305e Start Up.

[Foley]

I'm working on a 1964 1502 that was used very hard as a ranch work truck it's whole life. Odometer reads 52,640. It was last registered in 1989 and has been sitting quietly inside a big barn for the past 23 years. I don't think the original owner ever changed the oil more than a couple times. I'm doing some start up maintenance and repair to get it running again. I drained the oil and pulled the pan to check the oil pump. The oil was thick with minor traces of fine dirt. Same in the filter cartridge. Oil pump screen somewhat clogged but cleaned up ok. The bottom of the pan had about an inch of peanut butter like crud but no metal parts which is good! Any suggestions out there about cleaning the engine further without doing a teardown? In the antique tractor world it's not uncommon to take one that has been sitting for many years and after getting the old stuff out, to overfill the crankcase or a transmission with diesel fuel and then pull it around at very slow rpm for about 5 minutes to flush everything inside. Anybody ever do that? And what about the new oil? Non detergent? High detergent for cleaning and breakdown of sludge? What do you guys recommend? tks. Bob Currie in Northern CA.

[raycow]

This may sound extreme, but maybe not if you are really worried about crud in the oil system. Make a shaft to drive the oil pump with an electric drill. Change the oil and filter. Get a helper so you can spin the pump and turn the engine by hand at the same time.

Ray

[FetchMeAPepsi]

Putting diesel in the motor is a pretty common thing when theyre gummed up or stuck. Thats what Id do if I was worried about sludge in the motor.

For the oil heres a link to my question that was dang near the same thing. Lots of opinions but generally high zinc is preferred.

http://6066gmcclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47432

[Andice]

Ditto

[Foley]

thanks for the repies. Ummm,,"ditto" Ditto to what? But about your comments on the oils there F.M.A.P. man, the kinds of oil to use after things are cleaned up in there is like the earlier thread you mentioned. Zinc, other chemicals, the API service offered by the various oil brands,,we could talk forever on that topic I'm sure. But I'd appreciate anybodies opinions on the oils to use. Using the diesel swish/wash inside cleans a lot of junk out of there, but there is always two sides to that discussion also. Some say it does a great job as long as you let things drip and dry out for 3 or 4 days after the wash out. Others argue that it will loosen up too much of the sludgie gunk that is holding an old worn engine together. After the clean out and then putting in fresh detergent oil, there is a strong possibility you'll start getting clattering and clanking from things like bearings, pistons, wrist pins, lifters, etc., plus the possibility of it starting to burn oil. But I guess it's fair to say that if you don't want to do a tear down and try some of these ideas, you get what you get. right?

[Cayoterun]

What ever you use, if too much gunk turns loose too fast, there's always the danger of plugging the oil pump screen. Change oil often after flushing.
I've had good results with using a light weight, cheap, high detergent oil, and changing oil and filter when color on dipstick gets dark.

Good luck and enjoy the ol' girl.
It's good to see people bring them back out of a long hibernation like you have.

[pasadenajim]

Once all the heavy lifting is done, clean out oil pan, oil pump and pick screen and check the distributor for wear then pan filled with oil you can use a drill to turn the shaft thus priming the system. Hook up a battery to the starter and ground and while the drill is priming the oiling system use a hand held switch to activate the starter (remove the spark plugs first) and in just a minute or two you can prime the entire system. You may want to remove a valve cover to actually see oil coming up thru the pushrods and also make sure the valves are moving in proportion to one another. Hope this helps and best of luck with your iron.

[huntaaar]

YIKES! should i be using a zinc additive? im running 5w30 in my 305e. i cleaned the lifter valley the other day and it had A SOLID INCH of oil gunk! that explains why my oil is always black even right after an oil change. help me out guys. what oil and what additive? thank you

[FetchMeAPepsi]

Originally Posted by huntaaar

YIKES! should i be using a zinc additive? im running 5w30 in my 305e. i cleaned the lifter valley the other day and it had A SOLID INCH of oil gunk! that explains why my oil is always black even right after an oil change. help me out guys. what oil and what additive? thank you

back when these motors were made you had a lot of zinc in the oils. Gub'ment got involved and saw that was good so they "fixed" it and now all the zinc is about gone.

Since you just did an earl change you can put this stuff or something like it in there. Any high zinc oil additive is good. They run about $10 bucks

[donrm]

I do not think I would try all diesel fuel. Back in the early 70's I would buy old cars to re-sell. I had the best luck putting new oil and make part of your oil change I would add 1-2 quarts of ATF, I would put 75-100 miles. change the oil, & never had fear of washing out your bearings. Don Maurath 1966 GMC 8' fleetside 351E