Paul:
Unless the "parts cleaner" you used was more like a paint stripper with some
caustic dissolve in it (like stripeeze here in the states), its seems unlikely
that a typical parts cleaner, which is usually just a light petroleum-based
solvent, would "react" with motor oil of anykind, regardless of its additives.
Anything is possible, I guess, but what seems most likely to me is that by
leaving the piston and rod assembled and washing with solvent, the cleaner
dissolved a lot of crud and varnish while doing its job. Unless you thoroughly
washed the parts several times with fresh, clean solvent, anything dissolved
in the cleaner would be left behind upon evaporation, giving you that "pine
sap"that was clogging the oil holes. In general, its always best to disassemble
moving parts with close tolerances before cleaning for the reasons stated
above. Removing that thin coat of oil can really create havoc otherwise.
If you already considered the above as intuitively obvious, I apologize for
rambling on. Good luck.
Gary Morrow
'72 TR6, '68 TR-250 (here, there, everywhere)
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