Cleaning Cylinder Heads the Easy Way!
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- Опубликовано: 16 сен 2019
- How to clean your cylinder heads the right way... or is this the right way? I purchased a set of Stage 2 heads from an online friend and want to clean them up before use. Today I share a method I was taught to clean these heads up and prep them for use.
Note: I am not a professional mechanic but have certainly learned a lot over the years to where I feel comfortable sharing these tips and tricks. The best way to clean heads is by a machine shop who has the proper cleaning tools/machines. But if you're looking to save a few bucks, this method 100% works.
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➤ 5:32 - Get right into the cleaning.
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This video helped me alot. My 706 heads off a 5.3 were alot more grungy than those nice ones. I cleaned the intake and exhaust ports just cause I had the time. Those scuff pads work wonders on the mating surface.
i would recommend buying a soda blaster box and blast the gunk of the heads instead. i am SO glad they came up with the soda as a medium. everything gets cleaned without harming the aluminium. my heads and valves looks so nice now.
Awe! I wish this was posted two days ago when I was cleaning the heads🤦♀️
Wow
Wow
Wow
Wow
Pow! 💥😎
Absolutely amazing cleaning. Love it. Thanks
Thanks man, very helpful.
I was too chicken to use scotchbrite. I used lacquer thinner and a nylon brush.
Took my aluminum heads off. I built the motor 16 years ago, got it running, dynoed it. It sat in the Camaro for 16 years, while I slowly worked on the car.
I finished the car and the solid roller lifters got loud. Took the heads for to get to the lifters to see the damage. I'm changing the cam not.
The heads showed corrosion around the water ports from not running the engine enough and not changing the Rad fluid in those 16 years.
I used jb weld extreme head to fill some of the pits and corrosion.
I will be sending the heads off to a shop to slightly deck the heads.
What a nightmare aluminum is. They look nice tho.
Moral of the story, flush Rad fluid every couple of years and keep topped up and running!
Yes! I was your 1000th like on this video! Great advice!
I've pulled my head off a kawasaki mule diesel but did not take the injectors out. Is it safe to use this cleaning method still. Is it safe to clean the top of the block like this with the pistons still in? Thanks
Hi.
On modern common rail turbo diesels would you advise to spray Hylomar onto gasket prior to installation?..
I have done with WD-40 and a glass scraper and with a fine scourer, let wd-40, 30 minutes soak on it, but do not use water, instead of water or brake cleaner only wd-40, then rinse with brake cleaner.
What year is LT1 an what upgrades done to it. final
this is what i like to see. how to stuff. I think your the only channel doing how to stuff. You could also disassemble the heads and walnut shell blast them right? the inside is just going to look like that again shortly after you run the car so i wouldnt worry too much about that. the gasket surfaces are the important thing.
Cerama Bryte pads that you use to clean a flat top stove might be a better bet. Similar product but not as coarse and already cut to size. Available in the cleaning aisle at the grocery store.
💪😎👍
Hey I’m liking all these informative videos bc I am trying to learn everything I can about cars so good work 👌🏼
You can hit those chambers and top of valves with a round brass brush on a fukin drill. Aint gonna hurt shit.
Using paint stripper/remover on carbon junk works wonders then use scotchbrite.
Hello friend great video. Can you reinstall the cylinder head back if the the surface is straight?
With a gasket, yes.
I used a whetstone / sharpening stone.
Engine degreaser and soft wire brushes.
Work great for aluminum heads. I did it to my 706 heads and valves
Doesn't really remove the imprints.
Is it ok if i just use soap and water?
Im still a newbie😅
one of my favorite things to remove carbon on combustion chambers is head gasket remover spray if you can find it , spray a coating and let it eat away for an hour or so. lots of auto shops don't carry it anymore in the larger cans and the small bottle is a waste of money. paint thinner also works well for removing carbon. But I've only tried it soaking pistons. My l94 engine has 140k miles. quite a bit of blowby and carbon everywhere. also be sure to drill tops and bottoms add 2 or 3 holes each side, in the ls3/l92/l94 style pistons to fix the oil consumption issues. ruclips.net/video/mXumQLQjvBw/видео.html for me, I don't like using brake cleaner it evaporates too fast. And scotch brites could cause issues with head gasket sealing. Not to mention the abrasive dust they leave behind get in everything.
well what do YOU use?
I'm sire isopropyl will clean it up.nicely and some compressed air
Not pushing hard but just lightly but firmly meeting the pad up with the surface
I use my die grinder and a mild nylon disc. Cleans them up like new.
