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Hello, 82 owner. I've got the intake manifold off, I have some questions before installation. First off, the inside of the pushrod valley is a little black and dirty , and the inside of the intake manifold is the same way. Should I bother with cleaning it? Im gonna clean the gasket surfaces regardless of course. Pics below
That build up is from either cheap oils or infrequent oil changes or both. By attempting to clean it up the way it is you will likely introduce more contamination into the oil flow from breaking it loose. If you were going to tear down the engine then yes mechanical removal would be the way to go or hot tanking it.
To remove "sludge" build up I would put it back together and use a product designed to remove sludge build up. It's a slow process and slowly dissolves the build up so that it does not overwhelm the oil filter and activate the bypass and just circulate the particulate matter around the engine.
I've tried various products that do this, honestly the one I had the most success with was sea foam high mileage formula. I would cut open the filter afterwards to check the results and sea foam removed the most build up. It takes multiple applications to get a lot of the sludge removed. So many miles of driving. Each sea foam application takes something like 300 miles of driving before draining.
not as bad as many. no buildup of chunks of sludge. leave it alone. i like to cement the gasket down with rtv and let it set up so you know it isn't gonna move when the manifold lands on it.
I'm not seeing any sludge either. Looks like the pushrods got the worst of grime but the valley is ok.
If you are willing to resetting the valve-lash, you could pull the pushrods one at a time, clean and peek through the center hole. Reinstall, next.
Set the lash before installing the Intake.
Hello, 82 owner. I've got the intake manifold off, I have some questions before installation. First off, the inside of the pushrod valley is a little black and dirty , and the inside of the intake manifold is the same way. Should I bother with cleaning it? Im gonna clean the gasket surfaces regardless of course. Pics below
I'll defer to Reelav8r, derekderek, and headsU.P. on cleaning other than to say that you want to keep the lifter valley as free of dirt, old gasket flakes, etc, as possible. On my engine I even used a shop vac multiple times to ensure debris wasn't left behind. Before you begin gasket scraping on the block, cover the lifter valley with a large sheet of newsprint that you can gently gather together after you're finished cleaning the block. Go easy when scraping the intake since it's aluminum and you can gouge it if not careful - minor scratching isn't much concern, but nothing deep.
I left mine alone inside the engine, but I papered/blue painters taped the entire center section as I cleaned the old gasket material off. I also did like 67:72 and kept my shop vac at the ready and sucked off the debris regularly before it built up too much on the paper.
I did a very detailed job on my intake though.
Were you planning to replace your valve cover gaskets? I replaced mine since I think they were seeping.
Any one with more experience want to chime in on some advice on whether he should replace those as well?
[QUOTE=DWAVette;1604938697
Any one with more experience want to chime in on some advice on whether he should replace those as well?[/QUOTE]
Nitan2K - this is good advice after you get the intake back on. Your engine is pretty greasy & oily and I'd bet money your valve cover gaskets should be replaced. The valve cover bolts are often over-torqued and deform the covers and gaskets so they leak oil down the sides of the block.
Of course, if the timing isn't right they can be done later - one job doesn't have any bearing on the other.
Thank you all for the advice. I won't clean the sludge, trying to reduce as many factors as possible.
As for the valve cover gaskets, I've already replaced them. It isn't leaking from there anymore, but I still suspect heavy leaking from probably all other gaskets. I dont think previous owner cared about it much.
As for the pushrods, I tried twisting a few of them out of curiosity, and some of them are kinda firm, whereas others rotate with no effort. Is this a concern? Thanks
The tight push rods are opening or on the way down from opening a valve. The loose ones are on some point at the bottom or base circle of the cam lobe. Normal 4 stroke operation.
As for the pushrods, I tried twisting a few of them out of curiosity, and some of them are kinda firm, whereas others rotate with no effort. Is this a concern? Thanks
Originally Posted by Eljay
The tight push rods are opening or on the way down from opening a valve. The loose ones are on some point at the bottom or base circle of the cam lobe. Normal 4 stroke operation.
