Re: carbon buildup

["content22207" <brobertson@xxxx>]

I think you're talking about "soot". Carbon welds itself to pistons
and valves. Simply running a vaporous product through the cylinders
won't remove it. I've heard of people dropping cold water through the
spark plug holes (hot engine) to crack and break it up, but that
sounds way too dangerous to me -- would be just my luck to damage the
pistons themselves.

Think of it this way: diamonds are made of carbon, heated and
compressed. That's what you're up against.

Most of the crap you see burning from top engine cleaners is gum,
varnish, and other light weight deposits (soot). Certainly worth
removing, but won't help if your engine has suffered from thousands of
miles of dirty combustion. BTW: I ocassionally do something similar
with my carbureted vehicles, which unfortunately don't get enough
highway miles, by simply pouring gas tank additives straight down the
venturi. I call it "making smoke" (for obvious reasons). But the
engine DOES run better afterwards. Removes any crap before it has a
chance to become permanent. Look at your spark plugs (only way to tell
what's going on inside the cylinders) -- they'll indicate whether
cleaning is necessary.

Probably unnecessary on a true "daily driver" (in proper tune).

Bill Robertson
#5939

>--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Farrar Hudkins" <fhudkins@xxxx> wrote:
>
> Does anybody know the name of the stuff to decarbonize one's engine? I
> recall somebody saying it comes in a can, and the engine runs off of
the can
> for a minute or two (belching out great plumes of stuff). I don't ask
> because I want to burn a different fuel ... My engine seems to run
well on
> 89 octane fuel -- fine with me but it'd be nice to burn out the
junk. With
> close to 90,000 miles I suspect it should be about time for this
especially
> since I don't know what happened before I bought the thing.
> 
> Regards and Happy 2004,
> Farrar Hudkins
> New Orleans, LA