Overseas Piston Soak

[Shaman]

So I have posted before about piston soak stuff, but the time has come. The oil is getting nasty, and it’s time to change the oil. Currently I only have access to a few products for the piston soak, and this is the reason that I am posting.

I have or have access to

Various STP fuel system products
Paint and Lacquer Thinner (Toluene)
SI-1
SI-2
LC
FP
Acetone

This is going to happen to a 660cc kei-car engine. Three cylinders, so 220cc a pop. Shouldn’t require much. Auto RX is coming to try to combat some sludge in the engine. It really tears up the oil. I have been adding a lot of LC to try to get it cleaned up a bit, but I placed an order for three bottles of ARX before the price increase, and want to see what it can do to a car that is visibly dirty.

Which would you suggest for an overnight piston soak.

 

[Shaman]

Or, it may be a long shot, but I wonder if the GM dealership would be able to get GM Top Engine Cleaner?

 

[Bill Plock]

If you can get it go for the GM Top Engine cleaner .. worked great in my daughter's Saturn (1.9 SHOC). I followed the soak with two ARX cycles... with 82kmi on the engine, oil consumption dropped from 1qt per 1500 miles to less than a quart in 3000 ... my 2nd choice would be LC ... or, can you get some MMO?

 

[Shaman]

No access to MMO that i know of. I will try to get a part number for the GM Top End Cleaner tonight and see if they have it. Would a SAAB dealer in the states carry GM parts like the Top end Cleaner? After the post on the piston soak with regane, and the lack of junk removed from my spark plugs with the LC, I am thinking about trying something else, like the Redline, just to see what happens.

 

[andyd]

wabbout spritzing it with water?

 

[Shaman]

that will be done before the piston soak, along with the rest of a can of parts cleaner.

 

[Steelhead]

50% mix LC FP 3oz per cyl in vert. engines...set overnight...spin engine over with plugs out with starter to flush out excess...throw rags over holes to soak up spray....Hondas love it...quick clean of the ring pack and combustion chamber...hig rpm engines have critical ring pressure requirements

LC/FP soak saved a garden tiller engine (like new) for me and makes the mower run smoother

i would do before ARX, if ring pack is really coked up, will dump gobs of carbon chips and soup into oil...use a HDEO 15w40 or 10W30 with ARX if engine is heavily gooped inside

FP or SI for the intake valve tulips carbon glob, critical on injector engines and often forgotten...helps the top end WOT runs

[ September 12, 2006, 07:37 AM: Message edited by: Steelhead ]

 

[Steelhead]

made that old worn out heavy blowby tiller engine like new...brought horse power back up

 

[Bill Plock]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Shaman:
... I will try to get a part number for the GM Top End Cleaner ...

---

GM Piston and Ring Cleaner - P/N 12378549 - 12 ounce bottle, 3oz per cylinder

(Instructions – Saturn TSB)

 

[Reg# 43897]

That was an interesting read. Fairly straightforward and made sense. I expect that Seafoam would also work in such a procedure. How expensive is the GM product? Anybody use it and know? I note their pseudo-endorsement of M1...

John.

 

[Bill Plock]

John,

Per my ealier post I used the GM Piston cleaner in my daughter's saturn .. I followed the instructions in the Saturn TSB link above and it worked great. Cost was $16 for the 12oz bottle at the local Saturn dealer (list price is about $26).

 

[Shaman]

Pulled the plugs today to antiseize them to make sure that I don't have problems with stripping when pulling them hot. Got to see the surface of the moon on the piston that was TDC. Hit the spark plug holes with parts cleaner, and of course let it spray a little long to get down into the cylinder. Soak starts tomorrow night. Plugs are a little yellow.

 

[Shaman]

Ran into some problems, but the car is running, and the oil is changed, but I seemed to be having some take off smoke after I first start the engine. I will see if it continues. Will report mileage and the likes when the numbers come in.

 

[TheTanSedan]

Have used GM Cleens numerous times.

MOPAR CCC aerosol Combustion Chamber Cleaner is my choice nowadays prior to water clean, then LC soak, then ARX regimen.