Filling a engine with WD-40?? make it new again?

[89FHPLX]

Sometimes you hear you lifter, and sometimes you may be burning oil. My friend told me this thing about WD-40. For example: They find a stolen car in a lake, they drain the water out of the engine, then they fill the engine with WD-40 until it overflows. They leave it in for 24 hours, then they drain it. They say that when you do this, it comes out nasty has hell. It cleans your whole engine inside, making it almost new again. Put in new oil and filter. Ofcourse when you start your car white smoke will come out because of the WD-40, but it will go away in a while. These people do this when they recover stolen cars from the canals and lakes. They also say the you can do it to any car. My friend has seen proof of this. He said the inside was so clean that you couldnt find carbon or and black stuff, just clean metal!. So I wanna know fron you guys. With my car having 146k on the odo, and lifters are sticking, you think I should try this? But only if someone has heard of this. Write now I cant replace my heads, but If I can get power back and free the lifters. that would be my choice.

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89 Police Interceptor
BBK Shorty Headers, K@N Cone Filter,H-pipe no cats, 2 chamber FlowMasters,Under Drive Pullys,14 degree Timing, Short Belt, No Air Silencer, oil cooler, 3.08's, And All Police Package goodies

[84_GT350]

Hmmmm...never heard that. However, my uncle has a friend with this really rare Corvette that he keeps at a car club in Atlanta where they fill the block up with some sort of oil when it's not in use to prevent corrosion. Could be the same type of stuff as WD-40. It would make some sense...but I would think you'd need to add some sort of detergent to clean the grime off the inside.

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1984 1/2 GT350 (#842 Hatchback w/ T-tops), 302HO, Comp cams Xtreme Energy cam, Carter 625cfm carb, Weiand Stealth intake, MSD distributor, MSD coil, FMS 9mm wires, 1 5/8" MAC unequal shorties, 2 1/2" MAC Prochamber H-pipe, Flowmaster 2 chambers, KYBs, 16"x8" 4 lug Cobra Rs, Falken 245/45ZR16s

[oldman]

Wanna buy a bridge?

[David Fulford]

If you just filled it and drained it without starting the motor, how will it get to the top end of the motor to clean it???????

[jimberg]

WD stands for water displacement so it doesn't sound like it's out of the realm of possibility, but Unit 5302 pointed out that running some water through the engine is good for removing carbon deposits. If a car is dumped in the river while still running it may actually clean the inside of the engine and the WD-40 does a good job of removing the water from the engine after that. Why not try that? Dump the car in the river while running and then flush it with WD-40.

You'd probably be better off running Marvel Mystery Oil through the engine while it's running.

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351W 89 Mustang GT Convertible

I've heard of people running ATF because it has the same viscosity as 10W30 and has ALOT of detergents in it. Then they drain it after like 300 or so miles and fill it with regular oil. I've heard that it can cure sticky lifters and clean out the sledge in the engine rather quickly (why you only want to drive for a limited number of miles, it'll clog the filter). I tried it on my '83 zephyr when i had it for a little while and all i noticed was that it had pink "oil", didn't seem to do anything. I've heard all sorts of odd stories, but i'll just stick to regular and scheduled oil changes.

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'84 Mustang 5.0 LX
My car

[dinomite]

That sounds like a better idea.

[93CobraR]

I work for Oil Express where we change oil,(DUH) and we have a product that we put in the motor and let it run for 4-5 minutes and then drain the oil, it's suppose to clean all the dirt,ect.. out. It's nothing more then ATF.

