Hi all,I am in the process of servicing my engine and have a huge amount of carbon buildup. I have been using Foaming Gunk, Seafoam and Castrol Super Clean but the all seem more geared to cleaning up oil.Any recommendations for a decent product I can use to strip these deposits?Cheers, Steve

Soak in carb cleaner overnight.

 

GD

Soak in carb cleaner overnight.

 

GD

Thanks!

...Any recommendations for a decent product I can use to strip these deposits?Cheers, Steve

 

Believe it or Not, I Suggest you to Try Water ...

Yes, Fresh & Clean Water... and the Better of it, is that´s Free! ... Let me Explain:

With Engine at Normal Operatin´ Temps, just Remove the Air Filter Box, and Accel the Engine at Around 2,500 Rpm´s Then, drop a ounce ot two of Clean Water (The one that you Could Drink) ...

The Engine will Shake an Rough Revvin´ for a While... a Huge Black Cloud Shall come from the Exhaust. That´s Carbon Deposits being Removed from the Pistons / Cylinders \ Cams.

Let engine Rev Back at 2,500 Rpm´s again ... and Again let it Drop two more Ounces of Clean Water... and So On.

Repeat all Again, untill doesn´t come Black Clouds from the Exhaust...

And That´s it.

Good Luck!

Simple green makes pistons shine.......

Whoever winds up with my Hatch will have one extremely clean engine, inside and out.

yea water works but if you overdo it...

never underestimate the power of simple degreaser, and soaking.

 

If youre talking about grime built up on the outside of the engine, just spray it with simple green and get a high pressure nozzle on a garden hose and blast it off. get a toothbrush. it aint easy, but its possible.. MY engine didnt get clean until i did the headgaskets. Perserverance, grasshopper... if you DO use water, make sure to blow out all electrical connections afterwards.

i HAVEN'T USED IT YET IN MY SOOB BUT I HAVE USED THE STUFF MADE BY LUCAS FOR THE FUEL SYSTEM. HOLY SMOKES DID IT CLEAN STUFF OUT. BE PREPARED TO CHANGE YOUR FUEL FILTER.

Ok Chaps, status update....

 

Thanks for all the advice on removal from a running engine - I'll use those techniques when its back together, but as GD picked up, my engine is in pieces at the moment. Oil leak got worse and then water would dry up in a week so I decided I wasn't going to risk driving anymore.

 

It's not my soob engine, those will be next on my list. Its a small block V8 but the principle is the same as the ea81 - just more damn pushrods, rockers and valves to clean

 

Anways, I noticed that my can of Throttle Body cleaner contained Acetone so I tried an experiment. I left the pushrod soaking in TB cleaner and the rocker bits in Acetone. This is a before and after having simply wiped the parts clean with a rag:

 

 

And then after a touch up with SuperClean and more Acetone:

 

 

Not bad even if I do say so myself (cheeky smirk).

 

So now the plan is finish the rest (only another 15 :-\ + valves when they come off) with Acetone because its cheaper... Now I need to figure out how to get a production line going so I can do 8 ot 16 sets in one night (time is not my friend at the moment)....It'd be nice if they made cigar tubes that length so I could use those for the pushrods.....

 

Just a FYI, here are some pics of the rocker train.... Have you EVER seen a more neglected engine?!?!? (maybe we could start off another of those roll-call threads )

 

http://www.alonzostreet.com/ftp/Vehicles/GMC/2007-03-23%20Engine%20Overhaul/011%20-%20Before%20-%20Rockers.JPG

 

http://www.alonzostreet.com/ftp/Vehicles/GMC/2007-03-23%20Engine%20Overhaul/012%20-%20Before%20-%20Rockers.JPG

 

Steve

Those pictures of the rocker train are... disgusting! :-\ Never seen an engine THAT neglected before...

I have seen one worse than that. My friend has a truck he just bought to avoid having to fix his other truck. Well, on the way home, he detected a rod knock. So he's rebuilding it. I kid you not, you could barely see the valve springs, it was so bad. I could just pick up big clumps of dirt out of the heads. It was truely disheartening.

I have seen one worse than that. My friend has a truck he just bought to avoid having to fix his other truck. Well, on the way home, he detected a rod knock. So he's rebuilding it. I kid you not, you could barely see the valve springs, it was so bad. I could just pick up big clumps of dirt out of the heads. It was truely disheartening.

