Muratic Acid on cylinder walls?

[cjmmbrock]

Did I introduce my new best friend? Muratic Acid!

$7.00 - Gallon of Muratic Acid from Lowe's.
$3.00 - Pair of plastic gloves.


It took about 30 minutes to remove all the aluminum buildup from the cylinder wall. I packed the cylinder with paper shop towels to protect the crankshaft from dripping acid. Then used paper towels to apply the acid to the build-ups. The aluminum immediately bubbled and turned black. After a few minutes, wipe and repeat. Once the buildups got down low, I used a razor blade to scrape off the black residue so the acid could penetrate better. All clean now !

 

[Chilly807]

Glad it worked for you... it actually looks pretty good. I've repaired quite a few chainsaws that had lean seizes and ruined a piston, but once the cylinder was cleaned up and a new piston and ring in place they were fine.

I'd be tempted to check the cylinders for out of round now. If they come up good, run a deglazer through them just enough to get a new surface for the rings to work against, check your end gaps, then slap the new piston and rings in 'er.

Before you deglaze, check the end gaps on a new ring. If it's close to the limit already, you may have to go very lightly with the deglazer.

I've used a piece of emery cloth and done it by hand in a pinch. Never had any problems.

You just might be lucky enough to get away with it...

Chilly

 

[Scotty370]

Did I introduce my new best friend? Muratic Acid!

$7.00 - Gallon of Muratic Acid from Lowe's.
$3.00 - Pair of plastic gloves.


Geez CJ- Ya brought the problem, and the solution (no pun intended) to the table in the Original Post! Never heard of that 'fix'! Always thought it was for etching concrete, or removing concrete 'splash'! Always learning........~Scotty

 

[cjmmbrock]

I'd be tempted to check the cylinders for out of round now. If they come up good, run a deglazer through them just enough to get a new surface for the rings to work against, check your end gaps, then slap the new piston and rings in 'er.

Before you deglaze, check the end gaps on a new ring. If it's close to the limit already, you may have to go very lightly with the deglazer.

I've used a piece of emery cloth and done it by hand in a pinch. Never had any problems.

You just might be lucky enough to get away with it...

Chilly

I'm looking around for someone with a bore gauge, but no luck so far.

Out of curiosity, I did take one of the old compression rings, and checked the end gap....Tech manual says new rings should be (.025 ish) and max is (.060) the old ring measured around .035. Doesn't tell me if the cylinder is egg shaped, but I thought it was good news nonetheless.

I don't want to jinx myself, but everything except the piston skirt has looked suprisingly good. Rod bearing, cylinder wall has no scoring, wrist pin slid right out and measured within limits (I'll still use the new one, though), wrist pin bushing measured OK with no scarring, valves etc.

Parts will be here this week, so this weekend I'll deglaze all cylinders and replace the one piston and all the rings. I'm impressed with your emery cloth technique....now that's skill If anybody's looking to buy a Flex-Hone, this place was way cheaper than the locals ($35 v/s $90)Brush Research Manufacturing: Industrial Brushes, Flexible Honing Tools, Wire Brushes .

Thanks again for the info Chilly, I really appreciate it,
Chris

 

[cjmmbrock]

Geez CJ- Ya brought the problem, and the solution (no pun intended) to the table in the Original Post! Never heard of that 'fix'! Always thought it was for etching concrete, or removing concrete 'splash'! Always learning........~Scotty

Yeah Scotty, I know that sounds wierd....I asked a question, then answered it later . I Googled "Remove Aluminum from cylinder" and came across a post talking about using Muratic Acid on a seized Motorcycle engine. I've never used it before now, so I was more or less soliciting info here about whether it would work on a tractor engine. It worked well.

I always post my results in case someone else is considering doing the same.

Etching concrete? Removing concrete 'splash'? Heck, you know more about Muratic Acid than I do

Chris

 

[Chilly807]

If there's any ridge at the top of the cylinder at all, you'll want to remove that before you deglaze. A fine half round file and lots of patience will work if you don't have a ridge reamer.

We usually tape a plastic bag to the bottom of the cylinder when deglazing or honing, it catches all the debris before it gets into the engine. Only works if the cylinder protrudes into the crankcase, though.

Chilly

 

[Kernopelli]

It sounds like you are probably going to come out OK on this. A quick Google search will find you a cheap set of telescoping bore gauges for probably $20 or so..not the best but if you are careful and have access to a decent digital caliper or micrometer and can get repeatable readings you can check your cylinder for out-of-round and not have to spend too much on tools. For about $70-$80 you can get a cheap dial bore indicator set, again not the best and probably a gamble for the money but an option I'm just throwing out there.
You found an excellent deal on the flex hone, they are a much better way to go than using the cheap expandable hones in my opinion.

I have to ask...what does your buddy that took the coolant out have to say about all of this? Is he willing to kick in ($$$) on this? I know it can be a bad situation, it's exactly why i don't lend my stuff anymore.

 

[Wis Bang]

If there's any ridge at the top of the cylinder at all, you'll want to remove that before you deglaze. A fine half round file and lots of patience will work if you don't have a ridge reamer.

We usually tape a plastic bag to the bottom of the cylinder when deglazing or honing, it catches all the debris before it gets into the engine. Only works if the cylinder protrudes into the crankcase, though.

Chilly

You can usually rent a ridge reamer and a hone at the local rental center...

If you can feel a ridge at the top of the cylinder, it should be removed. The ridge is metal shifted by the rings doing their job and not removing the ridge can cause the new too ring to break which would un-do all your work...

I was goind to suggest using a ridge reamer inside the cylinder to scrape off the aluminum but it lools like the Muriatic acid worked well...

The reamer usually has thee expanding 'feet' that get inserted inside the cylinder and a extendable 'cutter' that you spin w/ a breaker bar so remove the built up ridge at the top...much more precise than a file.

I'll 2nd having the rods/wrist pins checked and the head done, along w/ new rod bearings, you'll have 9/10ths of a new engine...check the timing gears/chain too!

 

[dfkrug]

I Googled "Remove Aluminum from cylinder" and came across a post talking about using Muratic Acid on a seized Motorcycle engine. I've never used it before now, so I was more or less soliciting info here about whether it would work on a tractor engine. It worked well.

Glad that worked out, Chris. I did not know using HCl was commonly done to
remove aluminum from cyl walls.

As for the JD parts, I have not heard of any successes finding the right
pistons from anyone but a JD dealer. I did much better on pistons for my
last JD 6 mo ago......about $130 ea, with rings. Ya gotta shop around.

 

[cjmmbrock]

If there's any ridge at the top of the cylinder at all, you'll want to remove that before you deglaze. A fine half round file and lots of patience will work if you don't have a ridge reamer.

We usually tape a plastic bag to the bottom of the cylinder when deglazing or honing, it catches all the debris before it gets into the engine. Only works if the cylinder protrudes into the crankcase, though.

Chilly

Believe it or not, there's no ridge at the top of the cylinder . The pistons came out with ease! I was suprised by this, so I checked the pistons to see if they were oversize (suspecting a recent overhaul by previous owner). No such deal though, they're standard size. So, no ridge and no cylinder scarring....I think I got lucky.

Thx for the plastic bag idea....While I wait for the hone to arrive, I've been thinking of a way to contain the debris and hone oil. I hadn't come up with a good idea til now. I'll crawl under and see if my cylinders extend down like your saying....that would be nice.

Chris