General Cleaning ports tips please

[wilkes]

Good suggestions on cleaning these out please, thick with oil deposits x250 2007[emoji106]

 

[chris3234]

Inlet in or outlet ports?
If it's just oil Inlet side some brake cleaner and toothbrush just give it plenty of time to dry out

 

[portland_bill]

Inlet in or outlet ports?
If it's just oil Inlet side some brake cleaner and toothbrush just give it plenty of time to dry out

I'd probably go a little further than this.

Turn the engine so the relevant valve is shut.
Then spray brake cleaner and work old toothbrushes around.
Try to retrieve as much goo as possible using rags, not tissue.
Get it as dry as possible before moving onto the next port.

Have you diagnosed the cause of the oil?
Don't assume it is an accumulation over 13 years, it might be all recent.
Oil in inlets could be turbo, or engine breather issues, which might be engine wear.
If oil is on the exhaust side, then the inlets should be swimming for that much to get past combustion, so you'd really be in the poo. (or goo).

 

[wilkes]

Inlet in or outlet ports?

If it's just oil Inlet side some brake cleaner and toothbrush just give it plenty of time to dry out

Both!! [emoji51]

 

[wilkes]

I'd probably go a little further than this.



Turn the engine so the relevant valve is shut.

Then spray brake cleaner and work old toothbrushes around.

Try to retrieve as much goo as possible using rags, not tissue.

Get it as dry as possible before moving onto the next port.



Have you diagnosed the cause of the oil?

Don't assume it is an accumulation over 13 years, it might be all recent.

Oil in inlets could be turbo, or engine breather issues, which might be engine wear.

If oil is on the exhaust side, then the inlets should be swimming for that much to get past combustion, so you'd really be in the poo. (or goo).

Oil on both ports. Changed plugs. 3 ok normal deposits. Far right plug was covered in wet oil.

 

[portland_bill]

"Changed plugs" is this a petrol?

Whatever, cleaning the oil is not going to fix anything, you have to determine where it is coming from.
Worn piston rings, valve seals, or guides, turbo seals if it has a turbo, engine breather system, which points to worn rings.
Only one cylinder might be a leaking head gasket, or just the rings or valve seals worse on that one.
Looks like some dismantling and rectification work is needed.
If the engine is still in the vehicle, a compression check, wet and dry might help.

How did you find oil in the ports, what were you looking for, what were the symptoms/problem. We don't seem to be starting at the beginning here.

 

[wilkes]

"Changed plugs" is this a petrol?

Whatever, cleaning the oil is not going to fix anything, you have to determine where it is coming from.
Worn piston rings, valve seals, or guides, turbo seals if it has a turbo, engine breather system, which points to worn rings.
Only one cylinder might be a leaking head gasket, or just the rings or valve seals worse on that one.
Looks like some dismantling and rectification work is needed.
If the engine is still in the vehicle, a compression check, wet and dry might help.

How did you find oil in the ports, what were you looking for, what were the symptoms/problem. We don't seem to be starting at the beginning here.

Diesel.
I had an electrical fault and while everything was dismantled I decided to clean out the EGR and it’s surroundings. Then change the glow plugs since they had not been changed for the last 60 K.

3 to the left had standard deposits the right-hand glow plug was wet with oil.
The ports underneath the glow plugs are quite oily, lots of hardened deposits. View attachment 1

 

[portland_bill]

Looks like a significant amount of oil getting into that cylinder. Cleaning the mess is low priority. Fixing the cause is high priority, although if it runs ok, just go with it and keep topping up.