Molasoak / Molasoke and cranking/drainage question

[peterr]

Okay so I disconnected the battery, pulled my spark plugs, and squirted two ounces of LubeControl LC20 though some tubing directly into each spark plug hole. I could then see the LC 20 covering each cylinder head. I covered the open plug holes loosely with some rags, and covered the rags with shop towels just to prevent dirt getting in.

Left it to soak (soke?) for about 36 hours then turned over the engine three times and left it to soak another 5 hours or so, expecting the LC20 to have drained or seeped past the rings. There is still a significant amount of LC20 in the cylinders. I would guess at least 70% of what I put in there.

I know in Molakule's original post he mentioned cranking the engine by hand, but later indicated that the admonition not to use the starter was just to avoid firing oil out of the plug holes all over everything. While i did get a small amount of LC20 ejected and I saw the shop towels bellowed slightly by the ejection of air there was nothing dramatic.

My assumption is that i can't hydrolock my engine with the plugs out (compression? what compression) but what should i do?

Will waiting longer drain this out if after nearly 2 days it has barely budged?

Should I just fire up the starter (without plugs in) and cycle it a few times?

Do i need to siphon the LC out? Not sure how well that would work.

Do I need to add a solvent like SeaFoam to dilute the LC either to get it past or siphon it out? I know people have referenced using things like Chemtool as a soak.

Sorry for the idiot questions. I have searched through several of the longest Molasoke threads and found nothing to address directly.

 

[JHZR2]

I wouldnt want to use a solvent. I would imagine that it would burn off without issues, but it is sound to be concerned about hydrolock.

I'd probably crank a good few times with the injectors not spraying fuel, in order to work it in/past the rings or out the holes.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2

I'd probably crank a good few times with the injectors not spraying fuel, in order to work it in/past the rings or out the holes.


That's what I'd do, but if you do use the starter, make dam sure you disable the fuel and spark or you risk a fire. Crank the starter a few times with rags jammed in the plug well tubes. That should clear everything out.

 

[MolaKule]

What Drew and JHRZ said. You cannot get hydrolock with the plugs out.

The original MolaSoke idea was to loosen some piston crown carbon, but most importantly, to get the LC20 to the ring pack to loosen or remove the sticky carbon that prevents the rings from flexing slightly.

Turning the crank by hand instead of the starter kept you from blowing out the LC20 on the fenders and hood (unless you had rags stuffed in the PS hole), and allowed the rings to slowly scrape some of the LC20 from the cylinder walls in order to get it into the ring grooves.

If you feel you have given it enough time, just turn the crank and TDC each piston to soak up the LC20 with those blue paper towels or suck it out.

When you do remove most of the LC20, and replace the SP's, run it outside since you're going have a blue fog for a few seconds.

 

[peterr]

Thanks all

I cranked it a few times with some intervals in between in hope that the LC20 would work its way down the cyclinder walls and around the rings. After about 48 hours I extracted the excess LC20 using a large syringe (from the 2 cycle mixing drawer) and some plastic tubing (leftover from a brake bleeding kit). The LC20 had darkened noticeably and there was a fair amount of carbony particulate. Kinda happy to have pulled that out.

After reinstalling the plugs, running it certainly created the described fogging of the neighbourhood. Most of this was gone by the time I got on the highway. A 30 minute drive later and things seemed normal exhaust wise.

Changed the oil and filter.

 

[MolaKule]

Quote:
Changed the oil and filter.


A good practise after using a soaker.

Many people don't realize how well this process removes carbon from the ring grooves, especially the oil ring.

And, you may have better compression as well.

 

[TheTanSedan]

I like using old bath towels draped/held against cylinder head. A fair number of starter cranks. I get around to putting it back together the next day. If it hasn't all leaked by the rings I use my oil sample gun to remove excess (buy aquarium tubing by the box).

Then I fog out the neighborhood on a short drive; a few blasts of WOT (you may not want to) . . once no more tailpipe smoke, then it's time to return, install new sparkplugs, change oil/filter, clean the engine and bay; add a strong dose of LC-20 and run a hot hard short OCI. The MolaSoak is a winner.

And LC-20 + synthetic ATF is the best penetrant/lubricant there is! Thanks again, MolaKule, for that recipe!