Tracker is getting a good scrubbing with some water

[oilpan49]

I had to take our 97 Geo Tracker down to College this week and leave the truck behind for my Dad to use for hauling some stuff around the house. Before I left Monday evening of Labor Day, I put $15 in for gas from 1/8 tank and it gave me about 7/8 of a tank. The Tracker IIRC, has a 12 gallon tank. The Tracker is motorvated by a 1.6L Suzuki motor mated to a 5spd and no cruise control. The drive from my hometown to my campus is a hair under 100 miles dead even.

Along the way, my average speed is between 60-70. 55 is some areas and the rest is 65. I don't have a hot foot normally and I try to maintain speed despite no cruise. The Tracker is geared really low, screaming 3800 RPM @ 70mph in 5th gear. One way I used nearly 1/2 tank of fuel going down there and about the same coming back more or less.

I have already concured that the Tracker is severly carboned up. Because that's all my nose smells anything 1/2 acceleration or more. This weekend I plan on doing a water treatment on it and clean it out. I'll probably have to warn the neighbors around me when I perform this procedure because it's probably going to stink/rank worse than stink bait. I'll probably run the water through the brake booster leading into the intake and it has easy access. The PCV hose is accessible but, like everything else on that Tracker, it's smaller than my hand and hard to get to. I'll report back how it goes,,,AR

 

[Hasbeen]

Go easy, too much any you may hydro lock the engine and it "WILL" bend rods of you have too much RPM. This treatment will only remove carbon from the head and the tops of the piston, it will do nothing for the ring pack area. Waist of time IMHO. Do the same thing with Sea Foam and let it sit overnight before you start it and then drive it like ya stole it. The water treatment will not cause any smoking or anything like that.

 

[oilpan49]

Thanks Hasbeen,

I am aware of the risks involved with this procedure. I have done it on my truck once using up nearly 3/4 of a gallon of distilled water with nothing but sucess and a much better running truck.

As far as cleaning the ring pack area. I'll let Auto-rx and LC take care of that,,,AR

 

[unDummy]

Since there is blowby, the steam should also help with cleaning the ring packs.

 

[Shaman]

Let me know how it works. Are you going to change the oil afterwards? I plan on doing this before I change the oil in my MS-8. IT will be followed by an FP regimen

 

[oilpan49]

Sure thing Shaman. Yes we do plan on doing an oil change afterwards. Maybe not rightaway but soon after. I'm anxious to see/smell what comes out of the tailpipe

Thanks,,AR

 

[Shaman]

quote:

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Originally posted by Airborne Ranger:
Sure thing Shaman. Yes we do plan on doing an oil change afterwards. Maybe not rightaway but soon after. I'm anxious to see/smell what comes out of the tailpipe

Thanks,,AR

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Pics would be lovely.

 

[mtbugbee]

What is a water treatment?

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Shaman]

Sucking water into a vacuum hose and therefore into the engine

 

[oilpan49]

quote:

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Originally posted by mtbugbee:
What is a water treatment?

Thanks,

Mark

---

Mark, The water treatment has been around pretty much since dirt was invented so to speak. While the procedure is risky because if you induce too much water at once or run your engine too high RPM, you will hydrolock the engine or throw a rod. You find a good source of vaccum leading into the intake manifold such as the PCV hose or brake booster and ever so slowly continously allow the vaccum from the hose suck in water while holding the engine at about 2000-2500RPM is ideal. Just barely suck in the water and not just dunk the hose in there, that's too much. When the water hits the combustion chamber, it acts as a steam cleaner to the engine and emulsifying the carbon.

I've done this procedure on my truck before with stellar results and much better running truck.

