How to Flush Crank Case?

[Jim]

I while back, someone told me about a method for cleaning out the engine when changing the oil. I cant remember any details.

Also, there is supposed to be an oil drain somewhere on the injection pump, I cant find it. Should it be easy to locate?

Is it beneficial to *flush* these diesel engines? How does one do this?

Thanks

[Sammy]

I don't know if this is correct and someone will let you know if it isn't but I dump the oil out of the crankcase and pour el cheapo red diesel (about 2 1/2 gallons) in it and let it IDLE for about 5 minutes. Drain and refill with new oil and filter.
Another way to clean while you drive is run Rotella 5w-40 synthetic. It's expensive as hell, about $20 a gallon and will probably clean out everything too good and you will have oil leaks everywhere.

[Jared]

I too empty all the oil out of the motor and add just diesel fuel in its place! I let it run at idle speed for a few minutes then i drain it. I would recommend doing this twice in a row for the first time! Jared

[Jim]

What do you do with the 3 to 6 gallons of diesel fuel afterwards?

[Sammy]

I've heard of some people actually will run up to one quart of the old dirty oil that they originally took out of the crankcase and put it in the fuel tank.
As for the dirty diesel fuel I just dump it in the same container as the recycled oil and let my friendly neighborhood Auto Zone take care of it. The same goes for ATF, power steering fluid, etc.
I use 5 gallon buckets from work that hydraulic fluid comes in, easier to bring it over to wherever you recycle and doesn't splash all over.

[jhorton]

I use diesel for several things. I put it in a pump sprayer and treat the wood on my trailer 2 or 3 times a year. It does a fair job as a cleaner on crusty parts and tools. Much safer than gas for lighting off brush piles. The tree huggers won't like it, but it's also been called the poor man's round-up. I'm not sure what the EPA would say about that practice, but it probably wouldn't be very pretty. That's one use I wouldn't recommend.

[Dan Phariss]

Frankly if you run high quality motor oil it should not require flushing.
If you are worried about the engine being dirty internally I would switch to Amsoil or one of the other synthetic diesel oils. This will clean the engine much better without shorting it of lubrication. Will also protect the engine better than petroleum oils.

If you decide to run synthetic I would get one or two cans of engine flush at Wal Mart and follow the directions before installing. Or look at the instructions on the engine flush can then just add enough diesel to the oil to do what the flush does 1 quart will probably be enough. I use Amsoil's engine flush since thats what the recommend prior to installing their oil. The cans are only about a pint too.
Most if not all engine flush is just petroleum distillate with some detergents added. Running the engine on straight diesel fuel for lube sound like something a hard up for business mechanic would reccomend.

5 gallons of diesel is a "reportable quanity" and can get you fined if the EPA finds you dumped it and they feel froggy. The stuff will go down untill it hits ground water.

Dan

[John Donnelly]

Jim,

Dan P. is correct, as long as quality Diesel engine oil has been used, flushing is really quite unecessary.

I remain unconvinced about the merits of Synthetic oil however, but that is an old discussion, and not really relevant here.

If you really must flush your engine, I would do it by using some "motor flush" like the kind that Solder Seal makes, and then, after using it, drain the oil and motor flush, and then drop the oil pan and clean it out, then reinstall it with a new gasket.

I would also prepare myself for a leaking valve cover gasket, and quite possibly leaks everywhere that engine oil came in contact with a gasket.

Keep on Dieselin',

John Donnelly

[Grey Wolf]

:( Guys your giving me the shivers.....running straight Diesel in your crankcase is a sure way to wipe out your bearings. My sons both work on truck Diesels (they both got my disease!) and they see quite a few engines go south with just a small percentage of fuel dilution due to bad injectors. I'm with John & Dan....stick with the clean engine oil and forget that trick!!

[Dan Phariss]

Scares the heck out of me too. I don't know WHERE this sort of thing comes from. Diesel will lube a pump and injectors but I sure as heck would not trust it in anything like an engine.


Dan

[CareyWeber]

You can add ATF to your oil about 100 miles or so be your next oil change. ATF has lots detergents in it.

I don't think I would try the diesel flush. Diesel will cause the bears to wipe.

I think the best thing is to run a quality diesel motor oil. The SD33 motors require a CD oil rating any "C" rated oil meets whether its CF or the most current which is CH rated oil. However it must be drain at the proper intervals which is know more than 3000 miles. Draining the oil is the best way to keep the soot from burning diesel under control. There are some by-pass filters that can help remove the soot.

With that said if a diesel was run with a gas rated oil like a SG rated it might need to be flushed other wise I don't see the need to flush.

Carey

[Dan Phariss]

I am not sure that ATF is compatable with motor oil. At least some ATFs have EP additives which can cause deposits under certain heat and pressure situations. It sounds good but after doing some reasearch I would not use it.
I would run an oil change with synthetic oil if I were worried about a dirty engine. But I run synthetic all the time anyway.

Dan

[Grey Wolf]

If you use good Diesel engine oil and are religious about changing it, flushing won’t be necessary. I’m going to date myself here, but I’ve been around Diesels, driving and working on them for over thirty years and in my experiences I’ve never seen a dirty inside unless it’s been neglected! Granted if you don’t maintain them, your in for trouble and if you think it needs to be flushed you better get ready for something more time consuming because flushing it won’t help it’s probably to far gone.

I’ve got a 6-33 in my garage now that has about 500,000 miles on it with regular oil changes and it’s as clean as a new engine on the inside. When I was introduced to Diesel everyone was using Chevron Delo, it was even the fill from the factory, anyway I’ve used it all this time and I can say I never saw an oil related failure. It’s my own choice and I’m not saying it’s the best, all I’m saying is change what ever you prefer in oil and be regular about it!

[Jim]

I run Case IH 15-40 Diesel Oil in both my diesels. The reason I was considering flushing the engine, is the older scout was just bought from an owner who neglected the oil change for unknown time, when I changed it, it looked bad. (I know used diesel oil is black, it was worse than usual).

I will not *flush* the engine, instead I am going to just change the CASE IH oil after 1000 then after 2000 and from then on every 2500-3000 miles.

BTW, I highly recommend buying a barrel of oil and a hand pump. I bought two , two years ago. It is so nice to change the oil on all my vehicles and have no plastic bottle mess. The cost is much lower too.

[Tracpller]

Maybe it's an IH thing. My third scout was a '65 that was my old driver's ed teacher's, he was the original owner. It had about 60,000 mi. on it and every 3,000 he would drain the oil, replace it with Kerosene and run it. That old 4 cylinder always ran strong and clean. I've got an old 8N ford that someone tried that trick on, broke the pan, block and a rod. I'll stick with regular oil changes and good oil thank you.

Mark