Cleaning rockers, pushrods etc.

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So tonight I started work on my head gasket job. Have the VC off, Throttle, TV, cruise cables off, rockers off and pushrods. Rockers and balls/nuts all put in labelled bags per rocker. Pushrods are in a box labelled. What can I soak them in to clean them off while I have it off. Thinking some MMO would be a good choice. What do you think? Maybe not even soak, but wipe down.
 
I'm not sure what MMO is but I used a bench top parts washer on the cams and rocker arms, cam holders, bolts, etc. that I first removed from these heads, then gasoline and a parts cleaning brush for the head itself followed by brake cleaner. Before:

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After:

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MMO will be a waste of money... it is however a good little experiment to see just how much cleaning these so called oil additives do.

Do a google search, I know of several outstanding chemicals, however I'm afraid to recommend anything for fear of etching the substrate... be careful what you choose, as others have mentioned a parts cleaning chemical may be your best choice. I would NOT use gasoline I have heard bad things happen when engine parts are cleaned with gas.
 
'Testing' MMO for cleaning here is not readily comparable to use in an engine or fuel system. There is no heat and no long term environment.
With the parts off, use a strong solvent like carb cleaner.
 
looks like those extended oil changes are'nt doing good things for you. i've heard good things about gunk motor flush, never really used it though.i have used the wynn's oil cleaner and it seems to work well, but that is a lot of sludge, i'd be afraid of plugging the pick up screen.
 
Originally Posted By: mopar_monkey
looks like those extended oil changes are'nt doing good things for you. i've heard good things about gunk motor flush, never really used it though.i have used the wynn's oil cleaner and it seems to work well, but that is a lot of sludge, i'd be afraid of plugging the pick up screen.



No sludge, just varnish and stain from 125,000 miles of conventional oil. I picked up some seafoam, and it seems to be making a little bit of a difference, at least on the pushrods.
 
Varnish, and stain will not hurt the life of an engine any. Just because we see nice clean pictures with engines with their underwear off does not mean that engine will live a longer life than one with varnish, and stain. We have to be careful of thinking cleanliness prolongs engine life when in fact all that is required is proper lubrication.. I agree no sludge should be present, or very little, however engine design plays a much more important role in this than short OCI's synthetic for that "extra protection" etc etc.
 
Originally Posted By: Silber Igel
Gasoline??? Surely, there's a safer solvent!!!


Maybe but in my experience there is not much else that is cheaper or works better. No smoking of course. So you can use a "safe" solvent and scrub a dub or soak your parts in a coffee can of gas in the backyard overnight and be done with it.

Like I said if you have the money buy a parts washer.
 
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If you have the parts out of the engine, use the strongest thing you can - gas, parts cleaner solvent....once you get everything back together, do a short OCI to flush everything out - cleaners, gasket leaching...etc....
 
Gasoline will leave some kind of chemical residue on the metal substrate causing oil not to adhere... GM had a huge problem with this very issue in the past when rebuilding motors at dealerships gas was used as a solvent which then caused problems with wash down after the rebuild scoring etc was seen.... I would NOT use gas as a solvent if you must kerosene or diesel, but as I said there are much better chemicals that will do no harm/etching of the metal. You should have plenty of time to do this so use the soaking method, let the chemical penetrate, and break down the oil...

I have found about the only thing that removes varnish is mechanical removal which you don't want to do as this will cause more problems ..such as using a wire brush will scratch the metal causing the next oil/heat cycles to be even worse. Cleaners with caustic soda, or sodium hydroxide does an outstanding job of clean sludge, caked on oil, and even some varnish... but please research this as to not harm you engine... sodium hydroxide, caustic soda will erode aluminum in a bad way. Zep one of the best cleaners I have ever used, also Castrol Super Cleaner.

99% alcohol is also a outstanding cleaner which has pretty much no effects on metal, but can on rubber/plastic parts... You are going to have to research this, and all the materials you have to clean. When you get done with this I think you will see my point about all the cleaning additives for oil pretty much are worthless, all they do is thin the oil out (kerosene effect)
 
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