Agree ^ ... as long as the ones that are easy to rotate don't have up and down movement that makes any kind of clicking/clattering with the rocker arms. If that's the case, they're too loose.
Oh, No! You didn't jack up the back of your car really high when draining the coolant. Now you have gotten water and glycol in your engine!
Well I guess all you can do now is order a new engine.
.
.
.
or change the oil. run it for 15 minutes, change the oil and filter again. Cross your fingers and toes. pray to the almighty G.M. God that all will be O.K. and Don't forget to promise to the gods you will never do that again.
And if that fails, order a new engine.
AND NEVER GET COOLANT IN YOUR VALLEY AGAIN!
Go to your favorite discount store and get a quart of cheap oil, any weight, any brand.
With the oil pan plug removed, pour the entire contents into the valley.
It will be fine after a long oil drainage. The pump did not pick up any coolant.
Yes, since water is heavier than oil, it will be the first thing out of the pan drain. We're probably not talking very much coolant - can't imagine it's much more than a few ounces. Blot or vacuum up any coolant in the valley then do the cheap oil.
Once it's all buttoned back up with fresh oil, you're going to want to keep an eye on the oil's coloration for a while anyway – in case you didn't get the coolant passages sealed up 100%. Watch for any change from oily transparent to milk and coffee color. If you see that you've got a problem. Also keep an eye, during future oil changes, for any water mixed into the oil in the drain pan.
Academic question: if Nitan2k misses getting a small amount of coolant from the pan - an amount the pump won't pick up - won't it sit in the bottom and eventually evaporate due to the engine and oil heat?
Go to your favorite discount store and get a quart of cheap oil, any weight, any brand.
With the oil pan plug removed, pour the entire contents into the valley.
It will be fine after a long oil drainage. The pump did not pick up any coolant.
Ok thank you so much. Sorry for the lack of response, school started picking up again im balancing that with this car. But I've had some time over the weekend. Ok I will just do that, I should just straight up pour it into the valley?? Like, just right there?
Yes, since water is heavier than oil, it will be the first thing out of the pan drain. We're probably not talking very much coolant - can't imagine it's much more than a few ounces. Blot or vacuum up any coolant in the valley then do the cheap oil.
Once it's all buttoned back up with fresh oil, you're going to want to keep an eye on the oil's coloration for a while anyway – in case you didn't get the coolant passages sealed up 100%. Watch for any change from oily transparent to milk and coffee color. If you see that you've got a problem. Also keep an eye, during future oil changes, for any water mixed into the oil in the drain pan.
Yea I dont recall it being very much. I dont think it was even everything inside the manifold. I did immediently try to absorb all the coolant in the valley but of course some of it got past me. Ill def keep an eye on the oil color.
Oh, No! You didn't jack up the back of your car really high when draining the coolant. Now you have gotten water and glycol in your engine!
Well I guess all you can do now is order a new engine.
.
.
.
or change the oil. run it for 15 minutes, change the oil and filter again. Cross your fingers and toes. pray to the almighty G.M. God that all will be O.K. and Don't forget to promise to the gods you will never do that again.
And if that fails, order a new engine.
AND NEVER GET COOLANT IN YOUR VALLEY AGAIN!
I was wondering what would happen to the coolant inside the manifold when I raised it up, but I was told I think on here that I wouldn't need to worry about it, that draining radiator was enough. My heart sank when I heard the sound of water in my valley. So where did the coolant end up? On top of the pistons, or into the oil pan?
Ok thank you so much. Sorry for the lack of response, school started picking up again im balancing that with this car. But I've had some time over the weekend. Ok I will just do that, I should just straight up pour it into the valley?? Like, just right there?
This is why you use cheap oil from a dollar store. It strictly a one-minute flush and will never be used again.
You can not use any type of cleanser in the lifter valley. So the next best thing to remove coolant is oil itself.
Flood the entire lifter valley. It will drain into the oil pan and out the drain hole into a catch pan.
intake manifold reinstallation
