Anyone clean the lower engine/upper oil pan? Topic is solved

TisMe · Post by **TisMe** » 16 Aug 2021, 17:17

Just yanked off my oil pan due to a clogged vent chimney, which of course was discovered when I replaced my PCV.

Super excited to get this job over with, as I have not the guts to crank my car over after the PCV work. Waiting to complete this oil pan cleanse before the first fresh crank.

So now that my oil pan is removed, I'm soaking it in some super serious degreaser. Lots of recommendations for simple green, but I have enough carbon buildup I figured I'd try out this 5-gallon bucket of degreaser. So now my question...

Are there any recommendations on how people tend to clean the lower engine where the pan bolts on? I was considering just leaving the thickish black carbon and calling it a day, now that I've used a screwdriver to remove the sludgy gunk in the vent chimney. However, I was thinking this might be a copout response of laziness. So I was also considering spraying some carb cleaner up there and giving it a scrub with a soft wire brush, yet upon first swipe I realized this will take some serious time.

I considered using something stronger like brake cleaner, but I'm not positive I should be spraying something like that into a part of the engine that I can't rinse out.

Perhaps this is a silly thing to worry about, but I figured it's worth getting some tips/thoughts from people who have done this before.

Thank you!

ignatz · Post by **ignatz** » 16 Aug 2021, 18:41

When I cleaned that "vent chimney", I put a drill bit on a piece of rubber tubing so I could get the drill bit up far enough. I then would slowly hand twist the drill bit to collect the muck, bring it back down and clean it. I was amazed of how many times I had to put that drill bit up there to clean out the crap. After that, I sprayed carb cleaner up there to clean the remaining out.
The lower part of my engine was not gunked up, so I just cleaned the "vent chimney" and oil pan mating surface.
The oil pan had that hard baked on crap and I just used Simple Green to help remove it. That was difficult to clean off.
I had more time in cleaning stuff than doing the job.

TisMe · Post by **TisMe** » 16 Aug 2021, 19:02

ignatz wrote: ↑16 Aug 2021, 18:41 When I cleaned that "vent chimney", I put a drill bit on a piece of rubber tubing so I could get the drill bit up far enough. I then would slowly hand twist the drill bit to collect the muck, bring it back down and clean it. I was amazed of how many times I had to put that drill bit up there to clean out the crap. After that, I sprayed carb cleaner up there to clean the remaining out.
The lower part of my engine was not gunked up, so I just cleaned the "vent chimney" and oil pan mating surface.
The oil pan had that hard baked on crap and I just used Simple Green to help remove it. That was difficult to clean off.
I had more time in cleaning stuff than doing the job.

Thanks for the experience report!

So, you were successful at removing all the baked carbon? What kind of scrub tool did you use to get into those awkward crevices underneath the upper "shield"? A hard sponge doesn't seem to fit due to my limbs, and my wire brushes barely allow any scrubbing movement.

I'm assuming you managed to replace all your seals too

my oil sump seems to be, hilariously enough, missing its o-ring. This is actually fortuitous, because that means whoever was previously in here forgot to add one, and I was hoping for something awkward like this to help explain my excessive oil leak.

jkatz · Post by **jkatz** » 16 Aug 2021, 21:40

I used a short screwdriver to scrape down the walls of my pan and a long screwdriver to reach under the shield. I also used a prybar, the kind that look like a bent screwdriver, to reach the awkward corners. Mine didn’t shine when I was done but the thick carbon was mostly gone. The sludge I poured out, spooned out, mopped out with paper towels, and even used a few ounces of gasoline to mobilize. I remember starting after dinner and finally torquing the bolts around 4 am. It took way longer to clean the pan than I anticipated.
I didn’t work too hard on the block, just the big chunks and I mopped at the oil to preempt drips across the mating surface.
For reassembly I also cleaned the mating faces with acetone.

darylrobert · Post by **darylrobert** » 17 Aug 2021, 02:01

When i cracked my sump, i used petrol and brake cleaner to clean the replacement used pan. Clean and check the filter one-way valve. I sprayed brake cleaner and scraped carbon from the intermediate section mainly to stop it dripping oil, i think i sprayed brake cleaner up those square pipes but dont remember spending too much time on it. Fill will a cheap oil to check for leaks and flush the system.

Post by **erikv11** » 17 Aug 2021, 08:15

Yes, I'd get out whatever you can from the block area. Mechanical scraping (gently) and some carb cleaner. Protect the eyes. Then run it on a cheap oil filter for a hundred miles to catch any loose debris, replace it with a Mann and be on your way. Oh, and/or flush with cheap oil as mentioned above.

Post by **vtl** » 17 Aug 2021, 16:23

May I suggest to ignore it and spend your time in a more meaningful manner, like beer?

TisMe · Post by **TisMe** » 17 Aug 2021, 16:59

Thanks for the tips everyone, I did some light scraping combined with carb cleaner. The lower parts look a little better, but now that I've reattached the oil pickup and can no longer get the clearance to attach the pan, I'm wishing I'd taken VTL's suggestion earlier in the day and skipped it so that I could have used that time on figuring out this maneuvering.

vtl wrote: ↑17 Aug 2021, 16:23 May I suggest to ignore it and spend your time in a more meaningful manner, like beer?

Though it may be frowned upon to mix beer with maintenance, I'm on my second drink due to the awkwardness of bench pressing my oil pan with no successful clearance. Considering dropping my subframe after all, despite most people not needing to with their XCs.

Post by **vtl** » 17 Aug 2021, 18:30

You don't need the subframe mess. Dropping the subframe is awful. Better suspend the engine with the support bar, remove the right engine pad and you'll have the clearance. But even that is not needed. Assumed, the oil dipstick tube is not yet inserted.

ignatz · Post by **ignatz** » 18 Aug 2021, 04:31

Yeah, the dipstick tube was removed on mine when I put the pan back up.
I also did a "dry" run without the sealant on the oil pan to see how I had to contort things to get the pan back up. Then I quickly put the sealant on while my memory had a chance of remembering the twisting and turning.