Using water to clean the combustion chambers (2025)

Webslinger60

03-14-2004, 06:07 PM

What do you guys think of running water through the engine to clean the combustion chambers? Lets say you suspect a sticky valve, due to sludge on the top side & not closing 100%.

I’ve gotten a few different opinions.
One mech used to actually pour water into the carb at fast idle, with no problems. Then again my dad saw a guy blow an engine using just an eye dropper. The safest way I was told was to use a spray-bottle on “wide/mist”, and no more than a quart.

Then again, wouldn’t water just clean the underside/combustion-side of the valve and NOT the top where the sludge is?

I was also told to used GM’s “Top engine cleaner" "Seafoam" or other things. Im not crazy about solvents. A little sludge on hi-mile rings is not a bad thing. If you dis-lodge it, the cylinder may start to smoke.

dxrflyboy

04-17-2004, 05:47 AM

97chevyman

04-18-2004, 02:16 PM

Webslinger60

04-18-2004, 11:25 PM

Get a can of sea foam. Then Fill up your truck and put a pint of marvels mystery oil in the tank.

This thread is from March.
Yes I Sea-foamed it 3 weeks ago (but only once).Also used "Deepcreep"
in the vacuum line too, and added Marvel afterward. Then changed the oil, added Prolong, let it circulate & coat for a day, then added Restore.

But before all that, I also misted a 12oz 50/50 mix of water & ATF through the carb at fast idle. That smoked, but the Sea foam did not, not at all.
I put 1/2 can Seafoam through the vacuum line & the other 1/2 right down the carb. What I did was unplug the ECU, pour 6oz down the carb, then crank the engine to get the stuff right onto the valve seats without
drawing it into the cylinders.

After 30 miniutes I restarted, but couldnt run the engine hard because the plugs were wet. Took about 3 days to dry out.

I cant say if the treatment did any good. It felt the same afterward.
I had a bad carb/manifold vaccum leak in addition to sticky valves.
(I've since replaced the carb & maniofld gaskets. Its much better)
I heard on another board, some guy recently tried Seafoam, it also DIDNT smoke, & he saw NO difference. Could it be the company re-formulated the stuff? Maybe the EPA maybe forced them to make it weaker?

syko

04-22-2004, 10:05 AM

Webslinger60

04-22-2004, 03:26 PM

Yes, you do it while the engine is idling (fast idle) and yes, it can be dangerous. You have to be carefull. I've seen dealer mechanics do it to
"trade-ins" before they went to the wholesaler. They almost pour the water right in, cause they didnt care if the engine blew or not. Most of of time the engine sounded like it was gonna throw a rod from the rapid rise in compression & blow all kinds of crap out the tailpipe, BUT all the engines survived the treatment. Then again my dad once saw a guy blow an engine, just using an eye-dropper.

I used a spray bottle on fine mist, and also used a mix of ATF, as was
recommended by alot of web-buddies. The ATF is dilutes the rapid compression a bit & also soaks the carbon build-up (supposedly)
It seemed to idle very slightly better, (after the plugs dried) after that
and after the Seafoam, a bit better again, but I cant be certain, cause the intensitiy of my drivabilitly problems were intermittant.

Id say do this as a last resort on an engine that may need a rebuild soon anyway, so if somthing does let loose, it's not such a problem.
If it works & drivability is better for another year, before the rebuild, so much the better.

Doug Rodrigues

05-10-2004, 02:29 AM

The idea behind decarbonizing an engine is to create temperature extremes. i.e. hotter...cooler...hotter...cooler. That will break most of the carbon build-up off the cylinder heads and piston tops. Some people use kerosene or just plain water to do it while revving the engine. Kerosene will create a huge smoke cloud and probably bring the fire department running. Water....be careful how much you slowly pour-in because the increase in cylinder pressure from the additional steam could cause damage, however I don't believe that a spray mist or an eyedropper worth of water would do anything to an engine...not even clean it out. The idea is to create that temperature extreme change to break the carbon loose. I haven't done anything like this since before catalytic convertors were invented. I suspect that blowing the carbon out would probably plug-up a catalytic convertor. That being the case, perhaps the catalytic convertor should be removed prior to decarbonizing an engine.

