I got debris in the cylinders while removing head gaskets on my Chevy 305. What should I do?

Question

While removing the cylinder heads to get to the gaskets I had some dirt and coolant water fall into two of the cylinders and the valley. What can I do to get the debris out?

Answer 1

Wet-Vac, and an oil change.

Answer 2

Vacuum and a cloth, or ai air compessor to blow it out.

Answer 3

Like the 1st answer. Wet-Vac.

Or soak it ALL up with some towels and make sure there's simply NOTHING in the cylinders before putting the heads back on. I'll even squirt some oil on my hand and rub the cylinder walls with a thin coat.

The same with the valley PLUS when I'm done, I flood the valley with a quart of new oil. It will flush everything into the pan. Yes you waste 1 quart of oil. It's part of the job.



The 2nd to last thing I do before even thinking about cranking the engine over is to change the oil and filter. All the 'stuff' will already be in the pan so you drain it out and fill it with new oil.

The very last step is to turn the key.      

Answer 4

The vac works, or an air blaster would help finish the job. You can also flush the area with alcohol before you vacuum it up since it dissolves water. I would finish with a spray oil to displace any remaining moisture. It's not a big deal. It happens all the time.