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moefuzz · 02-01-2016, 03:40 PM

Sludge on "hasn't tun in 50 years" engines is always a problem.
In the past, Certain brands of oil contained more wax than others, Pennzoil for instance, was an oil that promoted sludge build up.
Less frequent oil changes, Engine wear that contributed to blow-by and other factors contributed to sludge In The Old Days..

Original unrestored Flatheads can contain pounds of sludge often up to an inch thick or thicker.
Your engine looks fairly clean, I see no real concern. The biggest thing to worry about is older engines that have not been torn in the last half a century.
Most Owners today and for the last 30+ years have been more attuned to keeping their rides maintained with frequent oil changes using 40 year newer oils.

Your biggest concern should be in not babying the engine so much that you never blow the carbon out the tail pipe.
Carbon shortens engine life (internals) and almost more or less self propegates
inside an engine. It appears as medium dark brown rock hard tar that adheres to
all things internal but is more noticeable when you pull the intake manifold on a Flathead.
When mixed with yesterdays high wax based oils, it accumulates as sludge, and as stated, it used to be found an inch thick.

I don't know why you have pulled the intake, I don't know the miles or the condition of motor that brought you to peek under the hood.
If you are experiencing blowby or are having problems with sticky valves then I can understand your concern with carbon/sludge.

If your engine is running fine, then you really should have no concern.
If carbon is interfering with valve stems, then clean/wash the valve stems with diesel fuel.
Diesel fuel contains additives that help clean industrial engine/internals so that they may make 500,000 miles (or more). The inside of a diesel engine is much more prone to high heat based carbon than our babied little Flatheads will ever see in the rest of their life times.

I have used Diesel fuel to clean gasoline engine for many years. With poorly maintained engines, I will drain the oil and add a gallon and a half of diesel oil to the crank and run the engine on this thin oil for 5 or 10 minutes before pulling the intake manifold. Running the engine really helps in circulating/washing all the engine internals.

When i pull the intake, I continue with liberal applications of diesel using various brushes to scrub things like valve stems etc. Brass brushes (of varying sizes) work the best. Once I'm done scrubbing the valley clean, the oil pan plug is pulled and everything comes out. I usually take a sample and it's amazing how black the fresh diesel oil is.
This is usually an afternoon job with the hardest part being replacement of intake and correct belt tensioning.

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02-01-2016, 03:40 PM	#7
moefuzz Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Under A Clean V8 Posts: 228	Re: Intake valley sludge Sludge on "hasn't tun in 50 years" engines is always a problem. In the past, Certain brands of oil contained more wax than others, Pennzoil for instance, was an oil that promoted sludge build up. Less frequent oil changes, Engine wear that contributed to blow-by and other factors contributed to sludge In The Old Days.. Original unrestored Flatheads can contain pounds of sludge often up to an inch thick or thicker. Your engine looks fairly clean, I see no real concern. The biggest thing to worry about is older engines that have not been torn in the last half a century. Most Owners today and for the last 30+ years have been more attuned to keeping their rides maintained with frequent oil changes using 40 year newer oils. Your biggest concern should be in not babying the engine so much that you never blow the carbon out the tail pipe. Carbon shortens engine life (internals) and almost more or less self propegates inside an engine. It appears as medium dark brown rock hard tar that adheres to all things internal but is more noticeable when you pull the intake manifold on a Flathead. When mixed with yesterdays high wax based oils, it accumulates as sludge, and as stated, it used to be found an inch thick. I don't know why you have pulled the intake, I don't know the miles or the condition of motor that brought you to peek under the hood. If you are experiencing blowby or are having problems with sticky valves then I can understand your concern with carbon/sludge. If your engine is running fine, then you really should have no concern. If carbon is interfering with valve stems, then clean/wash the valve stems with diesel fuel. Diesel fuel contains additives that help clean industrial engine/internals so that they may make 500,000 miles (or more). The inside of a diesel engine is much more prone to high heat based carbon than our babied little Flatheads will ever see in the rest of their life times. I have used Diesel fuel to clean gasoline engine for many years. With poorly maintained engines, I will drain the oil and add a gallon and a half of diesel oil to the crank and run the engine on this thin oil for 5 or 10 minutes before pulling the intake manifold. Running the engine really helps in circulating/washing all the engine internals. When i pull the intake, I continue with liberal applications of diesel using various brushes to scrub things like valve stems etc. Brass brushes (of varying sizes) work the best. Once I'm done scrubbing the valley clean, the oil pan plug is pulled and everything comes out. I usually take a sample and it's amazing how black the fresh diesel oil is. This is usually an afternoon job with the hardest part being replacement of intake and correct belt tensioning. .