Is this a bad idea?

[Tinker]

Think back in the day Model A's would add some kerosene to oil for a bit to flush. Not sure I'd be confident in breaking anything up. Like mentioned I don't think oil is as bad as it was. I wouldn't do it on a old engine that's been sitting.


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[JSeery]

I think running a little kerosene through the engine at an oil change was fairly common once upon a time. BUT, this was during regular oil changes where there would have been minimal sludge build up and pre-detergent oil.

[V8COOPMAN]

DD
…

[Tinker]

Originally Posted by V8COOPMAN

…

Sometimes it takes that one guy to say yes and then they stand back to let you know, it's a real bad idea.

[40 Deluxe]

Originally Posted by chiefdave

Didn't Ford actually recommend adding a pint of kerosene to the crankcase during cold weather operation?

You're right! My 1940 car manual says for temperatures lower than 10 below F. use 10W oil with 10% kerosene. The 8N tractor manual recommended dumping a quart of gasoline into the crankcase while idling just before shutdown in extreme cold. That way the gas mixed with the oil for easier cranking the next morning.

[Tinker]

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For every scenario there is an answer.

[Viv W]

I used to get South African "CAR" magazine and they have a section called case files, where cars were brought into a repair shop.
In one edition some guys brought in a 3L V6 that had a sump leak, the guys had flushed out the sump with gas and then tried to weld up the sump from under the car with a tig welder, the gas residue inside the sump blew off with such force that it tore the cylinder head bolts out of the block, literally blowing the heads off the motor, the sump also looked like a balloon.
There was also a warning about using gas for cleaning, as a small spark can ignite the gas causing serious burns or even death.
If you are working under a car repairing anything to do with gasoline DO NOT use a leadlight with a bulb nearby. If the gas goes on the hot bulb or the bulb explodes you can be caught under the car with fire.
Finally, I had a friend working on his dads car, it had a blockage in the gas, so he sucked on the gas line to get gas from the tank to the carb, he succeeded without getting ANY fuel in his mouth, but then he sat back and lit a cigarette, the fuel vapour in his lungs caught fire, he was rushed into hospital but died 3 days later. The autopsy revealed his lungs were severely burnt.
Viv.

[big job]

My pennies, its not a question of age its the miles, its the neglect, and who knows. Case
example a relative next door talked my father into that motor flush snake stuff. Its a used
can't think of its name a baby Lincoln town car 302 with ony 120,000 miles ran fine as it
gets. So they did per instructions, guess what, now noisy lifters, when normal temp, oil
light comes on. Poor thing now has death rattle. Told the ole man do not do it. Who paid?
Me; a new short block from the dealer. Worst yet this is not changing a V8 flathead, this is dealing with computers and all that junk with a whole tool box of metric tools
that I don't know about. Took me more time to find wrenches than a simple swap. So
best you can do is clean the crankcase and drive it. When its time your engine will
speak to you for a new rebuild. And don't forget these engines grew up on junk oil and
lack of oil changes and that causes "varnish" which is kind of holding things together. So the motor flush gets rid of the varnish and there ya go 'loose as a goose' amen

[ling102]

Years ago, following the advice of an old mechanic, I did drain my oil in my 1965 Galaxie
as it had alot of sludge buildup. I filled the 352 with 3 quarts kero. I started it up briefly, 10-15 seconds, then shut the engine off. This removed an incredible amount of sludge, so much so, that I had to drop the oil
pan,and clean the oil pump screen, as the screen was plugged. Ran fantastic after that.