I pulled the plugs on my wife's car last night to see how they looked. Due to the degree of the engine block, I can get a good look at the pistons with a flashlight. They were very black and somewhat rough. They looked as if someone had covered them with that spray-on bed liner material. Is this normal or do I have a serious carbon build up problem? Chrysler 2.7L V6 DOHC, 60,000 miles. As a side note, the plugs were very clean. Thanks in advance.
How should piston tops look at 60k?
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How should piston tops look at 60k?
They should be solid with no wholes in them.
They should be solid with no wholes in them.
That depends on how much idling the vehicle does. My buddies truck had the same condition as yours as he would warm-up the truck on mornings for a brief period of time. The plugs like yours where nice and clean for 50K.
Our company van, which sees no warm up periods (start-up and go) had pretty clean piston tops. Slight black coating but no heavy buildup.
If you want to clean then I'd overdose it with marvel mystery oil in the gas or use a combustion chamber cleaner like the one Mopar sells. I've seen great results with either on our 4cyl. boat.
Our company van, which sees no warm up periods (start-up and go) had pretty clean piston tops. Slight black coating but no heavy buildup.
If you want to clean then I'd overdose it with marvel mystery oil in the gas or use a combustion chamber cleaner like the one Mopar sells. I've seen great results with either on our 4cyl. boat.
Thanks guys. Yes, this engine has it reputation. Unfortunately, taking off the valve covers it not an easy task for this engine. It requires removing the upper intake manifold. For those reasons, I feed it a steady diet of Grp III (whatever is on sale) every 3 to 3.5K miles. I used Lucas UCL for about a month straight some time ago, but I don't if that good for cleaning. Perhaps I will try some of the Techron cleaner. I am somewhat leery of Seafoam thru the intake.
Originally Posted By: Johnny
How should piston tops look at 60k?
They should be solid with no wholes in them.
Wholes no... hoes maybe.
How should piston tops look at 60k?
They should be solid with no wholes in them.
Wholes no... hoes maybe.
Stay away from discount gasoline. Use a Top Tier fuel.
how about a water mist injection for 30 minutes?
Unless ypu are having problems do not mess with anything. Johnny's got it right.
The car is running fine so I should leave well enough alone. I'll throw in some fuel injection cleaner and call it a day. If I had never read the horror stories concerning this engine, I would probably perform mediocre maintenance on the car, and drive 200k miles worry free.
Originally Posted By: Johnny
How should piston tops look at 60k?
They should be solid with no wholes in them.
An English irony.
Hole and Whole sound the same, but in most contexts, mean the opposite.
How should piston tops look at 60k?
They should be solid with no wholes in them.
An English irony.
Hole and Whole sound the same, but in most contexts, mean the opposite.
If they were clean I'd be worried.
No problems but, I would run a large size (for up to 20 gallons of gas) bottle of TECHRON SYSTEM CLEANER CONCENTRATE in the gas. Don't bother with the techron injector cleaner. As said before use a name brand fuel and preferably a top-tier fuel.
Originally Posted By: javacontour
Originally Posted By: Johnny
How should piston tops look at 60k?
They should be solid with no wholes in them.
An English irony.
Hole and Whole sound the same, but in most contexts, mean the opposite.
That's what I get when I get in a hurry and don't read what I write (right).
Originally Posted By: Johnny
How should piston tops look at 60k?
They should be solid with no wholes in them.
An English irony.
Hole and Whole sound the same, but in most contexts, mean the opposite.
That's what I get when I get in a hurry and don't read what I write (right).
BG's 44K at a good concentrate and do it every 10k miles or so.. oh and use better quality fuel. i like texaco gas with the techron in it.. supposedly good stuff
I wouldn't be a bit surprised that the quality of gas used is a contributing factor in the pistons appearance. My wife usually fills up at the Kroger grocery store. For every $100 you spend in groceries , they award you a 10 cent a gallon discount on gas per fill up. I can guarantee its cheap quality gas. With her filling up twice a week, it's difficult to pass up. Techron System Cleaner, I will buy a bottle this week. I know that pistons should not be spotless, but I wouldn't think they should look "carbed up".
I agree on the Kroger brand gas not exactly being a top tier fuel. I had a similar problem though probably not as bad as yours with carboned combustion chambers. Seafoam helped some, then on the advice of another very knowledgeable BITOG'er I ran a bottle of Regane in a tank, drove it as close as I could to empty, filled up with no additives, ran that out then filled up with another tank and another bottle of Regane. Then I had a vacuum-induction cleaning service done at a local garage, and the tech had a huge white carbon cloud out the tail pipe for about 5 minutes on the test drive around the block. I'm sold on Regane and add it every 5k. Of all the cleaners available at retail, Regane has worked best for me. The Techron fuel system cleaner (not the fuel injection cleaner) is very good too. If your car is only getting the lower quality gas it might be to your advantage to add Regane or Techron every 3 to 5k.
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They may not be as black as you think - it IS dark in there.
But since the plugs are very clean, I wouldn't worry about it.
Some deposits are normal and expected on the pistons.
Various gasolines, and how the car was driven immediately prior to the checking, will have a visual effect.
An Italian tune up can help.
But since the plugs are very clean, I wouldn't worry about it.
Some deposits are normal and expected on the pistons.
Various gasolines, and how the car was driven immediately prior to the checking, will have a visual effect.
An Italian tune up can help.
Ok. I have searched so that I don't reveal my stupidity, but what do you mean by an Italian tune up can help? Unfortunately it's not a Ferrari, it's a Chrysler. Similar in many ways, but not really the same.
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