Best Carbon Deposit Solvent?

Seafoam.

and be amazed at the smoke.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hrasAYG42g

This stuff is good. I use it in my diesel, but it's good in gas engines also.

Back in the day we used to use automatic transmission fluid to free frozen snowmobile engines.

My doubts aside as to how you are telling stuck from missing/broken, diesel fuel is a dandy solvent, but better; can you get biodiesel? For this purpose you would want B100, and just about a squirt can full.

Cleans amazing things, like all the carbon out of diesel engines, and old dried diesel out of tanks.

I think it would be a good idea to do an oil change after, but if you don't get it on rubber it shouldn't hurt anything in the engine (dripping down past the rings, if you run it you might ruin the pan gasket and any number of other things - it really does eat rubber).

A more available or conventional option might be Marvel's Mystery Oil.

Hi Ed, GA about the possibly broken! But most Gaskets are now made of Neoprene, or better. They're made to take the full range of solvent engine lubricants.

Oil of Wintergreen, the magic in Marvel Mystery Oil Which is good as well. Highly effective on frozen anything. Controlled in some states/quantities. If could mist into the cylinder, wait an hour and tap the cylinger with a rawhide mallet (lightly), Repete. Try it untill it works. Sold comercially as Methyl Salisalate.

Carl

Thanks for the info everybody, I really appreciate the help. I realize it's a long shot, but it's worth a try. Would it hurt if I poured a couple teaspoons into the spark plug hole and let it soak overnight? I guess I'll try everything and see what happens. I'll never forget about 20 years ago the first time I used Marvel Mystery Oil in an old 283 Chevy with really noisy lifters and a minute later they were pefectly quiet. Oil of Wintergreen? The reason I think it's a ring is because the compression goes from 25 pounds to 125 pounds after I poured a little oil in that cylinder, so it's either a stuck or cracked ring, I guess. THANKS AGAIN!http://s233.photobucket.com/albums/ee57/route89_photos/?action=view&current=9e.jpg

Marvel is really a great product. I like the smell too...LOL Wonder if I could rub some into my right shoulder..painful

Z-MAX May also be a good option.

In the early 70s I worked in an Oldsmobile dealership. The design of the head-piston was such that carbon when allowed to build up on the head would contact the head. The best cure we had at the time was Wynn's Spitfire. Pour it into an engine running at 2-3,000 rpm. slowly allow the engine speed to lower while pouring. At some point it will stall. Allow the engine to sit like this for an hour or so. Restart the engine and watch the smoke. When the carbon would cause the piston to head contact, it sounds very similar to a bad rod bearing.

If you get the engine to normal temp, then squirt some into the cylinders and let it soak for 2 hours, it will likely free the rings if they need freeing.

Being in a GM dealership, I'm surprised you didn't use Delco X66P (pint). Use it the same way and when you get it out on the highway, the black cloud behind you for about a half mile tells you it did something.

Zmax didnt work on an old frozen lawnmower, Marvel mystery oil did......on the other hand, I know a guy who used oven cleaner (in a can) spraying it down the spark plug hole..Worked great...

I would just fill the cylinder up with hot water if it was my lawn mower. Putting carbon caked pistons in a pan of simmering soapy water softens up the carbon well. But on my assembled BMW, I would try Marvel and Spitfire.

Hello Bob:

Certainly putting a few ounces of Marvel mystery oil in the cylinder and letting it soak is a good recommendation.

I have heard slowly dribbling water into a engine running at 2500 rpm or so to the point of getting a misfire , emphasis on slowly was an excellent way remove built up carbon. I'm not sure if there would be any advantage to attempting to remove the excess carbon from the combustion chambers or not, before using the Marvel mystery oil

Don't have much experience in this area ,for some reason or another I've never had excessive carbon buildup in any of my engines, or for that matter any stale gas in the secondary carburetors.

This reply is for BWIRE also.

I have used water also for carbon removal on running engines. It does work well to remove carbon on valves and combustion chambers. I got burnt on a Taurus once when the engine coughed and drank too much water. I had to replace a bent connecting rod. I have been afraid to recommend any water injection other than a small vacuum line.

The op spoke of gummed up piston rings. I do not think that water vapor passing through a running engine would be as effective as allowing a prolonged soak of the liquid. That is just my opinion, no real proof, just my thoughts.

I've never had the misfortune you did, that sucked I'll bet.

I did state using linseed oil is a good substitute to soak too.

I had been feeding water to engines for years. I was the one who was in a rush, and got careless. But I was so pissed off.

