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Safest way to flush an engine??

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Old Jun 15, 2012 | 04:13 PM
  #1  
trevorsmith82's Avatar
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Car: 82 Firebird/ 79 Camaro Berlinetta
Engine: 151 Pontiac Iron Duke TBI/ 305 SBC
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Safest way to flush an engine??

Ive been having high crankcrase pressure and wants to blow oil out of the weakest gasket or now up the ol dipstick and out the top or air breather

That being said the pcv valve has been replaced hose replaced and throttle body rebuilt i think i have an oil passage clogged inside the crankcase

The engine does have 70,000 oringal miles but had sat for a long period of time so there probaly is some kind of build up inside

So who has a great deal of experience of flushing an engine the safest way I know some engine flushes can dislogge more than you want and do some damage which can be the owners mistake

What brands are the best seafoam marvel or risolene(spelling?) and Ive also heard transmission fluid works?

Im just tired or loosing a quart of oil in 3 days of driving and in no position to buy another car or rebuild the engine

Thanks for anyones input
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Old Jun 15, 2012 | 04:37 PM
  #2  
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Engine: 355, 6.0L
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Re: Safest way to flush an engine??

what part of the engine are you trying to flush out?
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Old Jun 15, 2012 | 05:36 PM
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From: Atlanta, Ga
Car: 82 Firebird/ 79 Camaro Berlinetta
Engine: 151 Pontiac Iron Duke TBI/ 305 SBC
Transmission: THM200/ THM200r4
Axle/Gears: 2.93/ 2.41
Re: Safest way to flush an engine??

the crankcase where all the oil galleries are im not doing the thing where you put seafoam in the vacuum hose to the intake
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Old Jun 15, 2012 | 05:48 PM
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Re: Safest way to flush an engine??

If you had an oil passage clogged, I don't think your engine would run very long. More likely something is worn out like the rings.
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Old Jun 15, 2012 | 06:05 PM
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From: Clinton Township, Michigan
Car: 91 GTA, 73 Z28
Engine: 355, 6.0L
Transmission: TH350, 4L80E
Axle/Gears: 3.42, 3.73
Re: Safest way to flush an engine??

change the oil a few times, can seafoam even be added to oil?
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Old Jun 15, 2012 | 09:28 PM
  #6  
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From: Sydney, Australia
Car: '86 TA
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Re: Safest way to flush an engine??

I dont see how 'flushing' your engine is going to fix high oil consumption. Either it's leaking out, or being burned.
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Old Jun 15, 2012 | 11:01 PM
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Re: Safest way to flush an engine??

Take your valve cover (singular.... how weird) off, and make sure the oil drainback holes are clear. Rod them out with a coat hanger wire or the like if not.

Then, change your oil filter, and fill it with trans fluid. (or if the filter isn't vertical, just add a quart of the ATF to the crankcase) Check the oil FREQUENTLY to make sure it isn't getting thick with the funk; change the filter again if it is (adding another qt of ATF), or if it's REALLY thick, change the oil and replace 1 qt of the new oil with a qt of ATF. Keep an eye on the oil until it quits getting thick and black with dissolved crud. Change the filter and/or the oil as often as necessary until it clears up.

Don't bother with Seafoam. All it is, is a mix of diesel fuel and water. Handy for some things; but not really the chemical of choice for the situation at hand.
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Old Jun 15, 2012 | 11:03 PM
  #8  
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Car: 1988 IROC-Z Camaro, 1981 Trans Am
Engine: 350 TPI, 301 N/A
Transmission: 700r4, 350thm
Re: Safest way to flush an engine??

Yes, seafoam can be added to oil. I would try it, because it certainly wont hurt anything.

Do you see any smoke coming out of the tailpipe? Have somebody rev it and watch the exhaust for smoke, sometimes youll see it puff out some when under fairly heavy load. So at idle you dont see it, but when your driving and you floor it it puffs out smoke but you dont see it because your driving. This is usually caused by bad piston rings
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Old Jun 16, 2012 | 12:04 AM
  #9  
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From: Clinton Township, Michigan
Car: 91 GTA, 73 Z28
Engine: 355, 6.0L
Transmission: TH350, 4L80E
Axle/Gears: 3.42, 3.73
Re: Safest way to flush an engine??

what i need clarification on is how you are losing oil? also what engine are we talking about. if your burning oil seafoam's not gonna help, if your gushing oil from places then something is majorly clogged but if my thinking is correct and something were clogged, youd lose oil pressure.

u mentioned the car sat for a few years correct? if yes then did you change the oil when you first started driving it? are you sure the 3 years didnt dry up a rear main or something and its just pouring out the back?

exact location of where your leaking oil would be great, if you think a passage is clogged run some seafoam since it seems you can use that and like some oil treatment, run it for awhile and see if anything breaks down and then change that nasty stuff. run it for awhile and check the color of it ever so often to see if anything is still being unclogged.
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Old Jun 16, 2012 | 09:09 AM
  #10  
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From: Atlanta, Ga
Car: 82 Firebird/ 79 Camaro Berlinetta
Engine: 151 Pontiac Iron Duke TBI/ 305 SBC
Transmission: THM200/ THM200r4
Axle/Gears: 2.93/ 2.41
Re: Safest way to flush an engine??

