Re: Gasket sealer questions

[AlfaNeely@domain.elided]

In a message dated 09/10/2002 11:58:50 PM Central Daylight Time, 
bshorey@domain.elided writes:


> 
> >        I think it is very important to drop the lower sump of the bat
> wing 
> > oil pan on the four cylinder Alfa engine periodically - like every
> fourth oil 
> > change.  Also pull the valve cover every other oil change to make sure
> you 
> > change all the dirty oil.
> 
> Here's a topic for a new thread!
> 
> I've never heard of people doing this.  Russ, are you running synthetic
> or non-synthetic oil?
> 
> I've never dropped a lower pan as part of a routine oil change.  I've
> dropped plenty of them to change gaskets, or during an engine rebuild.
> 
> With cars run with non-synthetic oil, I've seen some coking type buildup
> around the base of the baffles, but never enough that I felt I should be
> dropping the pan every so often to get rid of it.  Really just a thin
> coating, after many miles.
> 
> With cars running synthetic oil, I don't see any buildup.
> 
> If you've got a serious grunge buildup around the baffles, then it would
> seem that there is something else going on.  Filter clogged and stuff
> getting through the bypass?
> 
> I also don't bother with the cam cover removal and draining/replacing
> what's around the cams.  For a routine oil change there's a miniscule
> amount in there, quickly diluted by 8 fresh quarts.
> 
> YMMV,
> 
> bs
> 

Brian and all,
       I have four running spiders, three on synthetic oil and the daily 
driver on less expensive dinosaur juice.  When I changed the three over to 
synthetic, I opened everything and cleaned all the oil out of the engines.  I 
found considerable amounts of sludge, carbon bits and other byproducts of 
combustion in the bottom of the oil pans.  I found no metal filings or bits 
of engine bearings.  Just an accumulation of the stuff that makes oil black 
in the first place.
       One of these engines I had built only about 10,000 miles previously.  
It had accumulated more "stuff" (technical term) than I would have suspected. 
 Another was my garage queen 91 spider with about 20,000 miles from new at 
the time.  Again, an accumulation in the baffles of the oil pan.
       None of these engines were driven for short distances, which tend to 
have more build up due to the oil never getting hot.
       I will admit that it has not been four oil changes on either of these 
engines since the change to synthetic oil.  But the amount of blow by and 
other byproducts is not dependent on the type of oil, so I would suspect no 
change.

       I will be anal retentive and insist that the valve cover be pulled 
every other oil change.  In fact, I have a hard time not doing it every time 
as the thought of half a quart of dirty oil remaining just does not sit well.
       I use a turkey baster to remove most of the oil.  I add a bit of hose 
to get more oil out.  I soak up the remaining oil with paper towels.  I 
normally put a bit of solvent in each cam galley and clean with paper towels.
       While the cam cover is off, I also check the timing chain tension.  If 
I have time, I check the cam timing and the valve clearances.
       I always pour the first half quart of oil into the cam galleys.  The 
second half quart goes into the oil filter.  I do not want a dry start up.

       This may not all be necessary, but I still recommend that it be done.  
Hey, a guy has to do something when not procrastinating on the computer.

Ciao,
Russ Neely
Oklahoma City
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