One thing I would also have done after cleaning where the valves are would be to take each valve out and lap them even if they didn't need to just for piece of mind and I have known people to buy a used sent of heads clean the mating surfaces put the head on then ran the engine it has sounded rough done a compression test and found a lack of compression so took it off and sent it to the machine shop and spend 100s in the head just for the machine shop to do the requested work and for them to say they had a valve that was not sealing properly
All valve seats were checked.
hi on 12:14 look at exhaus hole i see a crack or ? mast ask!!!
Hm... Clean by hand or steam pressure wash and then chem bath. I know what I'd prefer
Cleaning them with a scuff pad like that might be okay if you use stock GM MLS head gaskets, but it's just asking for a failure if you want to use aftermarket ones like Cometics, which generally require a surface RA of 60 or less. I had my heads milled to make sure they were 100% flat and and within specs for the new cometic gaskets.
Yep, that scotch brite pad pretty much just destroyed the finish needed for any MLS gasket to seal. This method would have worked for cast iron using composite gaskets back in the day but not for this.
should have only used plastic scraper and gasket remover spray unless it is to be resurfaced. some ford dealer ford techs use scotch brite bristle disc on an angle grinder to resurface aluminum but i wouldn't. so many techs were doing it ford issued a bulletin asking not to do it. but in most cases a bristle disk worked just fine. if you change the RA you can just get aq gasket that requres less RA perfection. up to a point.
Couldn't u just used a machinists straight edge ?
Hi I need help please. I broke my cylinder head while trying to install my switch oil pressure. Now I want to swap this head with another used one from scrap. What advice can you give please? Should I dessamble it and clean it or just swap? Thanks
How do you destroy a cyclinder head with an oil pressure switch?
Just wondering if there was any buildup on the tops of the valves since DI motors don't have any fuel washing over them? I'm not sure how many miles these heads have on them, but that's something I keep reading about with these DI engines. Thoughts?
Valves had build up, but these came off a car making 1,300+rwhp.
@@Lethalgarage Good to know, thanks! Next video idea... cleaning the valves :)
5:50 is when he says how to clean them
Maybe read the pinned comment
Any advice for cast iron heads?
Same process works, just avoid water and make sure to dry the parts quickly especially on exposed areas.
How would you go about doing this of you've already removed your valves from the head
Same process, just make sure you rinse them in a cleaning solution so you don’t have any Grimes stuck in the valve guides
My heads were taken in and cleaned. However I forgot to cover them up and they got super dusty from being in my back room. My question is how would I get the dust off? Use a shop vacuum with a brush attachment? I'm afraid to use brake clean and push the dirt around the spring's. The dust is all over the springs. Should I take them back to the shop and have them clean the heads, lash adjusters, and cam rollers? I don't want to cause the dust to create any friction when I put my camshafts in and back on my block. Maybe I'm overthinking.
I’d say over thinking, maybe use a feather duster and then blow them off.
@@Lethalgarage wow I feel like and idiot. Awesome idea. Thank you for your advice.
Ummm did u open ur heads to let it dry
What about media blasting?
As long as it isn’t too harsh
? The head looks brand new to start?
What grit is that pad? Will it work fine on iron cast heads? I seen a few Marron pads but just want to know what grit it is other than the green pad. I'm scared to use the green pad. The Marron pad I seen at autozone was 320 and there a Grey one that's 800 grit.
This is the medium abrasive that does not contain aluminum oxide. The cheap green ones do. Home Depot sells them for 3.98 each. For the record I used it on two blocks and I still drive the cars today. I am going to attempt the same procedure on an aluminum block
Red I 400
WD-40 believe it or not will clean just as good or better
I have a head from DSM (Eclipse/Talon), it has tons of carbon because the oil rings were letting oil past the pistons (but the head is good). How can I clean this massive carbon off the aluminum heads and the valves without damaging it? Since there is nothing wrong but the carbon, I don't want to send it to a shop.
A scuff pad works wonders
@@Lethalgarage Ok, what about for the valves? I am thinking of a cleaning brush drill bit, just want something that won't eat into the valves or the aluminum.
Do yourself a favor and research the abrasive in those pads...aluminum oxide...
Get to work with some wd 40 and a toothbrush.
Just Google "scotchbrite cylinder heads" stuff will give you nightmares!
Pull the valves and soak em in mineral spirits. As far as the valve guide channel, just use a brush and solvent. The valves only touch the seals and seats.
