My bad. I really meant to ask about cleaning out the engine not the cylinder. when I took my cylinder off the engine the piston was a 3/4 moon with some of the top of it missing. Pulled it apart just in time one more ride probably would have had a meltdown. so once again what do you suggest to clean out the engine?

 

carb or brake clean.. its what we use when ever we take a motor apart.

 

if some of the piston fell into the crankcase you will need to split the case and clean it

 

carb is easy just soak in acid. get it at any auto parts store its in a bucket

 

do I have to split the case to clean debris out of the crankcase? can I just pour some gas in it and slosh it around and dump it out a bunch of times?

 

Diesel is much safer to work with than gasoline.

The majority of "trash" should be in the bottom of the case, and you should be able to get it out using the "slosh" method - compressed air works good to remove the larger stuff too.

Also - try rotating the crank by the rod end - slowly - feeling for trash (chunks of piston) that may be caught up in the crank bearings - if you can't get that stuff out, the case will have to be split

 

All of the above methods will work and they are typically what everyone thinks of at first, but I have found a much better method. It will take forever with any of the previously mentioned techniques and you will probably still have pieces down in there. Take the engine to a car wash and simply go to town on it. Two strokes have main seals, therefore no water should get into the transmission and even if it did- just do an oil change. After you have sprayed down in there really good for a couple of minutes and you are sure that all of the pieces are gone, spray the entire crank area down with some WD-40 or similar product to prevent rusting. This method works flawlessly- I have done it. Not nearly as time consuming or aggrivating either.
Good luck,
JP