Track Tac

Engine Cleaning

J

Jnhracing21

Member
Any suggestions on cleaning our engine after a night on the dirt track? First year on dirt. I have been using air and brake cleaner. Don't want to mess anything up. Thanks in advance.
 
I have an air gun with a hose I stick into a gallon of wd40 and blast away. Careful around your gaskets it can rip them
 
KKania17 said:
I have an air gun with a hose I stick into a gallon of wd40 and blast away. Careful around your gaskets it can rip them
Click to expand...
^^^ yep what he said. I also take my top plate & pull cord housing off & blow & wd40 every thing. Also soak my muffler especially in the baffles.
 
KKania17 said:
I have an air gun with a hose I stick into a gallon of wd40 and blast away. Careful around your gaskets it can rip them
Click to expand...

I add my vote to what KKania has recommended. Two names for the device if you are looking to purchase one are "siphon gun" and "engine cleaning gun". Check the specs for required air pressure and CFM carefully before you buy - you don't want one that overpowers your compressor. That having been said, you will not be using it in a continuous run mode, it will be sprayed a few seconds at a time, so as long as your compressor has a decent sized tank, it can provide the necessary CFM for long enough to do the job if you don't get a really heavy duty industrial specimen (and most that I have encountered operate fine for our purposes at somewhat less than the advertised pressure and CFM). And this is a case of buy once cry once, so don't buy based on price alone; try to find a fellow racer that has one he/she likes and find out where they got it. Harbor Freight has one they sell for $8.99 - avoid it like the plague. The one I got from JC Whitney and Co. in 1971 died recently, and I tried 3 from Harbor Freight to replace it - all went back. YMMV.
 
I just pressure wash the engine off then spray everything with Wd-40 afterwards, including in the carb and exhaust pipe, even put a little into the spark plug hole when i leave the engine sitting during the week. I race every weekend so my engines and kart dont get much time sitting around. I flush the carb at the end of each night and fill the bowl with Wd-40 also. Of course you would want to remove the clutch before washing, and put a carb cover over the air filter adapter and the tip of the muffler. I use one of the red air filter adapter covers on both the air filter adapter and the muffler and secure with clamp, never have an issue out of it or with moisture getting into the engine. These engines are pretty much all aluminum except the crank, cylender and exhaust anyways, so there isnt much to rust as long as you keep moisture out of the engine.
 
i take the blower houser off and and spray simple green all over the engine and preasure wash it and make sure the carb is capped before you spray it you dont want water in your engine.
 
We simply give ours a "sponge bath" and wipe dry each week. I don't want any water (or wd40) sprayed with any pressure at our engines.
When it's ready to be rebuilt (or sent off to be rebuilt), then I'd recommend cleaning it more thoroughly (brake clean and compressed air) to get all of the oil residue and dust off of it.


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Thanks and God bless,
Brian Carlson
Carlson Racing Engines
Vector Cutz
www.CarlsonMotorsports.com
26 years of service to the karting industry
765-339-4407
bcarlson@CarlsonMotorsports.com
 
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