I want to run some type of combustion chamber cleaner through my wife's 3.0L Ranger. It is pinging quite a bit even on premium fuel and a tune-up. Ford released a TSB saying to run a combustion chamber cleaner through the engine to remove carbon build-up. I had heard GM top end cleaner had been discontinued but was told by a GM tech that it is made and available again. Before I go out and buy seafoam, which of the 2 is better at cleaning combustion chambers and valves of carbon and sludge? And is GM top end cleaner being made again?
Seafoam VS. GM top end cleaner
- Thread starter ethangsmith
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Hot water! Mist some hot water through a vacuum hose. It'll work a lot better than Seafoam, and is cheaper to boot! 
or you could try any Throttle Body Cleaner at the store like CRC or Valvoline. I put half a bottle of Redline SI-1 in the gas, drove a few days, then after the car is hot, stop it and remove the intake. Shoot it down with the throttle body clner. let it soak a minute or two then start the car.
engine running, spray some hot water in there like described here often, then stop it and use a bunch more throttle body cleaner and put everything back together. re-start drive away. worked wonders on two cars i tried it. smoothed everything out.
engine running, spray some hot water in there like described here often, then stop it and use a bunch more throttle body cleaner and put everything back together. re-start drive away. worked wonders on two cars i tried it. smoothed everything out.
Originally Posted By: sciphi
Hot water! Mist some hot water through a vacuum hose. It'll work a lot better than Seafoam, and is cheaper to boot!
Through the throttle butterflies would be my preference. I've noticed that the vacuum lines on many cars do not evenly distribute the water.
Hot water! Mist some hot water through a vacuum hose. It'll work a lot better than Seafoam, and is cheaper to boot!
Through the throttle butterflies would be my preference. I've noticed that the vacuum lines on many cars do not evenly distribute the water.
Disconnect any sensors on the throttle body before doing this.
With the water, I'm afraid of accidentally hydrolocking the engine or causing other damage. I may see if I can get the Mopar stuff if I can't get the GM stuff. Either way, I've got to clean out the combustion chambers of my wife's Ranger. It pings on premium fuel and it's really annoying. She had it in to Ford and they couldn't figure it out. The only thing we can all figure is that there is carbon build-up in the chambers. It's getting bad gas mileage too.
Originally Posted By: ethangsmith
With the water, I'm afraid of accidentally hydrolocking the engine or causing other damage. I may see if I can get the Mopar stuff if I can't get the GM stuff. Either way, I've got to clean out the combustion chambers of my wife's Ranger. It pings on premium fuel and it's really annoying. She had it in to Ford and they couldn't figure it out. The only thing we can all figure is that there is carbon build-up in the chambers. It's getting bad gas mileage too.
If you're afraid of locking up the engine, spray very hot water through the TB butterflies while the car is running at around 2000 rpms or so. Get an old Windex bottle or something along that order and give it a try, it would be extremely difficult to lock up an engine that way.
You can also get a hose, put a needle on it used to pump air into a ball and suck in the water through a vacuum hose. When you want the water to slow down a little or stop the flow, just kink the hose.
With the water, I'm afraid of accidentally hydrolocking the engine or causing other damage. I may see if I can get the Mopar stuff if I can't get the GM stuff. Either way, I've got to clean out the combustion chambers of my wife's Ranger. It pings on premium fuel and it's really annoying. She had it in to Ford and they couldn't figure it out. The only thing we can all figure is that there is carbon build-up in the chambers. It's getting bad gas mileage too.
If you're afraid of locking up the engine, spray very hot water through the TB butterflies while the car is running at around 2000 rpms or so. Get an old Windex bottle or something along that order and give it a try, it would be extremely difficult to lock up an engine that way.
You can also get a hose, put a needle on it used to pump air into a ball and suck in the water through a vacuum hose. When you want the water to slow down a little or stop the flow, just kink the hose.
Originally Posted By: ethangsmith
With the water, I'm afraid of accidentally hydrolocking the engine or causing other damage. I may see if I can get the Mopar stuff if I can't get the GM stuff. Either way, I've got to clean out the combustion chambers of my wife's Ranger. It pings on premium fuel and it's really annoying. She had it in to Ford and they couldn't figure it out. The only thing we can all figure is that there is carbon build-up in the chambers. It's getting bad gas mileage too.
Fluid is fluid. You have the exact same amount of risk using water as you do SeaFoam or any other liquid.
With the water, I'm afraid of accidentally hydrolocking the engine or causing other damage. I may see if I can get the Mopar stuff if I can't get the GM stuff. Either way, I've got to clean out the combustion chambers of my wife's Ranger. It pings on premium fuel and it's really annoying. She had it in to Ford and they couldn't figure it out. The only thing we can all figure is that there is carbon build-up in the chambers. It's getting bad gas mileage too.
Fluid is fluid. You have the exact same amount of risk using water as you do SeaFoam or any other liquid.
