Sand in block

[myvolkswagen]

I feel kind of stupid for doing this but I got some sand size rocks in my engine I'm rebuilding in the crank area. I haven't put the pistons in yet but my crankshaft oil seals are on and the main studs are all torqued. Do I have to take it apart again or is there a way to flush it out?

[theman53]

Careful use of break clean and oil should do the trick. I had similar thing happen to mine, but I didn't go with the factory tty stuff so I just disassembled mine:D

[burn_your_money]

Do you have access to compressed air?

[myvolkswagen]

Yes i have compressed air. will that blow it out with all the assembly oil i have in there?

[kaneb]

I would take it all apart.  Clean with brake clean or varsol blow out with compressed air the reassemble.  Just to make sure all sand and grit is out as it is no engines friend.   A couple seals sure are cheaper then another rebuild.

[myvolkswagen]

well there is not very many pieces of sand in there. I dont want to have to take my seals off again so what if i just took out my main studs and sprayed with brake clean then compressed air and oiled it again. would i be alright?

[rabbid79]

If the sand is in a centralized location, I wouldn't blow compressed air in there until you have gotton rid of all visible traces of sand first.  Otherwise, the sand will just get blown all over the place.  I would probably invest $10 in a can of odor-less mineral spirits and flush the sand out.  I would also use a cheap cleaning brush with long plastic bristles and work it all over the place making sure everything gets at least 1 pass to help dislodge any particles.  Don't throw the used mineral spirits away, just drain it into a can so you can let the debris settle and use it again for cleaning other parts some day.

[burn_your_money]

I was thinking of the compressed air as the final step, to blow everything dry and get rid of any remaining sand.

How did you get sand in the block? How much are we talking?

[myvolkswagen]

you have to really look around in there to find it. thats why i figured with what little is there i could just use brake clean cuz that stuff sprays pretty hard then just blow it out with air.

BTW I was moving my carpet around overtop of the engine and a little sand fell in it and thats how it got in there

[burn_your_money]

The only thing I would be worried about is if any sand got in the oil passages in the crank. You'd only be out a set of mains if you pulled the crank out and cleaned everything properly.

[myvolkswagen]

well I have arp main studs. The only thing is I dont have that tool to get the seal carrier off anymore to get the crank out

[burn_your_money]

There is a special tool for that? You mean the rear main seal right?

[Rabbit on Roids]

my special tool for taking off the seal carriers, a handy 10mm wrench!

[myvolkswagen]

nevermind completely different thing I  was thinking about. can you reuse the oil seal carrier gasket or just get a new one?

[Rabbit on Roids]

if it stays stuck to the block or carrier, and doesnt break at all, or flake apart, just re use it. i would atleast.