@@rollinlikeariver7756
Remember to clean the valve seats, so they can close completely you can get a speciel (not expensive) tool with coarse grease first and then fine grease, you can then check if they close completely :)
Where can I get scuff pads just like the ones you are using. Thanks Good video
Home Depot, Auto Part Stores, Amazon. I link them in the description
I question whether boring out the intake is actually an improvement. If it was that simple, I can't imagine an engineer not taking advantage of improved performance and less material at the OEM. The only rationale reason for extra metal would be to ensure the casting comes out okay---with thinning the wall on the intake requiring a further machining op that couldn't be justified by the cost.
Most engineers are tied by smog and flow regulations. They would have a field day if they could
And also when the cylinder heads are being made the manufacturer of them they flow test the heads to make sure the heads are good and also to make sure all the cylinder from the 1st one to the very last one produces the same numbers or close to make sure it reaches the stock bhp and also if they did port and polish them that is time and money they don't want to spend unless they are building a performance verson of the vehicle
Let me give you a idea how many (LS 862 casting) heads the Tonawanda, NY engine assembly plant used in a 24 hour shift. Just to keep up production of the LM7 truck engine made from 99-2007. So in every semi load of heads (48-K lbs) there was approximately 870 PAIRS of heads. At the time (04-07) they used 12 semi loads a day (3, 8 hr shifts) That was north of 10-K LM7 engines assembled every 24 hours. At the time, 6 days a week. Now the Romulus, Mi plant and the St. Catharines plants combined did about the same number also every day. So if you just used the 20-K engines a day between all 3 plants. GM at that time was manufacturing over 3.5 MILLION of those truck engines a yr. And thats a pretty conservative number. It was probably closer to 4 million a yr world wide with everything that used those LS based engines. Between 2004-2006 we had 3 trucks working 2,12 hour shifts pulling cast iron blocks out of the Western Ohio GM foundry plant. Each truck did 3 loads a day (6 days a week) up to the Michigan assembly plant. If I recall there was about 150 blocks per load. And when GM switched over to the Aluminum LS engine blocks that number jumped to almost 450 per load. Thats when they started allowing us to gross 86-K over the 80-K lbs from previous yrs. Via getting over weight permits that GM paid for. And we only had 3 trucks on that contract, There where 13 if I recall just going to the Romulus plant. We had 5 trucks feeding just heads to the Tonawanda, NY plant. It was a NEVER ENDING cycle of parts. We called it "Feeding the MONSTER" Sure something would break in assembly and there would be a chance to stock a few loads of inventory. But then GM would run a extra day or bump up production and it was like we couldn't ever get ahead of the game. We would run out of room to drop loaded trailers one day. And the next they where screaming that they where down to a 4 hour window of losing production. So get your sorry ass moving, We need everything you have. There's literally been MILLIONS APON MILLIONS of LS engines made in these 3 plants. So taking the time to "High Performance" the every day run of the mill set of heads. It wasn't something GM even considered. They had the High Performance engines that went into the Corvettes at the time. And that was good enough for them.
@@Pyle81 that’s an awesome story to drive home that Single point. Also gm sucks
Agree porting is mostly for racing engines(running at full throttle and no mufflers).
That scrubby pad aint gonna gouge the aluminum.
I would port match your exhaust side of those heads. The black soot is there because it's open to the exhaust gases and could be matched up to the headers. That should give you some more power letting the exhaust gasses flow smoother out of the motor. Unless your gaskets don't seal close to the port and let the carbon bleed onto the head. Check out how the gasket fits the header and the head and see how far off they are. If they don't match up just clean up the ports to match using the gasket as a template on the headers and the heads.
These were used, so not sure what headers they used.
@@Lethalgarage This could be an opportunity to gain a little power. It's not hard to do and you can make a video of you, or your trusted helper, port matching the heads and headers.
Douglas Lila unfortunately we don’t have time for that.
@@Lethalgarage It will take a couple of hours unless you already have them on the engine and don't want to take them off again. I know you like power and thought you might want to tweak it up a little.
Today we get all DIY about cleaning Cylinder Heads! Jump to 3:00 min to skip Lethal specific build items. or jump to 5:32 to get right into the cleaning.
TRY THE SPRAY VERSION OF SEA FOAM, NOTHING WORKS BETTER EXCEPT MAYBE OVEN CLEANER, BUT IT CAN BE DAMAGING TO ALUMINUM. SOAK IT WITH THE SEA FOAM, YOU'LL BE SURPRISED WHAT IT DOES TO THAT CARBON BUILD UP. Saves a lot of scrubbing. But the scotch bright is good on the gasket surface. Finish of with soapy water or simple green and a hose down.
Scotchbrite and roloc disks contain aluminum oxide.
Read up on the stuff...harder than your bearings, smaller than your filter can handle.