To asnwer most questions on here
The engine is a 2.5l ironduke thats whole other story why its in a fbody
But Im loosing oils by it be squirted out out of the air breather and top of the oil dipstick and it being sprayed onto the hood exhaust manifold

Ive done a wet and dry compression check and the rings check out okay they were all close the same i forgot the numbers but I never have smoke coming out of my exhaust ive checked that before

The only time ive seen my car smoke is while driving from the engine cause oil is being pushed up through the dipstick and being sprayed onto the exhaust manifold

So basically im looking at high crankcase pressure and I dont know whats causing it and thought maybe a blocked passage where fumes couldnt escape

The pressure is so high after changing the head gasket and I put a new reman cylinder head on it by the way it blew the cork valve cover gasket after two days of driving so i have a rubber one now

If anyones dealt with high crankcase pressure before Id love some input on it

Also answer the other questions the rear and front seals are new cause the rear one did leak everywhere and I think my oil pressure is okay I dont have a oil pressure guage just a idoit light

Thanks sofakingdom for the trannyfuild input
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Old Jun 16, 2012 | 09:25 AM
  #11  
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Re: Safest way to flush an engine??

High crankcase pressure is the result of combustion getting into the crankcase.

This can happen in any of several ways, involving failures of gaskets or other sealing parts, where those 2 things (combustion and crankcase) are next to each other.

Rings, or even holes or cracks in the tops of the pistons; head gasket, although not so likely, because there's water in between combustion (cylinders) and crankcase (drainback passage) usually; exhaust valve guides; intake gaskets, in V engines, where the exh passages in the heads adjoin the lifter gallery (probably doesn't apply to a 4-cyl).

Flushing the crankcase, while a reasonable idea on its own, is highly unlikely to have any effect whatsoever on any of those other things.

Seafoam (mix of water & diesel fuel) is not the right thing to use to flush a crankcase. You can use just plain old diesel fuel in your oil but it evaporates kinda fast which is why trans fluid is the better choice for that situation. But don't expect it to make any difference to the problem at hand.
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Old Jun 16, 2012 | 09:50 AM
  #12  
trevorsmith82's Avatar
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From: Atlanta, Ga
Car: 82 Firebird/ 79 Camaro Berlinetta
Engine: 151 Pontiac Iron Duke TBI/ 305 SBC
Transmission: THM200/ THM200r4
Axle/Gears: 2.93/ 2.41
Re: Safest way to flush an engine??

Thanks Im going to try the transmission fluid trick if not happens ill look into selling the car for what it is
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Old Jun 16, 2012 | 10:04 AM
  #13  
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From: Bedford Tx
Car: 1991 Z28 1LE
Engine: 370CID GenIII
Transmission: 4l60e
Axle/Gears: 4.33 Moser 9inch
Re: Safest way to flush an engine??

BG engine purge IMO works better then trans fluid, I have to purge alot of BMWs at work that come in with gunked up engines, but nothing against the trans fluid since thats probably easier then getting some BG products for some people. If anyone else has ever used BG engine purge have you noticed how much it smells like Pine Sol lol...
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Old Jun 16, 2012 | 10:09 AM
  #14  
trevorsmith82's Avatar
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Joined: Aug 2011
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From: Atlanta, Ga
Car: 82 Firebird/ 79 Camaro Berlinetta
Engine: 151 Pontiac Iron Duke TBI/ 305 SBC
Transmission: THM200/ THM200r4
Axle/Gears: 2.93/ 2.41
Re: Safest way to flush an engine??

Another question if the rings are truley shot would lucas oil stabilizer or thicker oil help ive been running 10w30

Never heard of bg? is there a link to a website?
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Old Jun 16, 2012 | 10:14 AM
  #15  
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From: Bedford Tx
Car: 1991 Z28 1LE
Engine: 370CID GenIII
Transmission: 4l60e
Axle/Gears: 4.33 Moser 9inch
Re: Safest way to flush an engine??

http://www.bgprod.com/home.html

BG is a brand of "professional grade" cleaners, solvents, and other car addatives sold to shops and dealerships. Most of their stuff is pretty damn good.
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Old Jun 16, 2012 | 10:16 AM
  #16  
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From: Mercedes Norte, Heredia, Costa Rica
Car: 1984 Z28 Hardtop
Engine: 383 Carb
Transmission: 4L60
Axle/Gears: 3.54 Dana 44
Re: Safest way to flush an engine??

Originally Posted by trevorsmith82
Another question if the rings are truley shot would lucas oil stabilizer or thicker oil
If the rings are truly shot than nothing will help but a rebuild.
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Old Jun 16, 2012 | 12:14 PM
  #17  
trevorsmith82's Avatar
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Joined: Aug 2011
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From: Atlanta, Ga
Car: 82 Firebird/ 79 Camaro Berlinetta
Engine: 151 Pontiac Iron Duke TBI/ 305 SBC
Transmission: THM200/ THM200r4
Axle/Gears: 2.93/ 2.41
Re: Safest way to flush an engine??

Thanks for that link

And I figured it would need a rebuild but Im not putting money into rebuilding that engine i hate its power output and its just not worth my money

If i could swap the 350 tbi and 700r4 from this 91 cadillac I would in a heartbeat
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