I must dissagree with using that much water. You could bend or break rods and crank with that amount. Water is used to get 'Full Military Power' for prop driven take-offs in the case of short runways. As water instantly flashes to steam, cylinder pressure is increased to the point where it not only increases power, but tends to blow out deposits as well. All at the expense of engine longevity. OK for overbuilt and serviced military engines, but not for commercial vehicles. Misting with water from a sprayer is OK, but keep it short.

Raw or boiled lindseed oil residue will varnish after 3 or 4 firing cycles. That's why I use the boiled form on saw and planer bases, tools, and garden implements. The only high temperature application I know of is machined, ungasketed mateing surfaces, such as you would find between the halves of a steam turbine.

I'm glad everyone else agrees with the use of Marvel Mystery Oil. Add to gas or oil as reccomended on the can. The molecular structure of the Oil of Wintergreen is small enough to penetrate into the steel.

You have apparently taken the words out of my mouth. Now I'm speachless.......

Really,

You're speculating we pour the water in as if filling a 16oz glass no problems. With lots of water there is not steam sometimes it dribbles out the exhaust.

Remember the engine is not under load and at low rpm take a breather, this is a common method of carbon removal going back many, many years without experiencing any of the consequences you described.

Just bought a can of Seafoam and I'm going to be trying it tomorrow out in the country somewhere. I'm going to put 1/2 of it in the 325i and 1/2 in the 750IL - it's for sale, by the way, gorgeous car. Then I'm going to mix up a witches brew of Marvel, Zmax, biodiesel, trans fluid and pour it into the spark plug hole to soak overnight. I'll let everbody know what happens...

Wear gloves before handling your noxious carcinogenic brew

Hello route89:

you said: Then I'm going to mix up a witches brew of Marvel, Zmax, biodiesel, trans fluid and pour it into the spark plug hole to soak overnight. I'll let everbody know what happens...

In the event the result is a mushroom cloud it was nice knowing you. Seriously though I don't think you've got to go to that much trouble the Marvel and some regular diesel would be my basic suggestion, or for that matter aerosol can of carburetor cleaner with a tube extension sprayed into the combustion chamber via the spark plug hole and allowed to soak would also probably be a good shot at getting things lose.

Not to wish A bad omen on you, with today's oils is unlikely that the rings are stuck, if I remember your original post correctly you bought the vehicle used, so I suppose there's a chance it had the original oil, some people just put gas in.

I am just curious if you have tried the old three squirts of 50 weight and taking the compression check, that's one sure way to find stuck rings. If the compression increases significantly then you've got a ring problem.

Any rate with my bout of insomnia this came to mind, might save you a little work time thinking about it, at this point stuck rings are the easiest thing to deal with, the only thing finding out before using your mixture would accomplish is saving you a few bucks worth of chemicals, (and possibly the aforementioned cloud).

PS. Bob previously mentioned that he has confirmed by experimental method that liquids are not compressible, just keep in mind that you can damage an engine by Hydro locking with the starter motor, I'm sure you're going to leave the plug out and clear the cylinder, but if you've got a lot of liquid in the cylinder, just tap the starter until you get it clear. Good luck!

I also had a 6.9L diesel engine in a ford do a hydraulic lock also. Seems an injector stuck open, and dumped some raw fuel into a cylinder. It sounded like hell when it started. The truck was only 2 months away from being out of warranty. The dealer tyred to tell me the bent rod was from ingesting water. He might have been able to pull it off, if he had not been greedy and tell me that I had to pay for new oil because the old oil was fuel contaminated.

Definitely going to wear gloves, and put one on my nose to stop the fumes. I'm thinking of adding some more ingredients to the brew, like the spitfire, liquid wrench, brake cleaner, maybe some viagra. Any more suggestions? Muriatic acid? Nitromethane? C4?

Actually the best you could do is go to pharmacy and ask for oil of wintergreen, it's the active ingredient in the better penetrants and may free the ring over night. This old school stuff and it smells wonderful

If, when you mix it, the plume is brown/tanish, RUN!!!

A friend of mine was driving without an air cleaner, hit a big water puddle that sent water into the carburetor, and hydorlocked the engine all to hell - cracked the head and block. I did pour a little oil into the offending cylinder and the compression went from 25 to 125, so that's why I think it's a ring instead of a burnt valve. However, in the end I'm pretty sure that it's a cracked ring anyhow, so all of this is probably just for fun...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1E_OBPpEVs

"Everybody's nuts." - Sigmund Freud