Removing carbon buildup

[Mvalenti]

Tore into my engine last night, lots of carbon buildup i'd like to remove. Any tips from the group would be appreciated.

[Sheppo]

How far are you tearing it down? I've used a wire wheel both on a bench and on the end of a drill. I wouldn't do it if I wasn't tearing it completely apart as it makes a mess.

[Pigman]

Yea....be carefull you don't doo more harm than good.

[butcher bergs]

Non-chlorinated brake parts cleaner. Give it a minute or two to soak in....should pretty much just wipe off. Heavier areas will require a few attempts.

I suggest lightly coating everything with oil once you are done cleaning

[Mvalenti]

Thanks guys, head and cylinder is off, pistons are still connected to the rods and attached to the lower end. I could remove them if nec..

[aldend123]

Non-chlorinated brake parts cleaner.

Why do you recommend the non-chlorinated?

[Degsy]

Wirelessly posted

GM top end cleaner.

[golden chicken]

Why do you recommend the non-chlorinated?

http://www.ehow.com/list_7426582_haz...e-cleaner.html

drain bamage.

[butcher bergs]

Why do you recommend the non-chlorinated?

It does the job better and, as mentioned above, is a much healthier huffing alternative to the chlorinated kind.

[Mvalenti]

Brake clean seems to do the trick. Ill post before and afters if anyones interested.

[RandyO]

years ago, ya could take the air cleaner off, and pump spray a mist of water with one hand into the carb while you were keeping the engine revved with the other hand to keep it running

[Sheppo]

years ago, ya could take the air cleaner off, and pump spray a mist of water with one hand into the carb while you were keeping the engine revved with the other hand to keep it running

LOL I love when someone is as old as I and remembers the good ole days !

[RandyO]

LOL I love when someone is as old as I and remembers the good ole days !

I can still do that with the 81 chevy van I bought from feralchimp

[aldend123]

I can still do that with the 81 chevy van I bought from feralchimp

You can still do something similar, either with water or seafoam by running a hose off a vacuum port on the intake manifold and dipping it in a bowl of water. If you want to repeat with the water, just dip and pull the hose so it doesn't stall and repeat.

[RandyO]

You can still do something similar, either with water or seafoam by running a hose off a vacuum port on the intake manifold and dipping it in a bowl of water. If you want to repeat with the water, just dip and pull the hose so it doesn't stall and repeat.

are you saying that won't screw with sensors ?

[golden chicken]

Depends which hose you pull. You might pop a lean code eventually, but you'll obviously know why.

Of course, you have to be careful not to hydrolock the engine.

[Mvalenti]

More progress... But i found a better method...

Head was a dirty whore


Put on some johnny cash gospel and some comet, water, and a brass brush...


Cylinders were way shiny...


Not any more....

[aldend123]

are you saying that won't screw with sensors ?

Depends which hose you pull. You might pop a lean code eventually, but you'll obviously know why.

Exactly, might pop a lean or a low vacuum code, if you have to disconnect some vacuum controlled device (like an EVAP compontent) might trip that. But doing long term damage? Never heard of it and would happily do it to my car. Been a while since I last did, but it's on my to-do list. Lots of people seafoam modern cars the exact same way, except you let it stall out so the seafoam sits on the piston heads. Wait 10-15min and let it smoke.

The art isn't lost with the modern car crowd either. Water and Alcohol injection systems are pretty popular with the aftermarket turbo crowd to resist knock. One of the benifits people claim is that it keeps the cylinders clean. Now it's debated if there's a noticable benifit... but I think you get my point.

Btw, OP, those came out clean!

[nhbubba]

On my VW someone figured out that you could pull the temp sensor on the front of the intake manifold. Stuff a bit of vac or fuel hose into the hole, shim out with electrical tape if required, and use a basketball pump needle on the end. The needle creates a constriction small enough to draw seafoam but not big enough to throw a vac code.

No idea how throughly it cleans the intake valves though. Not well enough I suspect as my mileage has been falling off @ almost 100k.

[butcher bergs]

On my VW someone figured out that you could pull the temp sensor on the front of the intake manifold. Stuff a bit of vac or fuel hose into the hole, shim out with electrical tape if required, and use a basketball pump needle on the end. The needle creates a constriction small enough to draw seafoam but not big enough to throw a vac code.

No idea how throughly it cleans the intake valves though. Not well enough I suspect as my mileage has been falling off @ almost 100k.

Try performing the process with a cold engine and give the Seafoam at least 8hrs to soak.

[nhbubba]

My concern is that the t-stat sensor port is in the center of the manifold fairly close to the intake valves. I reason it is primarily cleaning the middle two valves while the outside two don't get much. ... But my moral was that you can do that even on these new-fangled modern engines.