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Dirty 289


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Well not sure where to post this...in any case, I know there are a lot of very knowledgeable gearheads out there so here goes.  Have the trans/transfer case out of my 68 Bronco as well as clutch.  Then for sure rear main is leaking so ad that to list.  My son  then says.."you can't leave those valve covers on" so what a mess that revealed.  You would not believe the sludge in that thing. Again a 68 289 that has about 64,000 miles on it.  I bought it in like 94 and then  it sat in my barn from 98 until now.  I always used 10-30 GulfPride but previous owners probably were using 30w.

Any suggestion as to best way to do a reasonable cleanout of top end.  Couple of guys have suggested .."leave it alone".  The screen on the oil pick up looks good.

Note I said "reasonable"-I'm not taking that motor out.  

Appreciate any suggestions

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A lot of people swear by Seafoam but I've never used it before. While you have the valve covers off you might as well get as much of that out of there as you can by hand before some of it breaks off and clogs a passage. While you’re in there it might be a good idea to check the valve lash. 

Edited by fuzzymoomoo
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Improper maintenance indeed Did it even have a thermostat in it?. If you are not wanting to pull it, Kerosene (safer) or gasoline. Had a buddy who got a "low mile" 350 for a camaro project years ago. 1.5" thick sludge on the head bolts under the valve covers. We scraped it all out protecting the oil drains from chunks the best we could.. Scrubbed it with brushes and gasoline. Once done we drained the oil "mixture" and just poured fresh gas over the heads with the drain plug out letting the balance of junk to flow out. Then poured fresh oil all over the valvetrain (4 cheap quarts of junk fresh oil). once all drained put fresh oil and filter. Primed the snot out of the engine before firing (old distributor with gear pulled) I would say adding seafoam to the first batch of oil would be worth doing also. I would only leave it in for a few heat cycles and replace it. You will probably find other leaky seals after you're done though. Your friendly shade tree mechanic. (btw), This worked good and the engine did run good afterwards with no rattle. Til we ran it it the local dragstrip and the lil honda civic was beating him. He over rev'ed the hell out of it and spun a rod bearing. LOL

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If you aren't wanting to pull the engine for a rebuild I'd run a high quality oil (I prefer vr1 for flat tappet cams) and just change the oil more frequently for a while. Sludge is usually a result of the engine not getting warm enough or being run hard enough along with cheap oil.

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I'll add in the high quality, high detergent motor oil. Sludge is usually the result of driving few miles & non frequent oil changes. I'd swap the oil filter frequently & use a Motorcraft FL 1A. That filter is $4 @ Walmart and really, it's as good as any other filter on the market.

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16 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said:


It doesn't really matter where they go. If they get clogged something isn't going to get properly oiled. 

Understood-that is why I ask the question.  If they are a direct shot  to oil pan, I'm not worried about what I dump in top-be it kero, gas, Rislone etc.  When I'm done I can put the air chuck to the holes.  IF however it supplies lifters or whatever, different story.

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They're drain back holes, back to the pan. Wouldn't be a bad idea to get a prime tool to chuck up in your drill and make sure oil is coming up all of the pushrods if it's that sludged up. You can use a 1/4" socket taped to an extension and chucked in the drill, but the prime tools are only about 10 bucks. Spin drill counter clockwise. Have someone slowly rotate the engine by hand while priming and look at all the rockers to make sure they're getting oil. If not pull the rocker off, pull pushrod and clean out the hole with a piece of wire.

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2 hours ago, Captainp4 said:

They're drain back holes, back to the pan. Wouldn't be a bad idea to get a prime tool to chuck up in your drill and make sure oil is coming up all of the pushrods if it's that sludged up. You can use a 1/4" socket taped to an extension and chucked in the drill, but the prime tools are only about 10 bucks. Spin drill counter clockwise. Have someone slowly rotate the engine by hand while priming and look at all the rockers to make sure they're getting oil. If not pull the rocker off, pull pushrod and clean out the hole with a piece of wire.


Honestly if it was mine I would pull and clean all the rods and rockers anyway. I'm anal like that. Plus added bonus I can get an idea if there's any excess wear in the valvetrain. 

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