Possible Stuck Valves - Old Farmers Trick?

[Harpua216]

not sure if they are stuck or not. have no compression in two cylinders (not next to each other).

has anybody heard of dumping diesel into the oil and letting run 5-10 minutes, then changing filter/oil to get them unstuck, if that is in face what it truly is?

head is probably coming off anyway, but i found it interesting. if anything he said your valves, etc.,,. will be super clean when you open it...

not sure i will try this though. anyone?

 

[ricco750]

I have certainly heard of this, and I have done something similar on a 75 Chevy Impala with the 350 that had been neglected because of oil changes. However, I did not use diesel, but a product at the auto parts store. This would have been in the mid-80's, so I don't remember what the product name was, but I have seen other products whenever I shop there these days.
It did certainly clean out a lot of "brown stuff" when I did it, and as I remember the treatment was to let the car idle for 5-10 minutes, and then change the oil and filter. It did help the valve ticking noise.

 

[sport97]

Seafoam may help. We did this on a 4.3 gm. Real low compression due to carbon in the valves and it cleaned it up enough to get the compression to an acceptable range. Still doesn't run right but that was 65k miles ago now.

 

[Harpua216]

i would use seafoam, but i think it caused the problem in the first place. thanks, almost down to the valve cover now. waiting for my neighbor to come back with a leak tester

 

[Boodaggy]

I have heard of using marvel mystery oil. Or even automatic tranny fluid but you have to introduce it directly into the combustion chamber, either by a vacume line or directly into the throttle body. On older carburated cars, you simply removed the air filter and poured it slowly into the carburator.

 

[Harpua216]

that is cleaning it. this would go directly into the oil, where you fill your oil up. this isnt a seafoam trick. never heard of tranny fluid though..interesting.

 

[Anime]

I've heard of using seafoam, MMO, ATF, even water through the intake to knock carbon off, but really, I'd stick with using something like Techron or just using top tier gas in the first place to keep the valves from getting buildup in the first place.

If it's really bad, pulling the heads to check out the hardware and/or clean it manually might be the only option.

 

[Harpua216]

i really dont think you guys are understanding. diesel fuel into the oil filler to clean stuck valves and parts. not a seafoam trick. good dtraight diesel fuel.
(fyi, seafoam is just glorified diesel.)

 

[snoranger]

Yes, I've used diesel fuel, ATF, MMO, seafoam. Anyone of them mixed in the oil might work. None of them will harm the engine. I've ran 2 quarts of atf and 3 quarts oil in a crankcase for 100 hours (forklift engine, we go by hours not mileage).
I've never left diesel fuel in for more then an hour (straight diesel, only oil in the mix was whatever was left in the filter.)

 

[Harpua216]

thanks. did it help? were any of your valves stuck? I am almost done getting to the valves. funny that i am hoping they are bent or burnt..

 

[Spook]

Yes, I've used diesel fuel, ATF, MMO, seafoam. Anyone of them mixed in the oil might work. None of them will harm the engine. I've ran 2 quarts of atf and 3 quarts oil in a crankcase for 100 hours (forklift engine, we go by hours not mileage).
I've never left diesel fuel in for more then an hour (straight diesel, only oil in the mix was whatever was left in the filter.)

I've used diesel. Drain the crankcase of the warmed up engine, add diesel to crankcase and idle for about 5 minutes. Drain the diesel, it will be extremely black, remove the old filter & pop on a new one, refill the crankcase with your regular oil and voila, you're done.

Don't forget to let the engine warm up prior to doing this as it will allow for better drainage of the old oil and keep the idle speed relatively low while the diesel is in the crankcase. DON'T rev the engine while the diesel is in the crankcase, it is slippery enough that you shouldn't do any harm but idle speed only.

 

[jd4242]

I think everyone is over looking the main problem here.no compression in two cylinders next to each other is a main sign of blow head gasket or cracked head.if a valve was stuck or even if two was stuck(even more rare) your truck would not be running at all and you would be getting backfire real bad through the intake or exhaust.the diesel, kerosene,seafome trick is for cleaning or more for stuck lifters

 

[snoranger]

not sure if they are stuck or not. have no compression in two cylinders (not next to each other).

I think everyone is over looking the main problem here.no compression in two cylinders next to each other is a main sign of blow head gasket or cracked head.

Who overlooked what?

 

[jd4242]

Who overlooked what?

EDIT: OOOOO sorry disregard my post then,swore it said next to each other.sorry lol
Still with a stuck valve it would be backfiring

 

[Harpua216]

not really. no compression probably does mean the engine is shot, by way of, seized rings, worn cylinder or just a plain old, rust bucket that was sitting for a few years.. i will know more when i take the head off.

if it was cyl 5 or cyl 2 & 3, 1 & 2 (two enst to each other), i would agree that perhaps there is a crack somewhere. this is 1 & 3. they are not even near each other. rocker looks good, springs are moving nicely (so probably not a stuck valve or lifter..

now my focus is on the new baby ( or the older one depending how you look at it).
needs a bunch of things, but hey i have another sitting in the driveway now

 

[Tony H]

not sure if they are stuck or not. have no compression in two cylinders (not next to each other).

has anybody heard of dumping diesel into the oil and letting run 5-10 minutes, then changing filter/oil to get them unstuck, if that is in face what it truly is?

head is probably coming off anyway, but i found it interesting. if anything he said your valves, etc.,,. will be super clean when you open it...

not sure i will try this though. anyone?

Yup. did it to a few cars that were so slugged up the valve cover weighed a ton.

Warm the car up normally. Then drain the oil and replace with Diesel. Let engine idle for about 20 minutes then drain.
Another 'old indian trick' is to just add some trani Fluid to the existing oil. It has way better cleaners in it then oil.

 

[Harpua216]

Yup. did it to a few cars that were so slugged up the valve cover weighed a ton.

Warm the car up normally. Then drain the oil and replace with Diesel. Let engine idle for about 20 minutes then drain.
Another 'old indian trick' is to just add some trani Fluid to the existing oil. It has way better cleaners in it then oil.

thanks man. I was wondering about this. but since i had two cracked exhaust valves when i took the head off, i will save the indian trick for the next time..

or just buy/rent a scope!!