Shaman- Good idea for the pics. I was thinking too to do a small video before, some during and some after like BlazerLT demonstrated. I'm anxious to see how well the Tracker performs,,,,AR

 

[oilpan49]

Something else guys I remembered. Whenever I rev the Tracker at high RPM anything 5000 or past, small puffs of white smoke come from the tailpipe. Should I worry about this because I don't want water getting elsewheres in the engine where it doesn't need to be??? Thanks,,,AR

 

[Thatwouldbegreat]

I did the water treatment on some of our cars about 35 years ago.

In all honesty, I can't imagine why I would take the risk of engine damage when I can safely clean the engine so well with Chevron Techron, Redline SL-1, Valvoline Synpower Complete Fuel System Cleaner, or Lube Control FP60.

 

[dbdeland]

AR,

Why not use Auto-Rx it cleans ring packs?

 

[Thatwouldbegreat]

quote:

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Originally posted by dbdeland:
AR,

Why not use Auto-Rx it cleans ring packs?

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Good point! Why not use LC20 and FP60? Or Auto-RX and Techron or Redline SL-1 or FP60?

Then the engine would probably be much cleaner.

If I wanted a 'water treatment' I think I'd wait until there was one of those afternoon florida downpours and go on a long drive while the air was filled with moisture.

I think that would introduce water droplets into the intake/ combusion chamber and fet the water cleaning effect with much less risk.

 

[oilpan49]

We are currently using Auto-rx in the tracker right now. We also tried running 16oz of MMO through it. Since then with both MMO and Auto-rx, the tracker does seem to run alittle better however it is marginal. I have come to the conclusion that the Tracker does need something with more ooomph to it for cleaning power. The way the tracker was driven and used by it's previous owner and how we drive it, it does need some major cleaning.

Besides, I have had great sucess with the water treatment on my truck leading me reason it is a very successful treatment with stellar results. Thanks,,,,AR

 

[Shaman]

quote:

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Originally posted by Thatwouldbegreat:
I did the water treatment on some of our cars about 35 years ago.

In all honesty, I can't imagine why I would take the risk of engine damage when I can safely clean the engine so well with Chevron Techron, Redline SL-1, Valvoline Synpower Complete Fuel System Cleaner, or Lube Control FP60.

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Water, cheap, or free, others, not. Cheap or safe, pick one. Safe is relative if you know what you are doing. Knowledge makes it more safe, and experience helps out also. Don't get greedy and you will have nothing to worry about

I will be running a water suck then running FP and LC after the oil change. I won’t run SI-1, Techron or anything else because it is cost prohibitive to get it here. All we have is STP, and a lot of stuff with Kanji on it. I tried some cheap stuff, and I actually noticed a loss in mileage, but it is relative here as stop and go is the norm, and rush hour can take 45 minutes to go 5 miles.

 

[OdinsRage]

i have a 90 sidekick, and MPG suffers on the hwy, way to many RPM's and no aerodynamic

 

[ShortBuSX]

You know, Ive got a Suzuki with a carbon/spark knock/pinging issue that been driving me crazy for thousands of miles...Ive had great success with Seafoam in the tank as well as through the PCV and vaccum lines, Id highly recommend it too.

BTW Redline SI-1 did nothing for me, probably did more damage(to the nylon screen)than good...and Techron? I use Chevron regularly(after giving up on Shell).

I was half tempted to go the distilled water route, but Ive had such great results from the Seafoam that I havent seen it necisarry.

 

[Jim 5]

What is the safe way to suck water into a vacuum line?

Would you install a valve between the water supply and the vacuum line to limit flow?

How much flow would you be looking for. Could we hear this from those in the know?

For example..at the correct rate of flow, dripping by gravity through the valve, how many seconds/minutes would it take to fill a standard sized beer can? (or some other set amount...but I thought it would be relatively easy for many of us to find one of these near our garages).

 

[Thermo1223]

I would also try a constant dose of MMO,

16oz, then 32oz, 16oz once more seemed to clean the Accent fairly well. I also added some brand of fuel injector cleaner for good measure.

One could also go the ATF route but that maybe a tad risky on the cat. conv.