there. In the grand scheme of things, that's the only stuff thats harder than the metal in the engine. you really can't hurt much if the bottom end is still together, and the heads have not been off.

if you are really worried about leaves/buds in the cylinders, crank the engine through the firing order, and with the intake valve or exhaust valve fully open, and the engine upside down, blast some compressed air into the plug hole.

 

Im not worried about the combustin chamber, or the heads. The heads are off now, as Im putting another set of vortecs that I had laying around.

When I rub my fingers on the counter weights of the crank, and then rub the oil between my fingers I can feel alittle bit of grit, well soft grit. Im going to tear it all down and clean it all by hand with brake clean. Ill stay away from the bearings with it. Ill pull the lifters, and spray down those holes to make sure the cam is clean. Then ill slap the pan back on, put some cheap new oil in the pan, and prime it to clear the bearings, then assymble, and add new oil again, and prime again. Change the oil, once more, and do it again. Using some 2-3qts each time. That will make me feel better, and not worry as much.

Any objections?

 

if you are breaking it all down, then no worries at all, you can spray everything, then wipe it off. the only problem I mentioned is that with a full assembly, that leaves areas where the cleaner can sit. tearing everything apart, just hose and clean, and re-assemble. Just torque everything up right, and don't mix up the rod caps or main caps(mark 'em first )

 

Well its down and back together. I hit it with brake clean, reassymbled, and then reprimed it a few times. Everything should be good to go.