New (to me) piston soak technique

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Jul 13, 2020
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Hey gang! I'm about to do a piston soak/plug change on my 09 Pontiac Vibe with the Toyota 2az fe 2.4L engine and 173k miles. I watched a video where someone did the same thing with success, but he did something I'd never thought of. Basically, he added sea foam in the spark plug holes, and installed new plugs without cranking out the excess. But, he did put the car in gear and move it a few feet in drive and reverse. I'd imagine this is a good way to work the solvent down the pistons provided it doesn't damage anything. I know not to start the engine with non-compressible liquid in there, but he simply pushed the car (I assume) in gear to turn the engine over. I thought I'd do this, but also bump the engine with the plugs removed at the end just to blow out any remaining liquid/carbon. Any thoughts on this? Thanks in advance! Here's the video if you're interested:
 
I don't want to sound harsh, but it sounds like a dumb idea. You're still trying to compress liquid whether through starting the engine or using the weight of the vehicle to rotate the engine.

Cranking the excess out without the spark plugs works the product into the rings anyway. The engine rotates much faster, which I see as being more effective than pushing a car and having the pistons go up and down maybe once.
 
Get some Mopar, Subaru or Toyota top engine cleaner, the GM stuff is way over priced and doesn't work any better. The Toyota at under $9 a bottle is a best buy and for the piston soak you do not need the tool. Get 2 bottles.

Do not try and force the cleaner down past the rings, that defeats the whole purpose of the job, you want the cleaner to work its way down through the piston ring gaps. Being an L4 the pistons tops will get uniform coverage of the cleaner.
Remove the plugs and pour 2 oz or so down each plug hole, turn the engine over manually in the direction of normal rotation slowly a couple times, this will soak the valve faces wait about an hour.

Put 2 more oz in each cylinder and repeat until both bottles are empty, do not turn the engine on the last application, the cylinders will have a good amount of cleaner in them. Put the plugs back in hand tight to prevent anything from going down the plug holes and prevent evaporation.
Let it sit 24 hrs or even all weekend then drain and fill the oil (you may want to use the cheapest dino for this) before starting the engine.

Remove the ignition or ECM fuse, remove the plugs and put 4 clean rags loosely in the plug tubes and crank the engine with the starter a couple of times then reinstall the plugs and fuse then start it. Let it idle for a few min then bring it up to 2500 rpm for a min or so then idle for 15 min. Drive the car. Change the oil and filter with what you normally use after a drive.

 
This stuff doesn't seem to be available anywhere and/or no one will ship it. (Must be good stuff.) Would you recommend anything else for the same procedure?
I have Kroil, PBlaster, Motor Medic (diesel, kerosene, naphthalene, and benzene), MMO, and B12 on hand.
 
Have you tried the local Toyota dealer? I just ordered 2 online.

2020-09-30_12-36-34.png
 
Well, I ordered some and not a couple hours later, they called and told me they couldn't ship it as it is a hazardous material. Would something else work as well? The only reason I'm doing a piston soak is because my engine is consuming a quart of oil every 5-600 miles. Would this even help? I'm afraid I may have a lemon. I've only had this car for three months.
 
Well, I ordered some and not a couple hours later, they called and told me they couldn't ship it as it is a hazardous material. Would something else work as well? The only reason I'm doing a piston soak is because my engine is consuming a quart of oil every 5-600 miles. Would this even help? I'm afraid I may have a lemon. I've only had this car for three months.
Go to your local dealer. You could use berrymans mixed 50/50 with cheap ATF, that seems to work okay.
 
One more question. Do I need to turn the engine with a socket wrench on the crankshaft bolt? If so, which direction? Can I turn the engine by just pushing the car in gear? The crankshaft method looks like a PITA.
 
Beyond the hydrolocking reason, there is another. You probably don't want to push fluid out of an open exhaust valve (One or more cylinders would be on the exhaust stroke) and down into the cat. Nothing good comes from having a flammable liquid down there.
 
Berrymans B12 is strong enough to strip epoxy paint (over time) and it will soften some hard carbons (over time)

In a 4 cylinder engine, it's easy to position all 4 pistons at mid stroke, then pour in your solvent. Let it sit overnight, if it stays on top, and it will find it's way into the sump, even in a healthy engine with good rings. It's a good idea to have the drain plug out and let the solvent drain out. Strong solvent in the oil can dissolve gaskets. Again, B12 in the can with the screw on top is the stuff that will work. It's only $5 per can too. B12 is stronger than Seafoam.

I've done similar piston soaks and never had any form of problem.

After this, you may want to consider a more viscous oil to help with consumption.
 
MMO, ATF, Kroil, Seafoam and others won't dissolve hard carbon. B12 will do it, to some extent, over enough time. If you really need serious carbon stripping power, there is a real solution. Chlorinated liquid paint stripper with methylene chloride. One version of this stripper is used to "dunk" automotive paint spray gun components and clean them properly. Note: It's the stuff that burns your skin! And, it's getting hard to find.



Example:

abm-5914-400.jpg
 
The way I did this on my Prius was:
-pour chemical of choice down spark plug holes
-put old spark plugs back in loosely (finger tight)
-put socket and ratchet on crank pulley bolt and turn slowly and gentle in the normal direction of rotation
If your car is a manual it would need to be neutral.
It must've worked pretty well. The oil I drained out afterwards was hands down the worst looking oil I've ever drained from a vehicle.

Berrymans B12 is strong enough to strip epoxy paint (over time) and it will soften some hard carbons (over time)

The only problem I had with B12 is that it flashes off super, super fast. Like, rubbing alcohol fast. Someone here informed me about the Berryman's Chemdip (vs the B12 chemtool) that supposedly doesn't evaporate so quickly.

Still, like you said the B12 worked great when I used it.
 
Should I mix the b12 with anything like atf, deisel, etc. or just use it neat?
 
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