Decarbonizing an engine does work and make the engine run smoother or at least stop pre-ignition. The only decarbonizing I've done in more recent times is with airplane engines, but that's a different ball game. With airplane engines you have a mixture control. With that control you go rich/cool...lean/hot...rich/cool...lean/hot. Does the same thing as the kerosene or water technique. And by the way....water injection has been used in airplane engines for 60 plus years. It is one way of allowing a high power piston engine AND jet engines to produce maximum power but still remain within normal temperature limits. The idea of using water in automobile engines may seem strange, but it's only strange because the public hasn't been aware of water usage in engines before. Also, the EPA wouldn't have a word to say about using water.

Worried about stuck piston rings?....Marvel Mystery Oil. We even use that stuff in airplane engines! Sometimes you have to pour it into the cylinder and allow it to soak overnight, and then drain out the excess from the lower spark plug hole (two plugs per cylinder). I guess in an automobile engine, you'd pour just enough into the cylinder to soak the rings and then fire the engine up the next day. Boy, I bet that would smoke!

Webslinger60

05-10-2004, 10:21 AM

The reason I used a spray mist bottle was for better control over how much water went in. I’ve seen dealer mechanics actually pour water from a cup, and the engine would sound like it’s going to throw a rod. They usually did this, with “trade-ins”, that they didn’t care about. If the engine got damaged, they’d just send it to a wholesaler, who’d either put in a used engine or break it up for parts.

Since this was my OWN car, (and a hi-mile one) I didn’t want to take that chance. Doug is right though about the mist not being as effective as direct-pour. I cant honestly say of the water-misting, or the Seafoam did any good, because I had a major vacuum leak, either in the carb or manifold gaskets. A week later I installed a new aftermarket manifold (with new gaskets of course) and a new small 4bbl carb.
And it ran 95% better. The idle is still not dead-smooth, because a comp-check revealed pressure loss through three cyl’s valves. Im hoping they are not burnt, but just not closing all the way due to crud on the seats & stem. When I changed the manifold, there was a lot of carbon in the heat crossover, and crud in the lifter valley. Im debating weather to try the Seafoam once more, or just leave it alone & consider myself lucky?

Doug Rodrigues

05-10-2004, 10:42 AM

Well, I don't know how many miles is on your engine, but there comes a time in the life of every engine to where it just has to be taken apart and the whole thing boiled-out in a hot tank. Perhaps your engine's time has come. Only so much can be done with off-the-shelf "treatments" and mechanics tricks. Interesting how some engines remain clean all through the years and some get gunked-up? I suspect that additives such as STP are a major cause of that gunking, since most engine manufacturers say NOT to add anything to the oil.

Of interest and humor: With airplane engines that have stuck valves because of carbonization....some mechanics do what we call "a Mexican Valve Job." The piston in the cylinder with low compression and obvious hissing out the exhaust pipe when the cylinder is pressurized with air at exactly top dead center confirms the leak. Someone holds the prop to keep it from kicking-over while the air hose maintains pressure in the cylinder. The pressure also keeps the valves tightly closed. The exhaust valve keepers and springs are removed. The air pressure is relieved. A 1/2 inch drill is attached to the exhaust valve stem and the valve is spun and pulled into the valve seat. Any carbon is quickly worn away. The drill is removed. The cylinder is again pressurized to maintain the valve in a closed position while the springs and keepers are reinstalled. In most cases, the compression on that cylinder is raised back up to normal! Sounds like a backyard mechanic repair, but it works! I even did it on an old airplane I used to own. Never had a problem with low compression after that! Never tried doing this with an automobile engine though. I suppose that one could hold a wrench on the crank pulley bolt to keep the engine from turning over.

I forgot to mention: The above techniques using kerosese or water don't remove sludge from the intake system. It only removes carbon from the combustion chamber.

ART-O

05-21-2004, 01:06 PM

Doug Rodrigues

05-21-2004, 03:15 PM