Clean that screen!!!

[JohnG]

hi
Back in the Fall I posted a question asking what kind of motor
oil people were using. In the process of responding, Alexander
urged me to drop the oil pan and clean the pick up screen,
telling of how he had lost a well maintained engine due to
lack of oil flow caused by deposits and particles in the
strainer.

I took this as good advice and set about this week to follow up
on it. Removing the oil pan requires (at least for me) loosening the
front motor mounts and jacking the engine up a few inches. Rotating
the crank helps.

I finally got the pan off and it was nice and clean in the bottom.
The screen was a different matter. I have sent Alexander a picture
of it that I hope he will post here. In any event it is a
clogged up mess and I am lucky to have passed much oil by it. I
assume I can clean it up easily with solvents. FYI: my car
has 55,600 miles on it. It's not the miles....

Your motor cannot run without oil to it, no matter what the
dipstick reads!! Consider this maintenance!

John
'58 Hardtop

[Rockin Kev]

RE: Clean that screen!!!

John
Because of this problem is why i always use a thinner oil with a well approved additive.
The extra oil protection for the engine is a must for me as you will be aware that the moment you turn that ignition key and your engine turns over does not mean that the oil pump is pushing oil around your engine.
Here is another tip for everyone, sounds a little stupid but iam sure it works, when you have removed the oil pan and it then is fully cleaned.
Before replacing the pan use a clean cloth soacked it a protection oil like slick 50 for an example and coat the inside of the pan ,like you would do with a baking tray with butter.
I also coat the inside of the screen and oil pump so the engine oil flows just that a bit quicker like oil floating on water (non stick)
Kevin.

[Alexander]

RE: Clean that screen!!!

John,

That screen looked as bad as mine did!

Here are the pictures that John sent me of his oil pick-up screen. As you see the oil is only able to get through the relief hole. That is really not enough. The screen is totally clogged with debris.

http://www.squarebirds.org/images/oil_pickup_clogged.jpg

http://www.squarebirds.org/images/oil_pickup_clogged2.jpg

I have used Slick50 in the past, and have not noted much effect. I have heard horror stories of it clogging the oil filter and causing engine damage. Applying a coating may not be a bad idea.

The best lubricant for engine today are the synthetic lubricants. The only drawbacks is the cost, and on old engines the oil leaks tend to worsen.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[JohnG]

RE: Clean that screen!!!

the deposits were solid enough that blasting them with
STP carb cleaner did little to remove them. It took
compressed air to get them out. I will send an "after" photo of
the clean screen for comparison. The screening is not all that
fine so the ability of the deposits to form solids is considerable.

Aside from probably saving the motor, there is not a dime of
expense in this maintenance unless one puts a new oil pan gasket in. This would seem to fall in the "must do" category...

Thanks for posting the photos, Alexander!

[Guest]

RE: Clean that screen!!!

When I come across this I buy a gallon can of parts cleaner and let it sit in it for a week then take it to boiling water with detergent laundry soap and swoose it around several time. you want to watch tearing the screen.
Monty

[1960Bird]

RE: Clean that screen!!!

If I went to all the work of removing the oil pan...I would replace the oil pump, drive shaft and pick tube up while I was down there. Cost about $60.00. JMO

Steve Ronk
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
1960 HT 390 cu in, Edelbrock RPM intake, shorty headers, two and one half inch exhaust and 3.70 rear gears...if you are going to go in style you might as well go fast

[tarps3]

RE: Clean that screen!!!

hope this question isn't too dumb, but, how do you jack up the engine and remove the oil pan? Don't you place a block of wood on a jack UNDER the oil pan to jack up the engine.

I supposed there must be another way to jack up the engine without usng the pan. - what is it please?

Casey
'60 TBird hardtop

[1960Bird]

RE: Clean that screen!!!

Do not jack on the pan, I would get under a motor mount to jack it up.



Steve Ronk
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
1960 HT 390 cu in, Edelbrock RPM intake, shorty headers, two and one half inch exhaust and 3.70 rear gears...if you are going to go in style you might as well go fast

[JohnG]

RE: Clean that screen!!!

I agree!!! That pan is just sheet metal.

I (having no experience with this motor) took the oil pan
bolts out first, then the two nuts from the front motor mounts, and moved the pan to the right side a couple of inches. Right near the oil pump is a huge portion of the block sticking out ( "boss" may be the right word). I put a bottle jack under it and raised the motor up enough to put some pieces of 2x4 (about 4" long) in between the motor mount and the engine. This gave me just enough room to wiggle the oil pan out.

I would have preferred to have lifted the motor up from the top
some how but the cross beams in my garage don't look real
strong and I had visions of one breaking and crashing down on
the fenders! So I went from underneath instead...

None of this took very long, and, at least in my case, was effort
well spent...

[Alexander]

RE: Clean that screen!!!

John sent me a few pictures of the cleaned oil pickup. An amazing difference from the dirty one!

http://www.squarebirds.org/images/oil_pickup_clean.jpg

http://www.squarebirds.org/images/oil_pickup_clean2.jpg

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[tarps3]

RE: Clean that screen!!!

Just found the answer to my question in my shop manual.
It says to raise the engine using a jack and a block of wood under the oil pan, then to place a block of wood between the engine and the underbody and remove the jack from under the oil pan.
Seems like that "sheet metal" pan is strong enough to jack up because it also says to use this procedure when replacing the motor mounts.

an intersting note:
in another place it says to use "engineng brackets and a sling" - oh okay, I have one of those in my home garage - not.

Casey
'60 hardtop

[Alexander]

RE: Clean that screen!!!

Casey sent me some pictures of his oil screen before and after cleaning. His was relatively clean. He is still glad he checked it, so he can now sleep peacefully at night. You will never know until you check yours.

As you note, his style of oil screen is different from John G.'s. Casey has a 1960 Thunderbird while John has a 1958. My 1960 had a screen identical to John's. Probably Ford had two different suppliers for this part.

http://www.squarebirds.org/images/oil_pickup_1960_before.jpg

before cleaning

http://www.squarebirds.org/images/oil_pickup_1960_cleaned.jpg

after cleaning

http://www.squarebirds.org/oil_screen.htm

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[JohnG]

RE: Clean that screen...speculation...

I recently had to take the oil pan off of a 1987 Nissan Sentra (it had a rust hole or 2 in it). The car has 169,000 miles on it; the motor has never been apart. The screen was completely clean. Not a spec in it.

So...this raises the question: why were Alexanders' and mine so bad?

Possibilities:

lack of oil changes
non detergent oil back in the old days
burning leaded gas
blow-by past the rings


I bought the Nissan new in '87 and changed the oil about every 3000 miles or so for 15 years. It will still go the 3000 miles without using an entire quart. The oil was always detergent type. Of course, it ran on unleaded gas.

The TBird I took the photo of has only 55,000 miles on it. I got it last summer. Despite this, there are signs of poor maintenance. The air filter was filthy on the outside AND inside. I removed the valve covers to replace the gaskets and the valve train is generally dirty, with the kind of crud the screen had. I believe the car uses oil (not much time yet to tell how much). I will probably rebuild the motor next winter. I will be surprised if the rings are in great shape.
Anyone have any thoughts??

John
'58 Hardtop

[Alexander]

RE: Clean that screen...speculation...

I really think that the non-detergent oils combined with infrequent changes is the cause of the caron deposits in these old engines.

Cars using the modern synthetics are virtualy spotless inside, even with over 100,000 miles.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top