Soaking the cylinders

Howdy folks,

I’m helping someone with their D2 4U. The engine is stuck and I want to get some oil in the cylinders to soak for a while. What’s the easiest way, do I need to pull the injectors? Thanks!

Hi, PW. (I'm getting lazy in my retirement.)

Well, you could remove the exhaust manifold and squirt your 'loose juice' into each cylinder while hold that exhaust valve open. Or remove the head entirely. Me being as lazy as I currently am, I'd be settling for pulling the 'squirts'.

The beauty of doing that is that you can dip-measure the amount of fluid that you put in each cylinder and check it again a few days later to see if there has been any change.

I am NOT so lazy that I wouldn't drop the 'squirts' back into their holes before leaving if I was planning on leaving the engine to soak for a while.

Just my 0.02.

I am pretty sure I have seen Squatch and LAOL remove injectors, although Squatch doesn't like cycling an engine with rust in the cyliders as that just make things worse. If you have a borescope (they are cheap these days) you could peek inside through the injector ports.

Hi, TOP and Potato Wilson.

I have to admit that if I was faced with a stuck engine, I would want to know more about the 'whys' of the situation as in is it rust, carbon, scored bores, broken rings or whatever - which WOULD require removing the head - which might still not show the problem as it could be a seized main or rod bearing.

But what would I know? I spent WAY more of my life trying NOT to break them than I spent fixing them.

Just my 0.02.

I am not too sure a borescope will allow you to see into the cylinders per se. through the injector ports. Pre-combustion chambers? I would agree with Deas - pull the head. You could end up with way more problems by trying to use some "liquid plumber" than cleaning things correctly. Once the head is off, you can then worry about the other associated possibilities, timing case, cam shaft, crankshaft, rods and bearings, wrist pin failure, etc. The other issue with liquids in a cylinder - not knowing how much of what is on top of the piston and adding more, may put one into a compressibility issue, where when both valves are closed and one attempts to turn the engine, the liquid with no place to go, forces other components to give -- IE- BENT or Broken Connecting Rods - the weakest point will break. -- cts

Thank you, I knew I could count on you all! Solid advice across the board.

This D2 belongs to a LONG time ACMOC member. He drove it onto our ranch and parked it maybe 6 years ago when he moved out of state. It reportedly ran REALLY good. It has been well covered with protected exhaust since. The oil looks great. I was actually surprised to find it stuck. I think it’s due to condensation, cold wet winters followed by hot California summers, all while under tarp.

The owner is considering selling it, and I offered to check it out and see what she might bring. But he’s of course disappointed about it being stuck and has asked me to consider trying to get her going. And of course I don’t really have time to tear another tractor apart. I think I’m going to get some MM oil in there for a while and see if she’ll come loose. I understand the concerns with hydraulic lock, and won’t let that happen. With the compression release open wouldn’t most excess oil squeeze out of that? I don’t want to debris-score the cylinders but I may have to just hope that would be minimal. Sometimes a guy’s just gotta do what he’s gotta do.

This little Cat has an amazing under-carriage, has direct electric start, and has a rear BeeGee hydraulic pump with 2 valves. It’s really a nice machine.

whirring over on decompression opens the inlet valve and allows oil to exit the cylinder and go to the inlet manifold only to be drawn in later on full compression when the engine starts so, caution is needed to avert hydraulic lock.

Best to remove injectors and you can blow out the oil via the injector holes.

Eddie B.

Eddie, would it be less invasive to loosen off the intake manifold and pump the oil out with the decompressor than to remove the injection valves?

PW that is a cute little bugger converted to DE from the looks of it. Stuck? I would remove the valve covers and check the valves. I have had stuck lifters before, that just needed some soaking. It might be worth a try before pulling a head.

Looks like your D2 will be getting a stall mate!

Something that has sometimes worked is to rent a steam cleaner and run hot steam thru the block for several minutes (maybe longer since it is a lot of iron) and then run cold water thru it. Repeat many times and the expansion and contraction may break the rust bond. One day rental of a steam cleaner and lots of easy labor might be worth a try.