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87 GT, 4 inch cowl hood,17x9 Cobra R's/255/45's,GT-40 heads,Crane 2031, Edelbrock intake, long tubes headers,h-pipe,Flows,BBK cold air, Mass air,70mm MAF, 1.7's, 1" spacer,underdrive pulleys,Pro 5.0, King Cobra, Adj. fuel Reg., Lakewood Lift Bars,50/50's,subframes, 4.10's.
Best time 12.759
Best MPH 106.79
Best 60' 1.695

Visit my site at:
http://www.geocities.com/cobrar93_2000/MyPage.html

[SCOTTLT79]

hey 93CobraR,
I work for Jiffy Lube when I'm at college(not now because it's summer, thank god) and we have a similar treatment to what you are saying. I've never heard of the place you work for but I've heard that the one that we use can cause some corrosion in the engine, mostly foreign cars though so I don't really care. I'm just letting you guys know so you can check the product out before you use it.
later

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95 Red Mustang GT
Pro 5.0
MAC fenderwall cold air induction kit
Mostly stock(looking to modify)

[Unit 5302]

WD40 is an excellent cleaner. It'll clean just about anything. If you filled the engine up and soaked it with WD40 for 24hrs, I'd imagine it would dislodge quite a bit of crud.

Personally, WD40 smells a little funky when it's powering an internal combustion engine. I ran my 125cc dirt bike on it when I first got it back together because I was inside the house and I didn't want it reeking like gas LOL.

Anyway, running a little water mist, or a small stream into a running engine will "steam clean" and bond with the carbon deposits removing them from the inside of your engine. Even so, I don't recommend driving the car off a bridge, or into any large body of standing water, or moving water, with the engine still running. I hear the piston's get awfully ornry about compressing liquid.

[oldman]

I've seen a few engines that got watered down in a local lake here and after a certain flood some 20 years ago. The water won't kill it but, all the sand, dirt and lil weeds and things you would never imagine find thier way into every nook and cranny of an engine. You might get it cleaned out enough to run but it won't last long.
THa ATF thing though will work for cleaning out engines. I build about an engine a year and when I finish there's about 40 pounds of lithium goo because that's the way I was taught to assemble an engine. Lossa goo! I've alwayd notices some kind of red oily stuff on the pieces parts he works on and I finally asked him about it thinking it was some kind of myustery miracle lube I could use. It's ATF. He said it has detergent qualities that help to clean out a new new engine as well provide a little lubrication upon initial startup. I have recently begun to slop ATF on everything during assembly instead of the white goo. So far the last engine seems to be no worse for wear. (I always prime before starting a new engine. . FYI)

[PNYXPS66]

Unit 5302 -- I'd imagine the entire engine would hate compressing liquids; liquids don't compress hence the theory behind hydraulics (simple physics) Valve trains tend to "derail" too (sorry, bad joke!) I've heard of running ATF through the throttle body or carb to unstick valves aid sealing, etc while the engine is running. We used to do that in the salvage yard I worked at when resurrecting old engines for sale. Marvel Mystery oil is the best "maintenance" cleaner I've seen, and "Engine Restorer" available in a silver can at your local parts store does a magnificent job in helping older engines restore lost power due to wear and tear. I've used it several times as an enhancer during tune-up/ oil change services on high mileage engines; gotten rave reviews about it too. Theoretically, the WD-40 idea seems a bit wastefull. I'd go with running ATF in the crank case replacing a quart of oil at oil change time. Use a cheap oil filter and change the filter at 3-500 miles and top off the oil again; do this 2-3 times, then add the engine restorer to seal the scratches and nicks that occur on the cylinder walls from normal wear and tear. Also, hope your seals are good, because anytime you add a high detergent cleaner, it will tend to remove the sludge that replaces and fills the gaps created by worn or dried and cracked gaskets and seals possibly making your engine leak like crazy. That's one reason synthetic oil got a bad wrap. Personally, I clean an engine this way then change to synthetic oil after replacing any bad seals. Synthetic oil doesn't create sludge because it's not carbon based like natural petroleumn oils. This is what sludge is when the water is cooked out of oil under normal driving conditions -- concentrated carbon deposits.

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Pony Express 66
God Speed and keep it between the lines!

[89FHPLX]

WOW lots of replys, Maybe I should try MARVEL oil. But I just wanted to see what you guys would say about this.

[Mach 1]

Thers no quick fix for a worn out engine. At 146K your pushing the worn out envelope. You can clean it with some "not recommended" trick or additive, but your engine is tired, and needs an overhaul. You will only prolong the inevitable, possibly doing more damage in the process. I wouldnt try any of the gimmicky quick fixes. drive it like it is until you can overhaul it. You can buy 302 short blocks anywhere very cheap. do it once, do it right. save the mystery oils for GM drivers.

