Machine Shop Dip Block In Cleaning Tank

[flanso]

I used Berryman Chem-Dip to clean Porsche 356 alloy engine cases and they came out looking new. I used a steel drum to soak the engine case halves, then pressure washed the cases and blew them dry with compressed air. But the stuff was expensive, about $50 for 5 gallons, and hard to handle because it was moderately corrosive to skin. Nowadays, I'm older, hopefully wiser; I would probably leave the cleaning to a machine shop in their tank or oven. I know hot tanking is effective and I suspect oven cleaning probably is too. Your machine shop may want to supply the rod and main bearings. A good shop will install the rod and main bearings, without the crank, torque the caps, measure the inside diameters and then cut the crank for the clearances that you specify. Probably around .0015" to .002" for an approximate 2 inch diameter crank journal on a street engine. There is stuff called "Plastigage," a thin little worm of clay that you place between the crank and bearings and torque the caps to specification. Then you take the caps off and measure the flatness of the little worm to determine the actual bearing clearances. Plastigage is cheap and you may want to try it to check the job your machinist did and try it for your own edification. You'll have to pick a good machine shop which isn't always easy. I used to find that a very clean, orderly shop was often a harbinger of accurate machine work. Ask to see the shop and keep us posted.

 

[TooManyWheels]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: My442
None of the shops in the Boston area use a hot tank.

They all have thermal ovens that bake the oil and crud build up off.

It really works great.


Maybe it's a regional thing. ...

I am guessing that in some states, the cost to haul off and replace the solution would be prohibitive.


I've never considered Texas to be on the cutting edge of environmental friendliness, but the oven technique has been a mainstream (if not exlusive) technique here for fifteen to twenty years.

 

[1993_VG30E_GXE]

I'm going to try and take photos of the shop for you guys. The guy probably won't like it but i'll whip it out when he's not looking. I know you guys will get a chuckle from seeing the photos.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Ultra Sonic systems cost upward of $20K but do a great jop and donot use harsh chemicals but few shops have these in most of the USA. Most use a caustic hot dip. They first pressure wash it with either a commercial version of Castrol super clean or powdered tide!!! Then they dip it for a few hours in a boiling caustic solution unless it is aluminum then they use a cold dip. Then it is pressure washed again.

If it is a block that is mine I seldom hot tank it. If it is a junk yard core that has been outside for a while I always hot tank it. If itis my block I remove all the freeze plugs and oil galley plugs and I use my brush set and castrol super clean.I will spend about about an hour hand scrubing then I let it sit and get to doing other stuff. Then at the end of the day I will take the power washer and load it up with super clean and go to town.....Where goggles and gloves and if you have a hot power washer that is even better. I have used the hight setting on my home water heater and ran a line from it to a power washer more then once to get hoter then outside tap water into the power washer before. I always do this with the engine on a stand that can be rotated. After that I use plane water to flush out any cleaner's.

I normaly cover it in an old blanket or sheet and let it keep drying over night. The next day I hit all the surfaces with a light coat of oil. Any surface rust from the over night drying will wipe off with a rag and some penatrateing oil..... I measure everything and see what machine work I need. If it needs machine work no sense baging it because it will need to be cleaned good when you get it back from the macine shop. Cleaning when you get it back fromt he machine shop is easy because you are not haveing to get deposits out you just need to get the cutting and honing left overs off the parts.

A hot dip is mostly for those blocks that have been neglected as in the owners ran plain water in the block or they have been sitting out in a swap getting rained on for 10 years etc....You normally do not need to hot tank if you have maintained the engine well. In fact one of the biggest problems today is not deposits so much as erosion from acid based coolants and all the aluminum parts. It really east the snot of of them especially if the owner ran the coolant for the entire life of the vehicle.

I think it was Jasper and other large members of the aftemarket engine remanufacturing assocaition or simalar that used to send out photo's to their garage dealerships showing the damage to cores that they could not rebuild because of the acid based coolant doing a number on the water galleys and ports!

 

[1993_VG30E_GXE]

These machine shop guys are hilarious John. He tells me "we don't like to use the hot tank as much...it's alot of work....it needs to be heated up".

I swear, if I pay these fools to clean my block, i'm going to stand there and ask them for a thermometer and watch them dip it in the tank for proof. I don't beleive anyone in the automotive sector anymore.

 

[1993_VG30E_GXE]

Does anyone know what the minimum amount of time in hrs and the maximum amount of time in hrs, I can ask the machine shop guy to leave the block soaking the in the caustic tank?

 

[Kestas]

I don't think it's such a good idea to micromanage the shop like that. The minimum time depends on the condition of the parts that you give them. It's somewhat offensive to tell them how to do their job. They should know their equipment and how to use it. It would be okay though to have a friendly chat about the procedure and address your concerns.

Thankfully, the shop I took my parts for cleaning did a great job. When I was there, I saw a bunch of blocks and heads lined up for service. I got my parts back nicely cleaned with just a touch of scale where it was heaviest. This let me know they didn't clean any more than they had to. Their machining work was just as good.