True. True. I was thinking that the seafoam, being that it has solvents and such in it, would clean better or evaporate a little as it went through- which would prevent hydrolocking. But I guess if I don't get too carried away with the water it would work as well. How does the water work since it is non-solvent? Does it basically steam-clean everything? Is it better than seafoam or top end cleaner?
I saw little improvement after Seafoam and B12, or even cold water. What did clean the tops of my pistons was about a gallon of HOT water sucked through the PCV nipple on the throttle body using a special hose with a restrictor in to to prevent hydrolocking. I made the mistake of letting it just idle, because my car has an insane amount of vacuum and air flow through the PCV line. That caused water to flow very rapidly, even through the small hole in the hose. It pooled in a low spot in the intake, and when I revved it a bit that water got sucked in on the low side of the engine (not parked level) and I believe nearly filled a cylinder since I heard a knock sound. Keep it above idle, that will lower the amount of vacuum and will help prevent the water from pooling. Make sure the car is parked on level ground when doing this, too.
Misting will probably work, too, but water mist sheds its heat very rapidly, so it might not be as effective unless you use more. As far as how it works, I do believe it's just a steam cleaning, but some have speculated that the water droplets explode when they turn into steam and that is what loosens the carbon.
After you do this, you need to take the car out and spank the snot out of it to loosen and burn that carbon. Get the oil up to full operating temperature for at least 10 minutes to make sure any water that made it into the oil gets evaporated.
Misting will probably work, too, but water mist sheds its heat very rapidly, so it might not be as effective unless you use more. As far as how it works, I do believe it's just a steam cleaning, but some have speculated that the water droplets explode when they turn into steam and that is what loosens the carbon.
After you do this, you need to take the car out and spank the snot out of it to loosen and burn that carbon. Get the oil up to full operating temperature for at least 10 minutes to make sure any water that made it into the oil gets evaporated.
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Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
Fluid is fluid. You have the exact same amount of risk using water as you do SeaFoam or any other liquid.
Uh, "any liquid" may be a tad inclusive.
Fluid is fluid. You have the exact same amount of risk using water as you do SeaFoam or any other liquid.
Uh, "any liquid" may be a tad inclusive.
Maybe a little.
Would spraying a combustion chamber foaming cleaner like the Mopar stuff work through the spark plug holes any better? Warm up the car then remove the spark plugs, spray it in, let it sit for 10 minutes then start it up. What do you think?
GM has a procedure for doing exactly that. I guess you can control the exact amount each cylinder gets that way.
I would let it sit for much longer that 10 mins though.
4 hours minimum would be my recommendation. Over night would be better.
I would let it sit for much longer that 10 mins though.
4 hours minimum would be my recommendation. Over night would be better.
Through the plug hole would allow it to soak longer with little to no potential to harm gaskets. I would change the oil shortly after doing it, though.
This is exactly what I did to my Saab 900s. Took out the plugs and sprayed B12 on top of the pistons. Put plugs back in just enough to keep the fluid from evaporating.
Left it overnight.
LOTS of junk loosened from the top of the chamber just from the soaking. Screwed plugs all the way in, hooked up the wires, and starter her up.
Not much smoke at all. Drove her like I stole her, and almost all of the carbon was removed from the piston tops. What wasn't removed was taken care of that night when I repeated the procedure.
I think this works great if you are not in a hurry and can wait overnight. Also, make sure your engine has cooled down enough so the fluid doesn't instantly vaporize when you spray it into the cylinder.
I'd use spray and not the liquid, unless you can use an eye dropper to control the amount and location of where you are placing the fluid.
Next time I'll try the slow uptake of fluid into a vacuum line.
BTW, car had over 230,000 miles on it when I did this, with significant FP and FP+ and Techron and Regane use. But engine still had some carbon on the pistons==not a lot, but enough that I wanted it gone.
Car runs like a dream now, especially for a 150 hp 4-banger.
Left it overnight.
LOTS of junk loosened from the top of the chamber just from the soaking. Screwed plugs all the way in, hooked up the wires, and starter her up.
Not much smoke at all. Drove her like I stole her, and almost all of the carbon was removed from the piston tops. What wasn't removed was taken care of that night when I repeated the procedure.
I think this works great if you are not in a hurry and can wait overnight. Also, make sure your engine has cooled down enough so the fluid doesn't instantly vaporize when you spray it into the cylinder.
I'd use spray and not the liquid, unless you can use an eye dropper to control the amount and location of where you are placing the fluid.
Next time I'll try the slow uptake of fluid into a vacuum line.
BTW, car had over 230,000 miles on it when I did this, with significant FP and FP+ and Techron and Regane use. But engine still had some carbon on the pistons==not a lot, but enough that I wanted it gone.
Car runs like a dream now, especially for a 150 hp 4-banger.
Just keep in mind the water can form nasty acids if it gets in the engine oil before evaporating out of the engine.
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