Practical Engine Building: Step 6: Engine Component Cleaning
Watch This Course
$199 USD
-OR-
Or
8 easy payments of only $24.88
Instant access. Easy checkout. No fees.
Learn more
Step 6: Engine Component Cleaning
14.31
| 00:00 | - Now we're going to move into cleaning all of our engine components prior to final assembly. |
| 00:04 | And we're going to start that process here with our engine block. |
| 00:08 | Now in this case we're dealing with an engine block that is relatively clean so there's not a lot of heavy grime and muck to remove from the block. |
| 00:17 | I'm going to move straight through to using brake clean and compressed air in order to clean out the block. |
| 00:24 | Now before we get involved with brake clean, what we want to do is start by just using compressed air and blow out any dust or debris that's a result of our deburring process. |
| 00:35 | So let's do that now. |
| 00:44 | Once we've blown out the majority of the debris that's remaining in the block, we can move on and actually begin cleaning the block down. |
| 00:50 | And what I'm going to do here is use a stiff bristle brush and brake clean. |
| 00:56 | So what I'm going to do here is just brush down the internal and external surfaces of the block, and following this I'm going to then blow down those surfaces with compressed air. |
| 01:05 | We're going to repeat this process several times. |
| 01:08 | What we'll find is that as the block becomes cleaner, the brake clean running off the block will start running clear, and this is a good indication that we've got rid of most of the dirt. |
| 01:19 | So let's go through that now. |
| 01:36 | Once we've completed this entire process and we've cleaned all the surfaces of the engine, we would simply repeat this two to three times until everything is as clean as we can possibly get it. |
| 01:46 | Now following on from this we're going to now start performing a more thorough clean using some of our engine cleaning brushes. |
| 01:53 | What we're going to do here is chase out any of the stud holes that we've already tapped and we're also going to chase out any of the oil galleries. |
| 02:02 | We're going to do this using a combination of the engine cleaning brushes, with brake clean and then followed up with compressed air. |
| 02:10 | So let's go through that process now. |
| 02:19 | While we're performing this process we also want to pay special attention to the oil feed holes that come up through the deck surface of the block, as well as any of the oil drain holes that return back into the sump and make sure that we clean these out thoroughly using our engine cleaning brushes as well, so let's continue now. |
| 02:44 | Now we're going to go through and clean the cylinder bores. |
| 02:47 | In particular here what we're trying to do is remove any debris trapped in the hone pattern as a result of the honing process. |
| 02:55 | Now the easiest way of doing this is to use a light coloured rag such as white. |
| 03:00 | This way we'll be able to see when debris stops being removed from the bores. |
| 03:05 | Now when we are doing this, it's helpful to move the rag in the same direction as the hone pattern. |
| 03:11 | So what we're trying to do is clean the bores in a directional angle. |
| 03:15 | Let's go through that process now. |
| 03:28 | So we've gone through there and we've had an initial clean of the bores. |
| 03:32 | And what we'd do is continue and go over the bores two to three more times until our rag remains completely clean. |
| 03:39 | At this point the cylinder walls are clean and ready for assembly. |
| 03:43 | However it's also really important to understand that at this point there's nothing protecting the metal surface and it will start to form surface rust very very quickly. |
| 03:53 | So after this process it's important to also oil down the bore walls using a clean rag and fresh mineral based engine oil. |
| 04:03 | Now we're going to spin the engine back over and we're going to complete our final processes of cleaning on the underside of the block. |
| 04:10 | So now on the underside of the block we're going to continue cleaning out any of the threaded holes as well as any of the oil galleries using our engine cleaning brushes. |
| 04:20 | Again we're gonna be flushing these holes using a brake clean product, and blowing them out using compressed air. |
| 04:25 | So let's go through that process now. |
| 04:41 | So now you've seen the entire cleaning process being applied to the 2JZ engine block. |
| 04:46 | Normally we would repeat this process several times until there's no further sign of dirt or debris coming off the engine block. |
| 04:54 | The reliability and life expectancy of our engine hinges on the cleanliness of the parts during assembly and it's impossible to have an engine that's too clean, so I'd urge you to be very thorough during this step. |
| 05:09 | Let's have a look at the rest of the components now. |
| 05:12 | The next component we're going to have a look at is our CP piston set. |
| 05:16 | These are relatively clean already, there's not a lot of work to do. |
| 05:20 | But in particular when we are cleaning down our pistons, it's always a good idea to pay special attention to the oil return holes where the oil drains back from the oil control ring to the inside of the piston. |
| 05:34 | Quite often I find on aftermarket forged pistons, there'll be minor burrs on these holes, as a result of the machining process, and it's important to use a scalpel or a razor blade just to gently remove those burrs. |
| 05:48 | The rest of the cleaning process can be adequately dealt with using some brake clean and some compressed air, so let's have a look at that now. |
| 06:17 | When we're cleaning the pistons we want to pay special attention to make sure that any of the burrs that are a result of the balancing process are removed, and in particular what we want to do is pay attention to the oiling holes that force feed oil to the wrist pins. |
| 06:33 | So the rest of the piston set can be cleaned in exactly the same way. |
| 06:37 | When it comes to our wrist pins, these should already be relatively clean, and all we really need to do here is use a rag with some brake clean and just remove any surface dirt and debris and this will also remove the protective layer of oil on the surface. |
| 06:52 | If there's any debris or dirt down through the centre of the wrist pin, we'll also need to clean that out as well. |
| 06:59 | In this situation we can use one of our engine cleaning brushes along with some brake clean. |
