Carbon Buildup removal with Tran. Fluid?

[Bigfoot]

I read on the board here that to get rid of some of the carbon buildup on your pistons without having to remove the heads was to pour trany fluid down the carb while it was running. I did this and boy was it a fog show, thank goodness I live on a corner beside a school and it was raining and at night. I stopped the engine and went to bed and took my work truck to work today. After supper I needed to go to the store and the car was a nightmare to start and when it finally started I had a huge cloud of smoke come out the exhaust pipes. When I came up to a stop light it was still blowing blue like it had no rings in it and all the way home I had another great smoke show. I am thinking that when you pour a thick oil down the old carb that it might take awhile to get out of the system but usually how long does it take? Now I am kind of concerned since the engine was not puffing blue before.

[DodgeBoy318]

Yeah, im no expert or anything, but...WTF??!
Common sense tells you that Gas burns clean...diesel burns less clean...OIL burns BARELY. Ever get that stuff on your headers? Yah same concept expect now its messing up your internals. I doubt that there is any real long term damage though, just an emissions nightmare! Who told you that? You should find him and pour trans fluid down his throat! heheh...or just...a lot of water...or something. I dunno dont hurt the poor guy.

[Bigfoot]

Dodgeboy318: I actually heard it in a couple of places and then it was posted on this board also. Having that oil in there will probably take a while to work it's way thru. Maybe what I should do is jump on the freeway and take a nice drive for 30 minutes and that should be enough time to work it's way out. All I had on hand was 1/2 quart so I am kind of glad I didn't use a whole quart like it was suggested to do.

[amxauto-x]

I've always used straight water. Kinda steamcleans the pistons,ect. Works great. Just dribble it in so you don't stall it.

[5th_Ave_Sleeper]

Water is the best way.
I know your thinking, "water? that would kill the combustion" . Not really, It really works! its like auto-amx said it steam cleans your pistons and combustion chambers.
Put some water even a mild soapy water works better, in a spray bottle, start the engine, and run it up about 1500-2000 rpm and hold it there and start pumpin man!
Might be a good idea to unhook the spark advance vac line cuz the water mixed in with the air/fuel vapor makes the compression ratio jump way up. detonation is a bad thing.
I have done it to every car i have ever had, you will be amazed at how much black guuk comes out of your exhaust, especially after the trans fluid treatment.
spray with confidence, you wont hurt a thing.
5th

[jelsr]

Years ago it was SOP to use a can of Bardahl or Rislone "decarbonizer" every once in a while to keep the combustion chamber clean. Don't know how well it actually worked, but it was popular and had to be hard on mosquitos. Came in a small (pint, maybe) can that had to be opened with a "churchkey". Sanborn and some others will remember the fog associated with the treatment.

[ohioDemon]

i.ve always used water. just warm the engine up to 140- 160. i don't think it's a good idea to do it hot.
i also used a spray bottle.

[Mister Fiberglass]

water injection BEEEZ the ticket ! ........and it will clean EVERYTHING.............

ports, valves, BACKS of valves, pistons, chambers etc ETC.

JUST like new !

[ehostler]

I've always used water myself. I know that over in the Ram Truck forum, they recommend something like seafoam greene(not sure now).

I have never seen any one here recommend using ATF. I'm sure that all of us would have slapped that person silly for making any such suggestion. I have used ATF in the block (prior to an oil change) to scrub the internals well and flush out a lot of crap.

[Mister Fiberglass]

the problem with ATF being used on the internals.............

it really does break loose a ton of stuff and that stuff can drop in the pan and then will PLUG the screen.

a Bud did this some years back and toasted the motor.

[megajoltman]

H2O for me!

[Bigfoot]

Thanks everyone for the replys I will give the water treatment a go. I took the car out on the freeway and she was smoking real bad getting there. After about 10 minutes at 60mph it calmed right down and no smoke was seen thru my mirror. I came back and let the car set at idle for about 5 minutes and then did a compression test. The water pump went last summer and the wife was with the kids and she drove it home for about 15 minutes with the temp pegged on H so I was kind of expecting the rings to be a bit softer at the least. Last spring it was 125-140 all the way around and after oil it moved up on average about 5 psi, not bad for a 300,000 mile orig. motor. Well now dry they average 90-100 and with oil they jump to 120-125 so for sure the rings/motor will have to be rebuilt here sometime this year. Great, just what I needed to do right now.

[pishta]

I heard a gallon of diesel on top of a almost full tank of gas will clean most everything it touches, carb, chambers, exhaust. This was from an old Taxi driver (obviously before FI) You sure the dude said down the carb?

[Ron Henry]

I've heard from an old gearhead about drizzling diesel down the carb while the engine's throttled up. I never had the guts to try it.

[440Ramcharger]

Try this stuff: Mopar Combustion chamber cleaner
part # 04318001 A 13 oz spray can is $5. Formulated with eye of Newt (naptha) monkey tail (butyl cellosolve) and liquid bat wing (ammonium soap) seems to work wonders, and has very little smoke out of the tail pipe. I tend to do this right before an oil change. Get any of that crap out of the engine that went past the rings.

