What to use to clean piston top till I see metal

[tadaima]

It really erks me to see black carbon deposit on the top of the piston, like having toe jam.

Is there a way (without removing the head), to clean the piston tops.

I read forums about soaking with LC, Neutra 131, Seafoam, but I have a feeling this won't clean all the carbon out.

Currently, i run Neutra 131 in the gas tank and in the crankcase.

Any ideas or experience?

Thanks

 

[Jelly]

http://www.pzlqs.com/Tech/Bulletin/DomesticMarketing/ProductApplications/pdf/p25a.pdf

Scroll down to "Regane Combustion Chamber Cleaner".

http://www.pzlqs.com/Tech/Pdsheet/Gumout/pdf/Regane.pdf

[ November 15, 2004, 01:34 PM: Message edited by: Jelly ]

 

[T-Keith]

According to the lab report for LC it works for this when soaked.

What kind of engine are we talking about?

-T

 

[tadaima]

this is for a 4cyl 1.6L Civic engine

 

[uconn1150]

12oz of Neutra (some use water) sucked SLOWLY through your PCV hose should clean it out. DO NOT do this in your garage since it will smoke like crazy! Should take about 10 mins. Then perform an "Italian Tune-up"

 

[tadaima]

I have tried about 1/2 liter of water on a different car, but I didnt bother to look into the spark plug hole afterwards. I noticed there was very little water vapor coming from the tailpipe.

 

[kenw]

people still do the old water trick for decarbonizing?

Last time I did that was my 70 cutlass 350, about a quart slowly down the carb throat eliminated a chunk of carbon that sounded like WW3. Done for free by a great guy at a dealership of all places, and wouldn't even let me pay him!

(plug: whoever was the Olds dealer in Waco, Tx in about 1980)

good to know some things are still ok....of course, i reckon some of the more "knowing" have to use Perrier nowadays...

 

[seotaji]

would the water trick be safe to do on a newer honda?

i'm wary about sucking water through the PCV tube.

i'd rather not tempt fate and hydolock the engine.

 

[tadaima]

Well Hydrolock is an issue for both carb and Injector type engines. The engine I did it in was a 1.6 4afe FI 1990 4cyl Corolla. I was thinking of running a line into the cabin and have someone drive while I suck in the water at highway speed, but it seemed too much trouble.

 

[olympic]

I've done the water thing on newer fuel injected engines and it doesn't hurt anything. Use hot distilled water in a spray bottle and make sure the engine is at full operating temperature. No danger of hydrolock there. Find something to prop the throttle lever open a bit to keep the RPM's up and just start spraying. Some cars will run with the MAF sensor disconnected so you can spray directly into the TB. Others you'll have to spray through the MAF.

 

[tadaima]

That is what I feared, so I guess Fuel Cleaners Help take surface carbon and/or loosen up carbon that is between moving parts.

I guess you could soak the piston and then use some sort of thin scrapper and to get most of it off, but it would be extremely time consuming and create a possibility of damaging the top of the piston.

 

[Matt_S]

The way the Civic engine is configured, you should be able to pour water down the throttle body, at least if yours is configured the same way as my wife's '99. That should achieve the result you're looking for.

 

[tadaima]

I think the 99 has the throttle body pointing up, my 93 still has the typical horizontal throttle body, so I would have to use the PCV way.

 

[Gary Allan]

quote:

---

I poured about 2qts of distilled water, a few oz of ATF and a few oz of FP in the TB. I even pulled the plugs and squirted LC in the cylinders and let it sit for an hour.

I have even used the redline and chevron fuel system cleaners. Carbon is here to stay unless you pop the head off.

---

Nobody said it works perfectly with just xxxx applications, Wrangler. I've made pistons clean. Now I naturally went to excess and sucked quite few quarts of ATF through the PCV hose ..and I've pulled exhaust manifolds that were totally clean. The thing is that most cars nowadays don't get any attention for the first 100k of use. They don't need it. Carbed cars with point ignitions were usually shot by 60-70k ..and had tons of carbon.

I assure you, if you induce enough of the proper agent into the combustion stream ..those pistons will get clean. Typically we just treat the issue ..until it's no longer an issue.

 

[wrangler]

I have done all of the following plus more and none of it made a difference.

I poured about 2qts of distilled water, a few oz of ATF and a few oz of FP in the TB. I even pulled the plugs and squirted LC in the cylinders and let it sit for an hour.

I have even used the redline and chevron fuel system cleaners. Carbon is here to stay unless you pop the head off.

 

[Ross]

I just put a used engine in my sons geo metro and it had a lot of carbon on the piston tops. I did a piston soak.

remove spark plugs, pour 1 oz seafoam into each cyclinder, let soak overnight. Turn crank 180 degrees, repeat 1 oz per cyclinder and let sit over night. Replace plugs, start engine. It will smoke like XXXX for a while.

Then run FP in every tank.

 

[TheTanSedan]

Do a search in this forum under Molakule (member #59) and use the piston/valvetrain soak as described.

Or, as I do, just LC. Need a hot engine to start with, and an overnight to let it sit. Replace plugs and oil afterwards, obviously, after all is done.

Have done this on several cars (and the lawnmower and edger), works well.

Maybe follow up with MOPAR COMBUSTION CHAMBER CLEANER [follow directions] and then water to complete the de-carbon.

Use FP religiously.

 

[Leo]

A few sites recommend sucking ATF into the intake manifold. But I dont see how that cleans anything at all!!

 

[Gary Allan]

quote:

---

But I dont see how that cleans anything at all!!

---

I can't explain the combustion mechanics of it ..but I can tell you how it was discovered. A leaking auto trans vacuum modulator tapped to the rear drivers intake runner on a V8 was replaced. That same head was removed on the same car. The rear most cylinder, that the leaking vac-mod had been losing ATF through, was clean compared to the cylinders that did not see this.

Other agents have been used in the past. Most of you are too young or never ran across a wrench that had a clue about this. You've got to keep in mind that the modern technician has never worked (probably) on a carbed vehicle in his lifetime (unless it's a new carb on a street rod with a newer engine) and that schools of any true awareness did not exist in any number until emissions issues came into realization (the mid 70s). That is, your average, even smart, non agency mechanic learned by doing and maybe the occasional clinic. That and the ability to integrate a manual/tech bulletin (if he could actually get his hands on one) was all he had to work with.

Uncooked rice(YES! this was used as well), ATF, water ....most have gone WAY out of vogue with injection. Water only hung on due the wide spread use of it as an anti-detonation agent with SC and TC engines in performance aftermarket situations.

To you youngsters, or even hobbiest older geezers that never actually were professional mechanics, would probably never hear of such things and assume that they are myth or folk lore like moth balls in your gas tank.

 

[tadaima]

Ross: On your Geo did you eventually see metal on top of you pistons? Well I haven't tried soaking, so maybe I will do that.