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1993 GT/AOD
'93 Mustang GT

[Old Guy with 87 GT]

i'd have to agree with mach 1.i try to stay away from additives .it's been my experience that alot of times an additive will fix one problem then cause another.i usually just run a better quality oil and change it reguler.i've had pretty good luck with this theory.if you plan on keeping the car a while then make plans for an overhaul.while a detergent might get your lifters working better ,it might also cause leaks(ie main seals ,gaskets) ,it might also cause some of that sluge to go where you dont want it(oil pump and some of the smaller oil holes in the moter)mine has 158'000 on the odometer and it's still running strong.theres another guy on mustang works with even more miles then that running strong.i know that my oil pressure is not what i want it to be (thus effecting my lifters)but i wuold rather try a new oil pump or just wait till i can afford an overhaul then try an additive .my moter leaks enough(he he).....well good luck

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old guy with 87 gt....well not so old guy
87gt,T top -155,000 on odometer-mods-2 1/2 ex,cold air(home made),adj.clutch 5.0 shifter,kyb shocks,and a stereo that can overcome the wind noise at 100 mph with the T tops off(he he)......also got/78,6banger,mustang/80 capri(future project)

Don't sweat the mileage. Yeah, you could use a new motor, couldn't we all? My buddy ran the WF Challenge in St Louis Pure street (5.0 with heads and cam class basically) qualified in the middle at 11.60 and 115 and his block has 160,000 miles on it. Definately fix up your lifter problem.

See ya-

[jimberg]

Mach 1, I was just wondering if you ever use injector cleaner or you just throw your injectors out when they get clogged? Yes, of course there are gimmicks like Slick 50 or Prolong, but there are also real treatments that can help clean an engine. Marvel Mystery Oil is one of them. It's been around for a long time and actually does clean the engine out some. If you change your oil every 2500-3000 miles it shouldn't be an issue, but some people just don't do that or the owner before them didn't. It's something that you should get an oil change right after, too.

Old Guy is probably right, too. For all you know, the sludge is what's holding the engine together.

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351W 89 Mustang GT Convertible

[Mach 1]

knock yourself out, mystery oil man. Ill pass.

jimberg- see "my head dilema" thread....

[This message has been edited by Mach 1 (edited 06-16-2001).]

[foxandfoe]

from experience there really is no miracle in a can they can just delay the reality.
that the engine is getting tired. and is in need of a rebuild. i find that late model 302s will last to 200k and beyond in passenger cars. but start to lose power at 150k plus especialy beet on ex police. you mentioned putting heads on the motor. it would probaly not bad idea on high mileage
engine, ive found the rings dont stand up to increased compresion. heres something to thing about take the money for the heads and rebuild the engine so you have a good solid foundation to build from. the engine may not
even need bored (thanks to the low tension 1\16" plasma rings ford put in it) and it has trw forged pistons already in it. so you may just need rings oil pump gaskets bearings and some other odds and ends plus you can clean or replace sticky lifters. and end up with good platform. just a suggestion

[Francismaximus]

Take off the intake (lower) and valve covers. Take off rockers, remove pushrods (inpect for straightness), inspect lifters for missing clips etc or wear, ck those cam lobes while your at it (5.0's ussualy dont wear much from the rolers) and change the lifters. Additives? Water in the intake that I know works to break up carbon and reapiar carbon knock. Oil additives usually and I sau usually so I don't start a flame war tend to swell and eat up gaskets due to the cleaners and chemicals they are composed of. Say like diesel or keosene (yeah alot of companies use it) put a o ring in some of it and watch it swell. Anyway when you get the lowr off you may have sludgebuildup under the lowr in take and in the lifter valley scrape it clean it spray it with brakekleen after all is assembled drain oil relly well change oil. And enjoy another 50k on your 5.0. My 86 lincoln went 255K before I sold it yes sold. With just oil changes and at 166K needed an oil pump.

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