Cleaning honed cylinder walls

I usually clean the walls of a homed cylinder with gasoline to remove the oil, then wash with a detergent soap. Now when installing rings I would soak everything with oil. I have been reading some different ways to install rings. A lot say wipe down the walls with transmission fluid. Any thoughts? Stan

In my opinion the hot soapy water is the most critical thing. To lubricate the rings I dip the piston with rings installed in a pan of motor oil and install dripping with motor oil; yeah, it is messy! There are better mechanics in the house but this works well

Best way I've seen is a drill spin brush with LOTS of hot soapy water to remove the honing grit residue. A white cloth should show nothing on it when wiped inside the cleaned cylinder, then oil to prevent rusting.

Brake cleaner spray works good after honing, then wash with soapy water, dry and check cleanliness with white rag or white paper towel.
I lube pistons, rings and cylinder walls with whatever oil that will be used in the engine.

Since the 1960's I have used diesel fuel.

What about lacquer thinner or something similar????

I've used it when assembling an engine.

Is there something different about honed cylinder bores that soap and water does best????

I've had way better luck cleaning other surfaces (for paint prep, and whatever) using lacquer thinner. Soap and water turns bare metal surfaces rust orange right before your eyes if you don't get ALL of it out right away. Although I haven't put soap and water to the test against lacquer thinner on a cylinder bore.

The understanding I get as for the cleaning process, when an engine block or heads, or any component comes back from the machine shop, there will be different types of contaminants adhering to the surfaces and hiding in all the inaccessible places.

There are basically 3 types of contaminants: petroleum base, water base, and solvent base. Each one is removed by it's own base cleaner.

The petroleum base contaminants, think naturally occurring residue in an engine, oil, grease, etc. Can be cleaned with naphtha, diesel, gasoline.

Water base contaminants, grit and the glue that binds the honing stones together, left stuck to and embedded in the cylinder walls, also some detergents used in the cleaning process. This is what the soapy water goes after, pressure washing also gets down in the nooks and cranneys where the grit likes to hide.

And solvent based, gets what is left, like synthetic cutting fluids, anything else that may be left. This is in the brake cleaner, carb cleaner, lacquer thinner family.

As for ring assembly lube, I always just use motor oil. Give the rings and wrist pin a few shots before installing the ring compressor. Wipe some oil on the cylinder walls to prevent rust.

Been building engines for a living for 35 years, so I have done a few. I always steam clean the block or head than use 15/40 on cyl. walls and piston ring assembly, STP on bearings. start, then run on the dyno. Haven't had one come apart yet. Al

The important thing is to check after cleaning to be sure that the cylinders are indeed free of debris. You do that with a clean white rag with a bit of clean oil applied. When you can wipe the cylinder wall and the rag comes out same color as going in the cylinder is clean.

I agree I use 15-40wt dsl engine oil to clean parts like this and a clean rag works very well

I clean them with lacquer thinner until rag is clean, then coat them with good engine oil.

I used chemical cleaners, like Berryman's Chem Tool and then good hot detergent and water and compressed air dry. On pre lube I used Lubriplate 105 which is an engine rebuilding grease specifically made for the purpose. It stays in place during initial startup and washes out later with engine oil as the engine breaks in. I too used the dry, white, cotton cloth test for cleanliness.

I honed with the ball hone in a 30 degree cross hatch pattern prior to cleaning. Head gaskets and most all gaskets went on with a sealer. K & W Copper Coat always went on the head gaskets and Permatex #2 went on most others. Once the head was Torqued, 3 sequential X trips light torque, med, spec torque, and the valves were adjusted, I never went back (after doing it on my first engine) and re tweaked the valves.

Hot water and dertergent ,check with clean white rag and use the same oil you will run in the motor. Not assembly lube.

When I sat the Power engineering exam the answer was :

Hot water and detergent , clean with PAPER Towel and use the same oil you will run in the motor.

When I sat the Heavy Duty Exam the answer was :

Hot water and detergent , clean with PAPER Towel and use the same oil you will run in the motor.