 

Oooo - and I thought I had it bad....To buy a replacement and find it worse than the problem vehicle...... on the way home.... that blows.

 

At least I got a solid day out of my saviour Brat before it was taken from me.....

 

Anyway, you got any pics of those springs???? We need to enter them into the Hall of Fame

 

Steve

Nah, we just kind of hammered through that, and cleaned it all up, and it looks pretty decent now. Degreaser and some elbow grease does wonders. Then we found out the crankshaft was worn, so he got another engine lying around his garage to rebuild, and it was already in decent shape. I wish I had my own camera, then I could capture these amazing things on picture!

I should have taken pics of the first engine job I did on my 69- it only had 68,000 miles on it, but the previous owner would idle the engine for several hours while camping to provide power, after he had pulled the thermostat. There was a good deal of sludge in the bottom of the pan, and a heavy buildup in the head. The pistons had a thick coating of nasty buildup on them, and my biggest mistake was cleaning those- The bores were worn about .050" over, once the clean pistons were put back in (couldn't afford new engine, or new pistons), it had the worst pistons slap noise I have ever heard. It sounded like a diesel on the hgihway.

yea water works but if you overdo it...

 

What could Happen? ...

I was Writing About to Clean Carbon Deposits on Combustion Chambers...

What could Happen? ...

 

I was Writing About to Clean Carbon Deposits on Combustion Chambers...

 

Water doesn't compress so if too much gets into the chamber there is a chance that the conrod will fail which tyipically means a large hole in the block of your engine (mal !)

 

At least that is my theory - I'm not 100% sure that the inlet valve stays open long enough to let that much water in (I may be corrected by someone).

 

I remember as a wee laddy, A Ford Fiesta of mine broke due to a snapped con-rod. I was lucky because all I had to do was get a recon engine. I've heard scare stories of engine bits coming into the footwell and doing damage to legs. Frightnin....

 

Steve

Water doesn't compress so if too much gets into the chamber there is a chance that the conrod will fail which tyipically means a large hole in the block of your engine (mal !)

 

At least that is my theory - I'm not 100% sure that the inlet valve stays open long enough to let that much water in (I may be corrected by someone).

 

I remember as a wee laddy, A Ford Fiesta of mine broke due to a snapped con-rod. I was lucky because all I had to do was get a recon engine. I've heard scare stories of engine bits coming into the footwell and doing damage to legs. Frightnin....

 

Steve

 

My understanding is that with these 80s subaru engines, you are much more likely to either shatter your piston/put a hole in it, or (most likely) crack a piston ring land. All bad in the end, it amounts to a blown motor..

 

This is called hydrolocking, because the water won't compress like the air/fuel mix will. Its only gonna be BAD if somehow, your piston fills up with water and it tries to compress it, with all the inertia of a running motor (80 ft-lbs of torque, say, all at once) I doubt it would be very easy to destroy a motor simply by fillinf the cylinder with water somehow, and cranking it over by hand or even with the starter. It just couldn't gain enough inertial energy to cause that kind of damage; the engine would simply stop as if you had filled a cylinder with rope to break loose a crankshaft bolt.

Well... Thanx for the Explanations... I did the "Water" Cleanup, just with Li`l Amounts of Water... And it Worked fine... But now I`ll be more Carefull.

So, I wanna Ask this: What do you Think About Seafoam?

Well... Thanx for the Explanations... I did the "Water" Cleanup, just with Li`l Amounts of Water... And it Worked fine... But now I`ll be more Carefull.

 

So, I wanna Ask this: What do you Think About Seafoam?

 

I've never tried Seafoam, but GM makes a product specifically for this purpose that is the bomb. It's what the dealer uses if you bring your car in for servicing. You can buy it from the parts dept at any GM dealer - about $20.

 

good luck, John

Well... Thanx for the Explanations... I did the "Water" Cleanup, just with Li`l Amounts of Water... And it Worked fine... But now I`ll be more Carefull.

 

So, I wanna Ask this: What do you Think About Seafoam?

I think I should qualify the physics....Its not water that won't compress, its Liquid water. If you vapourize water, its fine. If you are using Seafoam from a pressurized can, you should be fine.Even gasoline wouldn't compress if it was liquid. That's where the carb jets come in...

Thanx for your Kind Answers!