Dealerships and ASE folks have abandoned the method, except for engine blocks and cylinder heads that will be tanked before reassembly.
Seafoam and a pack of new razor blades gets the job done. Roloc disks will give you the proper RA finish, but contains the funky stuff.
I still use roloc for the mating surfaces, but I tape and clean everything thoroughly, and do an oil purge if the block deck was cleaned without disabling. (Drain the oil as it sits, fill with cheap stuff, use an oil pump primer to circulate oil without turning engine over, drain it again, and then run the rig til warm for a true oil and filter change.
We are learning more about aluminum oxide, and it is being attributed to many premature failures after rebuilding.
Cheers!!
Me fail automotive? That’s unpossible, I’m learnding!
Started with a clean head lol
Ive got something up with a valve cylinder #2 particularly gonna pull the head take it to car wash and hit it with presure wash also gonna clean up the pistons while im in there
I got a Better one, just use 0000 steel wool, forgett about the brake cleaner and pads. This is very fine material, and polishes and cleans.
Won't remove any material. 👍
I was thinking that exact same thing. Can you use that on the valves?
I thought about this too, however, I am thinking that there may be a chance that fiber(s) may be left in/on the cylinder head or into the valves, etc...
@@davidcrutchfield3746 just clean them after, pressure wash, dry oil and bag.
Hi, im still a newbie but is it ok if i clean my cylinder head with soap and water?
You Sure can, that won't harm anything if they're aluminum. If they're cast iron, you'll have some rust residue after they dry.
@@christophermix6845 ok, thanks a lot man 😀
@@ryzlannreza1873 no problem.
The heads are aluminum, but the valve seats and value guides are still cast iron. Make sure you dry those up quick, they start to rust pretty fast.
@@Hogwarts-Dropout mine are brass.
Do yourself a favour and skip to 5:30 if you want to get to the actual title content of this video.
Maybe read the pinned post?
@@Lethalgarage Ya for sure didn't see that but I'd have to click "show more" to see it. Now it's easier to spot. Stay awesome buddy!
Engine*
Should I worry about cleaning the valve heads?
Never hurts, especially if you can see them being hunker up.
@@Lethalgarage thank you. They're a little rough to the touch on the heads. Would it hurt to use a bit of wet sandpaper to remove the roughness? I tried just using a pad and cleaner, got the carbon of them but still rough to the touch
I was wondering what exhaust would be loudest for the best price ?
MBRP
Thanks 🙏
Lethal is correct. I have the MBRP race cat back and it is the loudest I have heard. With no drone. The price and quality is great with stainless steel 3" tubing.
Straight pipes
slowride55 my thought exactly nothing louder than open headers or open pipes
It's safer to take a long mirror, tap a long strip of sandpaper onto it, and lay the head on top. push and pull the head on the sandpaper covered mirror. The mirror ensures a completely flat surface and the push-pull motion removes everything on a uniform force vector.
Nope. Glass is quite flexible. And it's virtually impossible to not grind a "rocking horse" pattern into the head, even if it was perfectly rigid and straight. You also have no control over deck angle.
Just, don't sand precision mating surfaces and do it the right way.
There is so much wrong with this. Do not take this advice people. What you’re trying to describe would be lapping. Any glass found around the household will not be flat enough nor will your average person have surface plate in their garage, which you would need for a true flat reference surface. Also you never lap anything or stone a surface by running it in a straight line. A “figure 8” pattern is how you would maintain flatness. Not to mention you would need an extremely fine sandpaper to achieve proper RA, or the roughness average required for the gasket to seal. Check out the book, Foundations of mechanical accuracy for some more highly detailed info and what flat actually is and how to achieve it
Your exhaust openings were not port-matched to the exhaust manifold. Just sayin'.
Purple power half n half with water let set till start to dry rinse well air hose off and wipe out carbon with mineral spirits
So, your cleaning the easy way is, shipping it out, right???
Two 15 second ads before I see anything smh
Dammit RUclips!!!
LT 1 is an old block, dont u mean an LS1? LT 1s dont have chain tensioners. 🤣
Keep up guy it’s a Gen 5 LT😂
Dumbass
The one clean head looks like a hole in valve or was that just me
Blablabla get some scotchbrite and rub it. Could have been a 10 second video
Cry some more
Did you just call an engine a motor? You must not be a golfer.
All the time
wtf blah blah blah
Well you ruined all of those mating surfaces...
I wish I could dislike this video more.
If you're reading this, do not do this to your cylinder heads. Finish is critical to gasket sealing. Too smooth or too rough, and your gasket will fail.
Never had a gasket fail. Works like a dream everytime. Stop buying cheap shitty gaskets.