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Posted By Discussion Topic: Black oil -- page: 1 2     JohnA 02-07-2017 @ 1:47 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 278 Joined: Dec 2009 I"ve noticed on my 239 flathead that shortly after I change the oil and run the engine, the oil is pretty black, is their any way I can flush my engine to clean out oil system.I use 30wt non-detergent oil.Tks JohnA carcrazy 02-07-2017 @ 9:42 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1653 Joined: Oct 2009 One trick I heard of from some old tractor mechanics was to drain the oil from the crankcase, fill the engine with kerosene, start the engine and run it until the oil light come on, then shut off the engine, drain the crankcase, and refill with fresh clean oil. Try this tip at your own risk. JohnA 02-08-2017 @ 6:39 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 278 Joined: Dec 2009 Gulp!!.I"m sweating just thinking about it, will keep in mind thought.Tks TomO 02-08-2017 @ 7:02 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7250 Joined: Oct 2009 Black oil is usually caused by incomplete combustion. Most carbureted engines will have a shade of black oil after 500 miles of normal driving.Fuel injected engines can go a couple of thousand miles before this happens. Another major cause of black oil is excessive idling and not driving the car until the engine is fully warmed up. Black oil is not a sign that there is a lot of sludge, but it is a sign that you are creating sludge in the engine. I would check the spark plugs to determine if the carburetor needs repair and also check out your driving habits. Use a detergent oil as it will keep the unburned contaminants in suspension and help clean some of the sludge from the engine. Drain the oil when the engine is at operating temperature to remove all of the suspended sludge. Engine flush products just flatten your wallet as the only good way to clean sludge from your engine, is to disassemble the engine and clean it. Disturbing the sludge without doing a disassemby can cause engine damage. Tom Stroker 02-08-2017 @ 7:22 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 Yes, that sounds pretty "scary" but I've seen it done. In the early 50's we bought a used 35 truck that was so badly sludge'd up that the oil would hardly drain. Repeated that cycle about 5 times and that truck served us well for another 30 years. BUT..of course that 35 had Babbitt main's, which are a lot more "forgiving" of the lousy lubrication provided by kerosene than inserts are. We just let it fast idle with no load applied, and watched the oil pressure like a Hawk. The GREAT risk is that if your motor is full of sludge, the kerosene will loosen a glob of it that will clog the oil pick-up screen and starve the bearings. I certainly don't recommend doing this if you value your engine. If I were you, I'd quit using Non-Detergent oil, and simply let the motor clean itself up over time by driving it. Unless your oil is so badly contaminated that it comes out thick, you shouldn't need to resort to anything as draconian as flushing with kerosene or anything else. There's a "reason" that Detergent Oil was developed, and it won't hurt your motor. To me, non-detergent oil should only be used in an oil can to lubricate your generator oil cups. JohnA 02-08-2017 @ 5:49 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 278 Joined: Dec 2009 Food for thought.Thanks len47merc 02-09-2017 @ 5:03 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1165 Joined: Oct 2013 Weighing in here with personal experience and 'dittos' for TomO's & Stroker's comments. On a sludged-up flathead that had only ran non-detergent oil for it's entire life a colleague and I ran 2 rounds of 50/50 kerosene/motor oil and then 3 rounds of 'GUNK Motor Flush' (which after flattening our wallets on it found it to only be basically refined kerosene), the latter per the manufacturer's procedure, the kerosene as noted by others above. After all this we still got a 'gunked-up' thick coating of grunge from the bottom of the oil pan when 'dip-sticking' our fingers through the drain hole. Pulled the oil pan and found it to be, after all the cycles noted here, still at least 3/8"-1/2" deep with sludge and most importantly the oil pick-up screen was then completely clogged with the gunk. At this point we pulled the motor, went through it and did indeed find oil passageways that were completely clogged (whether due to these cleansing cycles/processes or not who knows, but concerning enough nonetheless to not recommend ever repeating the process to others). The advice of running detergent oil and letting the motor clean itself is very sound. I only add to this advice that in retrospect we could have saved quite a bit of time and anguish had we simply pulled the oil pan and thoroughly cleaned it, the oil pick-up screen and the oil pump and reassembled, then ran a quality brand detergent oil from that point on. Steve This message was edited by len47merc on 2-9-17 @ 5:12 AM JohnA 02-09-2017 @ 9:00 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 278 Joined: Dec 2009 I think I tend to agree,will be switching to detergent oilTks shogun1940 02-09-2017 @ 6:52 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 464 Joined: Feb 2010 Old timers would buy a car at an auction, drin the oil on the side of the road and fill it with transmission fluid. Never kerosine . I would just keep changing oil and filter. I use 15-40 rotella for diesels myself. TomO 02-10-2017 @ 8:01 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7250 Joined: Oct 2009 John, your black oil may not be a sign of sludge already in the engine, but a sign of sludge that is building up. Read my previous post about checking your plugs for a rich mixture and make sure that every time you drive your car to warm it up fully by driving at least 30 min before shutting it off. This will warm the oil and help evaporate the water and other unburnrd contaminants in the oil that cause sludge. Tom

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