[Bigfoot]

I took a look inside the engine today with a fiber optic probe up the spark plug hole and it looked clean to me. I tried the water trick and boy can you ever put a lot of water down the carb before the engine starts to cough. Nothing came out the tail pipes but a little water and that was it. I reinspected the insides and they looked about the same as before. I can start the car up with no problems and it only smokes a bit when I tromp on it so all the gunk must have been finally removed. I phoned my local machine shop and for 30 over pistons and block work it will be around 650 Can. then a cam and heads and on and on. I can pick up a used 318-360 from a wreckers here with the compression done and complete history and 6 months warranty for 400.00 so I will have to decide which way to go. Money is extremely tight right now and 1200 to rebuild my old motor is probably worth more than my car is worth.

[drag-n-cuda]

Bigfoot,
Who's the manufacture of that fiber optic probe? Just curious.

drag-n

[Mister Fiberglass]

the water injection "trick" is not an immediate fix.....it takes awhile to see complete results.

[Clair]

Originally posted by 5th_Ave_Sleeper
Might be a good idea to unhook the spark advance vac line cuz the water mixed in with the air/fuel vapor makes the compression ratio jump way up. detonation is a bad thing.5th

FWIW, water in the combustion chamber shouldn't heat things up or increase the compression ratio... converting the liquid water to steam will take heat OUT of the process, and make the engine less likely to detonate. Many of the carb/turbo guys use water injection as a very effective intercooler. There's a guy on the blowthrough turbo list that's running 20 psi non-intercooled on pump gas with big water/alcohol injection. Regardless, water shouldn't hurt anything unless you run a garden hose down the carb...
Clair

[Mister Fiberglass]

It should be mentioned that it is BEST if you use an intake that has the heat cross-over OPEN.....that way you can be assured that any water that is injected turns to steam before it gets into the combustion process.


The process that I am referring to takes quite a while to do..........and REPEAT....any moisture entering the intake ports of the intake manifold IS steam at that point.

[Bigfoot]

Drag-n-cuda: I am not sure of the manufacture all the labels have long since warn off. We use them for checking up in the exchangers of furnaces for cracks. Also works good for looking down drains, behind walls under desks etc. I will ask at work and maybe someone will know. I do know they cost about 600 Can. and they are great, they have there own light and are really handy.

[amxauto-x]

They had one of those things on the shadetree machanic tv show the other day. 600 or so American as I remember.

shadetree is now 2 guy's or something like that ?

[ehostler]

Originally posted by Clair


FWIW, water in the combustion chamber shouldn't heat things up or increase the compression ratio... converting the liquid water to steam will take heat OUT of the process, and make the engine less likely to detonate. Many of the carb/turbo guys use water injection as a very effective intercooler. There's a guy on the blowthrough turbo list that's running 20 psi non-intercooled on pump gas with big water/alcohol injection. Regardless, water shouldn't hurt anything unless you run a garden hose down the carb...
Clair

Sorry, but there is a BIG difference between water injection (very small amounts of water) and de-carboning with water. If you flush in too much water, during the dercoboning process, you will increase the compression ratio and there is a point where you will crack a head, blow a head gasket, or bend a rod.

From experience, I do know that it takes an awfully lot of water, before you will cause damage. I have flushed the carbon out of many B/RB engines using a water hose and letting the water dribble in.

When I am done, the difference is immediate. Nut then again, I also run the water through the system for a long period. I probably push a total of about 5 - 10 gallons of water through the system, before I am finished.

[Clair]

Holy crap! Well, if you're putting THAT much water in, it might be a legitimate concern. You're getting close to hydraulic-ing the engine at that point, I guess, and yeah, that can take up a lot of the combustion space, and bend the hell out of parts. I suspect that if you're not going more than a gallon every few minutes, you might be OK, but that's a helluva lot of water. I don't guess anyone has done any testing to see just how fast you have to put it in to clean the carbon out? Sounds like a good experiment... with someone elses engine! <G> FWIW, you COULD put that volume of water in to an engine with a well-designed water injection system. On the DIY-EFI list, there's a current thread talking about using an ag-pump that can give line pressures of around 150-200 PSI, and don't you know that could move some water!
Clair

[Mister Fiberglass]

Originally posted by Mister Fiberglass
It should be mentioned that it is BEST if you use an intake that has the heat cross-over OPEN.....that way you can be assured that any water that is injected turns to steam before it gets into the combustion process.


The process that I am referring to takes quite a while to do..........and REPEAT....any moisture entering the intake ports of the intake manifold IS steam at that point.

AGAIN.......... !!!!!

[amxauto-x]

I just trickle it in. When I was in high school my dad was doing it and started to screw around. Put the hose in the carb and flooded it. Didn't hurt anything as the plugs quit working before it broke anything. Ya, I think he was lucky. He may have been drunk too. You know, god looks over those unfortunite and the drunk!

[Mister Fiberglass]

Trickle it in?......... you spray the water in with a small pump in a 1/4" id hose with a .080 or so nozzle !!!!

BUTTTT you butter your bread the way YOU want it !!

[amxauto-x]

Yes trickle. Not quite enough to kill the motor, but close. With the rpm's up around 2000. I use a jar or something like that. No you don't have to have any special pump. That way has worked since before you or I was born. If you want to use a pump-go for it. I don't need that equipment. A jar works great!

[Mister Fiberglass]

That has GOTTA' BE an amc/amx ONLY trix !!

[amxauto-x]

it has nothing to do with the brand of vehical. it has to do with being smart enough to know there is more than one way to do a job. you do it your way.