MTFCA Forum

Well I thought putting my engine pan in the sand blaster was going to be a good idea. That was until I talked to J&M Machine and found out that the media will get stuck in the oil drain. I thought I did a good job spraying it out with brake cleaner and flooding it with water. Nope. I can still put a Q tip in there and although it's not much there is still grease with grit in there. J&M suggested to hit it with a torch. The question I have is: "Is the torch used to melt the grease and allow it to drain out. Or do I have to get it hot enough to burn it all out?"

Just a thought, maybe a shop with a hot tank to clean parts.

That maybe the answer. Or the kind that bakes it out.

If you're single, put it in your oven set on "clean".

Use your Waterpik with hot soapy water.

Just drill out the 2 rivets, and take the shield out. Will be easy to clean then. The shield is there to catch solids and chunks of junk (hopefully) before the magnets can draw em in. And if you want the shield back in, just tack weld or braze it back in place after it’s all clean

Don't forget that the pan has several areas that were brazed from the factory like the dam at the front that holds the front crank seal and the mounting ears that sit on the frame to name a few. You wouldn't want to get to aggressive with heat that it would cause the brazing to melt. That would be "game over".

I remove drain plug, take to shop with hot tank on Friday. They put it in that night and leave till Monday. Be sure and remove the lead dam in the front. Tank will be ruined by the lead.
Most lead dams need to be fixed anyway. Dan

Clean out the bottom of the oil pan with lacquer thinner a few times the best you can. Let it throughly dry to evaporate the lacquer thinner. The small bits of sand or media can be blown out with air. You will get it out doing it that way because the lacquer thinner will dissolve any oily film that helps keep the sand in the cracks and crevices.
It worked in my case when I noticed the gritty feel of the pan.

Thanks everyone. I'm going to try some lacquer thinner. Let it sit for a while and see what happens. I may take out the dam and clean it that way. I want to go less aggressive and then a bit more.

I do all my engines pans in hot tank. Best $10.00 bucks I spend. Dan

You Have To take the baffle out. Check this out:

Mopar_man wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 20, 2020 3:22 pm

I want to go less aggressive and then a bit more.

It doesn’t hurt anything to leave a few $$ worth of solvent in the bottom of the pan for a day or two... but if you are critical about cleanliness today, you will still be critical tomorrow too. And if it’s “not clean till it’s clean”... you might as well take the baffle out now and have it clean and reinstalled (or leave it out) in an hour or so.

The baffle is there for a reason. Over years, folks have found all manner of items in that “hidey-hole”that could have raised hob with the mag if they hadn’t been trapped there. Still, it would be a good feeling to know the pan was squeaky clean through and through ! (I’d put it back)

Having over the years found a couple small bolts, a broken bolt head, nuts, several washers, a big cotter pin, in that little junk trap, no way I would recommend leaving the piece out! Like Rich B says, remove it if there is good cause to do so, but replace it. I braze them back in if need be. One early pan I repaired had had water sit in the bottom, and on the ground for a bit too long. The junk trap rusted away, and the tea cup rusted through part way around. I brazed heavy sheet metal shaped to fit around the tea cup, then made a new junk trap and brazed it into place.

I would like you to try an experiment. It sounds a bit crazy but its an inexpensive de-greaser of sorts. Mix a little 1-2 teaspoons of OxiClean powder (not spray) in a cup or two of boiling hot water and pour it in the tea cup. Let it soak for awhile if you see bubbles popping in the foam its doing the job. Works on my jeans (I take them off first). Please no jokes this is an experiment.

Sorry I can't do the experiment. I was able to get it clean. The lacquer thinner has won out in this case. First I filled it up then went on a walk with my wife. I talked about the T and she listened, I think.

Then I took a piece of safety wire on the end of my drill and spun it around in there with the lacquer thinner.
Then I drained it and hit it with some brake clean. T
hen flooded it with the hose.
The last thing I used was the air hose.

I also got it all out of the front Dam. After all that I put a q-tip in and it came out clean. I put several q-tips in and they came out clean. I think the best way would be to never put it in the blast cabinet again. If you do take the shield out I would definitely put it back.