Cleaning cylinder heads while on engine

[C.E.Divine]

Hi everyone,

I have discovered on my truck that the PCV valve has been sitting on top of the valve cover loosely, only held in place by hard vacuum line. I stick a finger down inside, and could feel dust and hay and all sorts of crud sitting underneath. I know I will at least need to pull the valve cover(s) to scrap crap off, but does this seem like a viable method to get the junk off? I wish I had pics, but can't get any good shots. I really do not want to pull the engine to take off the full cylinder head. I came across this, does it seem like this thread has good advice?

http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/threads/can-anyone-help-me-clean-the-sludge-out-of-my-engine.55263/

Also, in the thread they mention an engine flush. I always thought those were a bad thing? And with these methods, I shouldn't need to worry about dropping any crud down oil passages in the head and blocking one as long as I change the oil after? No concern about dropping anything in the cylinder as long as I block the intake ports with shop towels? As I am scraping crud off, would you guys recommend taping the scraper to a shop vac hose to vacuum up any chunks?

I am completely open to advice, I have never been even close to going this far inside an engine before, but I do know slightly more than just lefty-loosey righty-tighty.

 

[98_k1500]

I'd pull a valve cover to check and see how much dirt has actually entered the engine. If its just normal engine crud in there i WOULD NOT suggest trying to scrape any of it off. It will end up stuck to the oil pump pickup screen, causing oil starvation and a premature engine death. I would suggest running 1 qt of ATF in your engine oil about 500 miles or so before every oil change. ATF is very high detergent and will slowly dissolve the deposits and let them be removed by the oil filter. Anything that comes off in a chunk is never going to make it into the oil filter and will clog up the screen causing severe engine damage. Unless you plan on removing the oil pan, manually scraping crud off, flushing with 5 gallons of kerosene / diesel fuel, then putting it back together, and changing the oil a couple of times in the first 1000 miles, It is best left alone. The dirt has probably not made it any farther than the baffle in the valve cover. More than likely can just pull that valve cover, clean it up, and pop it back on. The gaskets are re-usable and you don't use any sealant of any kind on them.

 

[C.E.Divine]

Thanks for the advice! I hadn't thought about the baffle in the valve cover being what I was feeling, I just assumed that it was a rocker i was feeling. And I got to thinking about the ATF thing last night after I posted and did some more reading, and I think that is the route I will go. I will still pull off the valve covers, but not do any scraping, I will just let detergents do their job.

 

[98_k1500]

Sounds good. That is by far your safest route.

 

[C.E.Divine]

Yeah, I think if it is still running mostly smooth at 274K miles with the crud, then that crud may be what is making it run smooth at this point. Thank you.