| 07:05 | Next we come to our connecting rods. |
| 07:07 | And generally when I'm cleaning down connecting rods, I like to actually separate the rods out into their component form, so we want to remove the bolts from the conrod and then we can remove the cap from the conrod. |
| 07:21 | Now remembering when we're doing this, depending on how we've marked the connecting rod body and cap, if we've done this with just a sharpie marker, the cleaning process can remove that so it's important to make sure that we keep track of our conrods and keep them in a matched pair. |
| 07:40 | So again the process for cleaning our conrods is very similar. |
| 07:43 | Just going to use brake clean and compressed air to complete that task. |
| 08:20 | Once we've completed a rough cleaning of the conrod, we can go through and be a little bit more thorough using brake clean on a clean rag. |
| 08:29 | In particular what we want to do is focus on the threads in the body of the connecting rod. |
| 08:35 | Make sure that there's no dirt or debris trapped in those threads that can affect the torque from our fasteners when the rod bolts are done up. |
| 08:45 | When it comes to the connecting rod bolts, you can see as removed from the conrod they're covered in an assembly lube and this is an important aspect of achieving the correct torque and clamping force from the bolts. |
| 08:58 | It's always a good idea to clean this existing lubricant off and we'll be reapplying a fresh coat of lubricant prior to the final assembly. |
| 09:07 | If we leave this lubricant it is possible it can pick up dirt and debris and this can affect our torque results and our clamping results when we do torque up the rod bolts. |
| 09:17 | Let's move on now and we'll have a look at the crankshaft. |
| 09:20 | With the crankshaft on our 2JZ engine, we do have the benefit of dealing with a brand new item straight from Toyota and obviously this means that the crankshaft should be relatively clean internally. |
| 09:31 | However we still want to go through a thorough cleaning process just to be 100% certain. |
| 09:37 | With this being a production crankshaft we don't have the ability to remove the dowel plugs that give us access to the oil galleries inside the crankshaft. |
| 09:48 | And we're going to be accessing these oil galleries just through the holes in the journals. |
| 09:54 | And we're going to be using an engine cleaning brush, and some brake clean in order to clean out those internal galleries. |
| 10:00 | I want to start however with an external cleaning of the crankshaft. |
| 10:04 | What we're going to do here is going to depend on the condition of the crank and how it's been stored. |
| 10:10 | In particular if the crankshaft has been coated with a soft seal type product or wax type product to prevent moisture getting access to the crankshaft, and corroding it, this does require quite a lot of attention as it can be quite tricky to remove. |
| 10:26 | I'm going to start the process here with a brake clean product and I'm going to start just with an engine brush, and I'm just going to clean down the exterior of the crankshaft. |
| 10:47 | Following this we will rotate the crankshaft and we'll complete the cleaning on the surfaces that we couldn't reach, and we can blow off any excess brake clean and dirt using compressed air. |
| 11:06 | Once we're happy with the condition of the exterior of the crankshaft we can move on and start cleaning the internal galleries. |
| 11:12 | I'm going to do this using a small engine cleaning brush. |
| 11:16 | We just need one that is the right size to fit down the galleries and I'm going to chase this with brake clean and then compressed air. |
| 11:24 | So let's follow that process now. |
| 11:32 | Now what we need to do while we're doing this cleaning process is really going to depend on the condition of the crankshaft. |
| 11:38 | With a brand new crankshaft like this, understandably there's not a lot of dirt internally in the galleries so there's not as much work for us to do. |
| 11:47 | If we're dealing with an old crankshaft that's seen a lot of service then there's gonna be a lot more dirt, debris and oil trapped inside these galleries, and that's going to require a more thorough approach from us. |
| 11:59 | What I tend to do here is continue cleaning until the brake clean product that we're applying runs clean and there's no sign of any dirt or contamination in the brake clean that's coming out of the galleries. |
| 12:11 | Now following that process I'm going to blow out the galleries with compressed air, and then depending on the condition of the crankshaft we repeat this as many times as necessary. |
| 12:33 | Once we're confident that the internal oil galleries inside the crankshaft are sufficiently clean, I'm going to go through one last exercise and this is cleaning down the bearing surfaces on both the main bearing journals as well as the big end journals. |
| 12:47 | And to do this I'm just going to be using a clean rag with some brake clean or alternatively you could also use isopropyl alcohol. |
| 12:54 | In particular we want to be very certain that none of the soft seal product is left on those journal surfaces as this could adversely affect our bearing life. |
| 13:06 | So let's go through that process now. |
| 13:23 | So as we move through and clean down all of the journal surfaces on the crankshaft, we should end up with a nice shiny finish, ready for the crankshaft to be installed. |
| 13:33 | While we're doing this we also want to make sure that we clean down the thrust bearing surfaces on the crankshaft as well. |
| 13:39 | So at this point we've completed the cleaning process on our internal components. |
| 13:45 | Now of course there's going to be a range of other components that are going to be bolted onto the engine once the basic short block has been assembled. |
| 13:54 | So that'd include obviously the cylinder head as well as auxiliary components such as the sump, oil pump or front cover assemblies, even the rocker covers as well. |
| 14:03 | And it is just as important that all of these components are just as thoroughly cleaned. |
| 14:08 | In the case of our 2JZ we have the benefit of working with all brand new componentry, so this means we don't have the problem of removing potentially years of dirt and debris from all the abuse the engine's previously seen in its life. |
| 14:24 | At this point we can move on with the next step of our process. |
