hot tank/ engine cleaning

[99eclipse420]

hey guys im trying to save some money by not going to the machine shop for cleaning. I wanna clean the inside of the head on my 420a and I was wondering how if possible to clean it. I thought about filling a bucket with water and lots of dawn to get all the burnt oil off and as well clean the intake ports and exhaust ports, would like to know what you guys think I should do. Or how to build my own back yard hot tank?

 

[Sandman817]

Unless you plan on hot tanking alot of things, a machine shop will be able to hot tank your head for a very reasonable price. My machine shop that is right near me, and one of the only ones in the area did my intake mani, all my water pipes and thermostat housing all for $40!

As far as building your own hot tank, you will need a drum to hosue the chemicals, a heating element to get the chemicals hot and of course the chemical to remove all the oil, grease, dirt and what ever else is on there.

 

[talonDSMerr]

Our cylinder heads aren't usually hot tanked because the acids and chemicals used can eat away at the aluminum. Machine shops will generally use a pressurized jet washer to get them clean. The time, effort, and materials needed to clean it and make it look like it came from the machine shop really isn't worth it. If you take your engine, disassembled to a machine shop, they will clean it for you, not too pricey.

 

[urmomsaniceguy]

^ +3. From my experience with my old 420a, pay the shop 20 bucks to have them clean it. I tried cleaning my own and it didn't come out that great. I have pictures up of my 420a build and you can see how good they cleaned it. Almost brand new. But if you really want to do it yourself I suggest, degreaser, gas, and a plastic brissel brush. Degrease the area where the sludge is. Let it sit in the sun for 30 minutes to an hour. Use the brush to scrape the sludge away. Use a pressure nozzle on a hose and spray it. Use the gas and brush for intake/exhaust ports. You can you a steel brush if you trust your self to do it with out scuffing the mating surface. Again less of a hassle and headache to just pay the $20-30 bucks to have a shop do it. Just my .02. Good luck. Hope this helps.

 

[99eclipse420]

well all you guys are lucky the machine shops in Columbia,sc suck major they want some thing like 600 just to clean the head and a 3 angle valve job and hone the block so I asked how much to hone the block them 15-20 bucks a cylinder - 3 angle valve job 300 and the rest to clean 200 to clean everything and another 250 to balance the crank and 20 bucks to unpress each piston and another 20 to press in the new pistons. I hate South Carolina with a passion.

 

[Sandman817]

WOW!! thats ####ing retardedly overpriced. I would definetly contact some vendors that do machine work and build motors and see what they have to offer you. Shipping my cylinder head fully loaded with cams only cost 38 bucks through FedEx ground. So that is one direction you could go in

 

[Boostinsideways]

Lmao... I could get an entire long block assembled minus the head work but with balancing and a painted block for 650.... That shit is ridiculous. You should check around, some shops prices rebuilds for 4 cylinders prohibitively. I know the first shop I called quoted me 350-400 for a bottom end then wanted to charge me 1000$ when I showed up with a 4 cylinder.

 

[99eclipse420]

I dont have many friends who are into cars and the guys I do know have never had machine work done, so I had no idea who to go to for this so I got on yellow pages and looked up machine shops in my state and called about 20 or so the cheapest I got was i think 150 just to clean everything. So ill continue to call places but im most likely gonna clean it my self so far my dremel isnt letting me down. im using a wire brush attachment set on low. just to get the oil burn and the carbon off

 

[BogusSVO]

ok here is the cheap way to clean your head, it will not be perfect but shouls remove 80-90% of the crud off of it.

1 qt bottle of castrol super clean about 7 bux
1 old tooth brush
the coin car wash down the street
pocket of quarters

in a tub big enough to hold the head, and will not leak

set the head in, spray the super clean all around the head, let it set about 30-45 mins keeping the chem moist

scrub the hard spots with the old tooth brush to help the super clean

load the container with the head in it in to a car and go to the car wash

unload the head on to the car wash floor, put quarters in, set dial to High pressure

spray the head and ports

spray cleaner and scrub as needed

may take 2 or 3 times to get it as clean as you would like


wear some safty glasses when rinsing, the backsplatter can get every where.

BTW those prices sound high

around here in Pensacola Florida

Pressure test head for cracks. $40
V-job 16v DOHC $125-160
Surface Head about $40

clean block $50
Bore/hone block about $20/cyl
hone cyl only 10-12 each
polish crank about 60
grind/polish crank 80-90
R&R pistons 10-12 each
Balance rotating assenbly $175