Hey I've been looking into getting my engine carbon cleaned. Just wondering if anybody has done it and what there experience has been like?

 

I was told you put a bottle of Techtron in the tank, take the car to 60 mph and shift to 2nd gear, assuming you have nobody driving behind you. I didn't like the idea, too much stress on the transmission.

 

The idea makes sense but it would work just aswell reving the car in neutral though wouldn't it?

But what I've seen is an actual machine which mixes 2 chemicals and injects them into the fuel rail at pressure (acting as the fuel pump) you run the car until the machine says (they say it takes upto 1hr) and it cleans the whole system fuel rail to exhaust!!

Ever heard of it?

 

What makes you think you've got carbon, and in enough quantity to cause a problem? It's almost unheard of with today's fuels.

 

Mikey you're about the first person I've ever heard say that. As far as I'm aware you will always get a carbon/muckie build up on things like valves and an 88 model jag with unknown kms... Most likely above 250k would have some form of build up

 

#


Steve - Hi, you're talking about Terraclean I guess?

Do a search if you haven't already. Its been discussed more than a few times both here and on the UK site.
Wheeler Dealers did it on an XK8 that they worked on prior to selling and Ed China recommended it.

There's been more than a few members on the UK site who have had it done and all posted good reviews about the process and the benefits.
I myself had my A6 done and it seems to run snoother and produce less smoke, mpg may improve slightly too.

I had actually taken my EGR valve off and cleaned it just prior to this process anyway and it was gunked up ( not as bad as I thought it would have been at 98k miles but still gunked up )

I feel it was wroth it for me and I'm glad I did it ....

 

Hi Stevecosta, cars with ZF transmissions must not be revved in neutral as it can cause damage to the transmission. Apparently they get a pressure spike through the valve body

 

Gday fredd60, I did not know that thankyou

Thanks Jimc64 that's all I'm really after just some personal experience. Do you know of anyone who's done it on the 5.3l?

 

I have read all and sundry on these systems, and see nothing wrong with any of them in principle.

From the old school, to de-carbonise and engine, and YES, those were the days of heavy carbon build up on pistons etc due to fuels and oils of the day, we would simple have the engine running at a "fast idle", of about 1300rpm, and add water to the carby top. Worked really well, and no high revving required, etc.

AND YES I KNOW WE DONT HAVE CARBIES NOW, but ingesting water via a vacuum hose will effectively do the same thing. Thats how I did my V12 HE prior to engine rebuild, and NO carbon anywhere once I got it to bits. Of course I have NO idea if it had any, but I got the warm and fuzzies seeing the crud coming out the exhaust pipes indicating something was departing the engine.

The other systems that go via the fuel rail are not so popular down here anymore, no idea why. WYnns used to have one, as did Fuel Miser, Nulon, but I have not seen them lately. They were supposedly good at cleaning all sorts of stuff out of the rail, but maybe the FINE filters in the inlet of each injector got clogged, causing more grief than it was worth ?????.

I must also agree with the "new fuels" leaving little/no carbon deposits, and then the added feature of the EFI engines burning a LOT leaner than earlier examples, and also running at higher operating temps also reduces carbon deposits.

 

there is a video on YouTube about doing it with plain water.

 

And that's the key- we had problems in the old days that caused the vehicles to run poorly. If the OP has these symptoms by all means give it a try.

If not, leave it alone. The oils and fuels of today are light years ahead of what we had back then.

 

Having never done or been shown how to do it before I'm not really keen on putting water into an engine I must admit.

And I don't doubt that fuels are much better than theyonce were. But a 25 year old car would still have sootie build ups wouldn't it not to mention all sorts of gunk where ever there is a bend?

 

Steve- I presently have in service an old Corvette and a late 70s Honda Gold Wing amongst other toys. Neither engine has been opened in many decades, actually in the case of the m/cycle, never been opened.

There is not the slightest trace of ick or gunk anywhere. No fuel or oil additives used, ever. The lead in fuels was the leading cause of deposits, thankfully those days are behind us.

 

You trickle the water into the intake tract at a rate that causes the engine to labour but not stall. Use a narrow neck bottle to have best control. If you are doing this via a vacuum port then you can squeeze the hose to control the flow.

Just listen to the engine, it will tell you if it is just unhappy or *truly* unhappy.

 

Of the two sentences above, there is no proof one way or the other of the second sentence if the first sentence is to be believed.

If the engine has never been opened, or has not been opened in decades, then it is not possible to state as fact what may or may not be on the internal surfaces. Any statement would be pure speculation.

 

I knew you'd pick up on this. I used a borescope to inspect both the intake tract and combustion chamber on each vehicle. No disassembly required other than spark plugs

Touché..........

 

ORRRR, since your down here in Victoria, fill both tanks with 98, NO Ethanol if possible, and go for a blast up the Hume, to say Wagga Wagga.

The MIGHTY HE needs a good long "stretch" regularly to keep it on song.

Then if its NOT driveable that far, go as far as your comfortable. the HE is a REALLY clean burning engine, trust me, I have had a few apart that were sad examples, and carbon was NOT an issue on any of them. PreHE, HAHAHHA, they MADE carbon.

The fuel lines etc you mention dont get any "gunk" in them, as there is simply tooooooo much fuel flow, as "about" 60% of supplied fuel is returned to the tank under normal driving conditions.

Driving these things is the BEST cleaning that can be done, sitting around just creates issues. All our V12's were always daily drivers, and did some SERIOUS kms, and NEVER, EVER had issues of any sort.

 

That only gives you a very limited view of the internals.

It also is of limited application in the V8 supercharged vehicles where coked up passages in the charge aircooler is common. If you doubt that, just have a look at any of the several examples in pictures available wiithout even leaving JF.

While you can claim that decarbonisation is not required on your particular vehicles you cannot make the same assertion for all vehicles of all histories and conditions.

Certainly, it has not been shown to do harm and has shown benefit to others. The cost of a jug of water is not really a major concern, even if one were to be completely OCD and insist on distilled water.

Riposte ...

 

ahh ... one of those magical motoring phrases that sounds so right.

 

Yep, I still miss that sound of my XJ-S at about 5500rpm low flying across the Hay Plains, or the Nullarbor, chills up the spine just does NOT quite get it right.