Kerosene/Diesel Fuel in Crankcase.

[clone2020]

Has anyone poured a small amount of kerosene or diesel fuel into their crankcase to clean it out? Like right before an oil change?

Don't some of those engine flushes/additives have kerosene in them?

I know people use it to clean their engine components when it's disassembled but what about when it's not?

-MIKE.

[peanotation]

they make crazy viscosity oil that is meant to completely wash your engine out, it has the viscosity of water and its meant to eat away at all the bad shit inside your engine, its like 0-30w or something like that, but i heard they also damage the seals sometimes too. people do it when they want to switch oil grades, like from 10-30w to a synthetic oil. for some reason, Elwenil keeps coming to mind as the man to talk to about this.

[Elwenil]

Yeah, there are a lot of things you can put in your engine to "clean it out". Motor Flush is one product, and it is mainly solvents and kerosene. I've seen people use them, and I can't say I would recommend it. Anything made to "clean out" your engine will be designed to break down the oil deposits and sludge, which will also break down your oil. Remember the Castrol commercial from a few years back about your engine internals actually ride on a thin layer of oil? That is exactly right. In normal operation, there is very little metal to metal contact as it is all seperated by a thin layer of oil. Anything that would break down this oil barrier could seriously harm the soft metal main, rod and cam bearings. Now you could say that if you follow the directions of Motor Flush and similar products and just run the engine for a short while, but what is that really going to do? It will certainly break down the good oil, long before breaking down the sludge. Best thing to do to is just change your oil when you are supposed to, change the filter EVERY time, and don't swap brands of oil. Use the same brand that you started with, and continue to use it to top off the oil, and for future oil changes. Also, don't use Quaker State, that has got to be the worst oil for causing sludge, and it's even worse in small, hotter running engines. I can't imagine why they continue to make Quaker State. To sum it up, no. Don't put weird crap in the engine unless the manufacturer recommends it. Most of the aftermarket crap out there and "old mechanic tricks" were made when V8's with poor tolerances were everywhere, and leaded gas cause build up of all sorts of weird stuff in the engines. Tighter tolerances, more heat, and more stress that our engines deal with makes all the old "snake oil" a bad idea. Just my .02

[clone2020]

petroleum/cruel oil (Hydrogen and Carbon) -> Refining Process -> heating oil -> lubricating oil -> "3 in 1" oil -> Diesel Fuel -> Kerosene -> Butane ->Propane -> Ethane -> Methane

[Elwenil]

I dunno how we got on this topic, but this explains it pretty well: http://science.howstuffworks.com/oil-refining4.htm

[clone2020]

I guess what I'm asking is...

Instead of disassembling my engine to clean every part by hand, is it OK to put a small amount of kerosene/diesel fuel in my crankcase before an oil change?

And won't oil lubricate a clean part?

Here's what I want to do. (I have Mobil 1 FULL SYN 5W-30 in it already.)
1. Pour some Kerosene/Diesel Fuel in my engine.
2. Run it for a couple minutes.
3. Drain it.
4. Pour some oil in it.
5. Run the engine.
6. Drain it.
7. Fill it with Mobil 1 FULL SYN 5W-30.
8. Done.

-MIKE.

[Elwenil]

Yeah, it will lubricate clean parts better, but it's the cleaning process that will hurt you. You will have to run the engine to get the kerosene to circulate through the engine, and then it will get into all of the oil. That's when it can hurt the bearings. Imagine idling your engine and suddenly all your oil turns to water. That's pretty much what your asking for. the only way to clean an engine properly is to tear it down, and clean and rebuild it. Unless you are having some sort of a problem with sludge, I wouldn't worry about it. The fuel system is about the only thing you can get clean with chemicals without hurting anything and even then you have to read the instructions carefully. Unless you have 100k+ miles, I wouldn't even worry about cleaning the engine. I especially wouldn't add any solvents or kerosene type oils if you are running synthetic oil. Synthetic isn't 100% compatible with all petroleum products, and I have no idea what they will do. Plus, if you have been running synthetic for a while, I doubt you have much build up in the engine anyway. I've torn down engines that ran great and they had a half inch of black crap in the bottom of the oil pan, but you would have never known it by how it ran, and it didn't seem to hurt it. Just keep your oil changed, it should be more than enough.

[clone2020]

First off, thanks for replying.

I understand your points except for one.
"That's when it can hurt the bearings. Imagine idling your engine and suddenly all your oil turns to water."

