>My question is this -- KEROSENE!?!?!? I've not heard of this before and
>was wondering what the collective wisdom of the group might have to say
>about it. What risks does this pose to the engine? -- to me? Chances
>are the engine will need to be rebuilt -- but again maybe not
>immediately. Will this treatment help or hurt the situation? Is it
>recommend? Has anyone had first hand experience with this procedure?
I recommend you be very cautious about flushing any engine. A sludgy and or
crusty engine
that gets flushed tends to then shove all that crud throughout the engine.
People will
say it gets caught in the filter, not true. Some gets caught in the filter,
the rest
bypasses by pressure relief normally, and then total bybpass once the filter
gets plugged
up. This means all that crud is going into neat little tight oil passages,
like those
going to your valve train. Passages that get blocked very easily.
That's the good news. Then there's the destruction that happens to bearing
surfaces
because you've thinned out the lubrication/surface contact protection so badly.
You won't
notice it for a while though. But eventually you find yourself with scored cam
surfaces
and chewed up rotating bearings.
Just because an engine has been sitting for a long time does not mean it
inherently needs
a flush. Quite the contrary. While changing the oil is of course a good
thing, cleaning
it out is usually quite unnecessary. Especially quickly or harshly. Normal
operation
will take care of most of this in a more gradual manner.
There is a bearing issue with a sitting engine. Oil quickly builds up some
acids and
other assorted nasties. So old oil sitting in an engine for many years can eat
bearings.
Sometimes completely, sometimes only slightly. So just be aware of this.
Don't think you automatically need to rebuild the engine either. I've taken
engines that
have sat for many years and done just a bit of work and had them running just
fine and
dandy.
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