engine flushing

BENDYBINN

Hi all
does anyone know what are the pros and cons of flushing an engine--
heard it can do harm aswell as good.Whats the best way of doing the job?
many thanks.

martinr5232

Which system do you want to flush and why?

ART6

Flushing the engine oil before replacement -- yup. worth doing. Flushing the cooling system? --Not worth the bother.

BENDYBINN

its a massey ferguson 265--blow from engine also oil coming from dipstick

Hagar

I love it. A massey is classy but a Zetor is better.

ART6

BENDYBINN wrote: »

its a massey ferguson 265--blow from engine also oil coming from dipstick

I am no expert on MF 265s, so please take my comments as aplying to IC engines in general. Your description of "blow from engine & oil coming from dipstick" suggest thet the crankcase is being pressurised, and that can happen for two main reasons: (1) you have a blown piston or rings. If that is the case the engine will be well down on performance and will probably be running roughly. (2) the crankcase breather system is blocked -- the most likely cause. Now. Different engines have different breather systems. Some have a rubber pipe coming from some point high on the crankcase, usually to some point on the air intake. Those pipes are notorious for getting blocked with sludge. If your engine has one, find it, take it off, and clean it out. If it doesn't have one, then it probably relies on the filler/breather cap on the top of the rocker box (the light guage metal cover on the top of the engine, where you add oil. Look inside the cap. If it has a wire mesh filter in it, that too could become blocked. Wash it out with petrol, but make sure you let it dry out completely before refitting it and running the engine -- petrol and diesels don't mix!

Another check -- try removing the filler cap and running the engine without it -- there should be a steady blow from it. If the blowing from the dipstick then stops, it's a breather problem almost certainly. If smoke comes out then its a piston or ring problem I'd guess. Hopefully it's just the breather problem, because the alternative is an engine strip down.

ART6

Hagar wrote: »

I love it. A massey is classy but a Zetor is better.

Many years ago in the UK I was demonstrating shovel loaders for a local authority. Abandoned in a hedgerow on the site was an old Zeator over loader -- the ones where you could swing the bucket right over to the rear of the machine. It had nettles growing through it and weeds on the driving seat. For curiousity my demo team and I stuck a battery in it and a screwdriver in the starter (in those days you could start the b****y things with a nail -- To our amazement it started after a few cranks and enveloped the site in smoke. Marvellous bit of kit:D