I won't be running full kerosene so there will be more oil than kerosene. I'm thinking 95% oil, 5% kerosone. When the kerosene mixture hits the bearings, it might strip the existing oil but the oil should just recoat the surface of the bearing or component soon after.

I guess there's only a fraction of time when the engine part won't be protected but the oil will coat the part as soon as it's clean.

-MIKE.

[Elwenil]

Ok, I see your point, but trust me, I have been building engines for many years now, and it really only takes a second to trash a bearing. I dunno how much you know about engines, but if you've never seen main, or rod bearings, I 'll describe. They aren't bearings, like you would think. There is no ball bearings inside, it is simply a thin sheet of metal for the bearing journal of the crank or cam, or rod to glide on. I'll use crank bearings as my example. Most are "Tri-Metal" bearings witch are commonly made of copper, aluminum, and babbit metal. The copper is the core, and depending on the brand and type, there may be several layers of babbit and aluminum on the surface. This is not aluminum like a set of rims. It's more like lead. You can actually gouge a bearing with your fingernail. The idea is to keep the iron crankshaft from coming in contact with the iron block. By using a much softer metal, the bearing can "absorb" small harmful metal particles so they don't scratch the crank. Of course this all goes to hell in a high mileage engine where there is simply too much crap in the bearings to keep the crank safe. Then you have to have the crank turned during a rebuild. Anything that causes the crank to actually touch the bearing can cause the metal to "transfer" to the crank. This happens much like skidding tires leave some rubber on the pavement. The bearing can actually burn in a little bit of it's metal onto the crank journal's surface. The next time around it could leave more, since it is now, no longer a smooth surface. This may seem to be not real tragic, but at idle, around 700 RPM, this can spin a bearing in a hurry. "Spinning" a bearing means that enough metal has been burnt onto the crank that it grabs the whole bearing and it spins with the crank. This means the bearing is now fused to the crank, and is rotating with it inside the block. When this happens to most modern engines (after 1976) then you can pretty much kiss the crank goodbye, and maybe even the block. Trust me, anything that thins your oil is a bad idea. You wouldn't run thinner oil than what the manufacturer recommends, so why thin down the oil that you are using now? Plus knocking loose all the deposits in the crankcase can be a bad idea. Where's it going to go? Into the oil system, where the already thinned oil is going to have trouble keeping the dirt already there in suspension, much less the flood of crap you have washed loose. It's your car and you may be able to do this and get by with it, but I wouldn't risk it. Rebuilding an engine is much cheaper in the long run, than replacing all the parts when it locks up, and then you can't re-machine the parts.
Also, as I said, I don't know how much you know about engines, so I don't want you to think that I thought you were dumb if you know all of this. I am just being specific about the damage you could get about it. Plus this info might be helpful to anyone else reading this post. And besides, I LOVE LONG POSTS! Right guys?

[DarkLateNight]

yes, you do - lol but it's cool since you know your stuff better than anyone -

[Max_Jinas]

Damn, I agree. I've been looking at alot of his posts, and almost everyone that I read, I learn a little more about how things work inside the engine.

As for putting things into your oil system to clean it out. If you added kerosene into it, it would drop the viscosity of your oil within the oil system. Not a good thing...IMO leave it be, it cant be that bad, unless you drive hella hard for a hella long time.

[Elwenil]

::Sniff:: Thanks you guys... ::Sniff:: I just feel so loved right now... :: ::ACK!::

Seriously though, I won't toot my own horn too much, but I have learned a lot over the years. Not that I know everything, because I still have more then enough to learn, but compared to when I started, I've learned a lot. I did by doing exactly what everyone here does. Asking questions. It's really true that there are no dumb questions. I asked, begged, and pleaded to learn a lot of stuff from a lot of different people. It started when I was 16, and I had to get my probation officer (yeah, think on that, lol) to show me how to change my plug wires on my 72 Charger. My Mom was divorced, so I didn't have a "father figure" to learn from, I learned from neighbors, friends, and peeps I didn't know. Now that the Internet is such a big deal, it's a lot easier to learn stuff. If we all know one little thing about Galants, then together we know a lot. And as TGC grows, so does our knowledge base. That's actually why I'm here. I knew nothing about the different Gen Galants, VR-4s, the 4G64, clearing corners, Eclipse parts swaps, etc. until I found TGC, but if I can pass on something I learned in the past to help out, I will. I may not always be right, either, but I'll try. Ok, I think I need a tissue... Lmfao!

[DrewPinoy85]

I read more than I actually post, and I can most def say that I learn a lot from your posts Elwenil, so keep passing on the knowledge.