Looking to see if anyone has used Liqui Moly 2037 Pro-Line Engine Flush for a barn find or a gen 1 3.2L Inline 6? Or do you have any recommendations on flushing out one? Removed the valve cover and there is sludge and sandy grit in there plus a loud tapping on the cover, every once in awhile, but more constant when accelerating. Any and all comments, suggestions & advise is welcomed.
Rule 1 drain and change all fluids run it for a while then change again ...just a general 10w-30 OIL no additives, no synthetic, just plain jane
sludge is common in an older engine, especially one that has been sitting
as for the tapping, adjust and set the valves per the manual. NOTE that is the valves are not tapping then they probably are too tight and can bend destroy them !!
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Hello Bishop, Your photos show a pretty clean machine from what I can see. It would be nice to have the insides of the engine clean also. The trouble is, you say that there is sludge and sandy grit inside the valve cover. You therefore should assume that it is the same throughout the entire engine. I would not want to use any product to flush/dislodge sludge and grit to possibly send them into and through the oiling system. That runs the risk of offering debris into or plugging access of lubrication to all the bearings in the engine. Remove and clean the pans and covers by hand. Inspect and carefully clean the workings of the engine with a liquid shop vac, cleaning brushes and your choice of solvent. Even brushing with clean oil will help loosen the sludge for removal. Down in the crankshaft area, pay attention to ledges where sludge builds up that didn't or doesn't easily drain to the oil pan. If you're not familiar, the engine does not have a rear main seal. The rear main bearing CAP incorporates an oil drain passage for oil to drain to the pan. If you were to park the car facing uphill on a steep hill, oil in the pan will flow and flood the rear main area drain passage and leak out the rear of the engine into the bell housing and onto the ground. To prevent this occurrence, a check ball is installed within the rear mains oil drain passage. The ball will move back and seal the passage stopping oil pan oil from escaping. Now, if sludge prevents normal check ball movement and plugs the drain passage, then driving along the oil at the rear main cannot drain and will leak into the bell housing and onto the road or onto your driveway. It is possible that in the past a previous owner may have removed the check ball to avoid any hassle, especially if they lived in flat country. There are other areas for attention such as piston rod dipper troughs and oil pump pickup screen. Once you've inspected and cleaned the inside of the engine, just use oil. That's what they did way back then.
