Removing carbon from heads and pistons.

[Dave_H_M]

Surely this is RV related since it is cutting into my recreational time. :h

My 2 cyl opposed Briggs in the lawn tractor has progressively gotten noisier. It was knocking sort of like the same music carbon buildup makes when there is no more room for carbon. Sure enough I can see where the pistons were banging on the carbon buildup on the heads.

so Is there a nice and easy way to get that stuff off of the aluminum heads and piston top. I really do not want to gouge around on the aluminum.

[Generator_Jim]

x3 on the Sea Foam plus put some in the oil, run for 20 min then change oil. Put Sea Foam in gas, fairly heavy mixture, you have carbon on the back of the valves and in the muffler also.

JimL

[Gale_Hawkins]

The guy just mounted the new tires on the 265 MF today and he used liquid wrench. Never saw that before.

[NinerBikes]

I've used a fair amount of Kroil penetrating oil with good results for stuck nuts and bolts. Also Liquid Wrench.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

IN MY MOST HUMBLE EXPERIENCE

PICTURE WORTH TEN THOUSAND PROFANITIES

[Dave_H_M]

would you mind sharing that formula with us ???

Here is the formula I use. I got it from another board, guy said it was based on the MSDS for the stuff minus the "aeromatic compounds."

4 parts #1 Diesel or Kerosene
2 parts Naphtha
1 part ISO Heet

[MEXICOWANDERER]

When the carbon laughs at the seafoam.......

Try continuous dosing with an additive that actually removes carbon.

A urea based additive.

TECHRON. Dilute according to directions. Dosed gasoline contains 16-times the potency of Chevron gasoline with Techron. It may take four or five tank-fulls to really gain on removing carbon. But at least it works.

To remove carbon when the engine is disassembled:

Take parts to an engine machine shop and in under 1 single lousy minute, in a glass bead cabinet, the cylinder head and piston top down to the first ring land will be clean aluminum.

Then shine up the aluminum with a rotary wire brush (which also did a splendid job shining up the carbon before you got mad and took the parts to the engine machine shop). It takes POWER and one hell of an aggressive wire brush cup to strip carbon. I hate this around aluminum, with gouges easily.

The tech info on the TECHRON is direct from the Chevron labs dept. Shell Oil Co also uses a Nitrogen based (urea) additive, presence of on the shelf additive availability unknown.

Foregoing is my Most Humble Opinion

But my experience with Fea Soam has been less than optimal. Way the hell and far gone less than optimal.

Tip STUCK SPARK PLUGS?

This take time. A day or three.

NEEDED. TECHRON, and wrench the loosen spark plug a little way

Clean out spark plug wells, WELL, with cleaner.
Loosen spark plugs. When they jam, stop and screw back in a half turn
Dribble one half TEAspoon of TECHRON into each spark plug well.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CRANK THE ENGINE FOR 8 HOURS AFTER LAST APPLICATION of TECHRON
Bad cases may require several re-applications.
Success rate with Techron 100%. Success rate with Fea Soam 0%

[badboy368]

Dave H M wrote:
Well folks thanks for ll the scoop. The hard carbon that was packed up by the piston ramming it against the head came off with the cyl head gasket. I did some presoak in lacquer thinner and things went quite well. The ole pig is not trash. It fired up and ran like it was happy.

i think it is ready for another ten years of semi retirement chores. The deck is in storage. It does demanding things like pulling the fertilizer spreader and leaf rake.

BTW on the seafoam issue, for all your guys that swear by it, do you know that you can mix your own for a pittance of the shelf price, minus the aromatic whatever. it works for me.

would you mind sharing that formula with us ???

[MrWizard]

I heard of water treatment aka STEAM knock
When in my early years
Never heard of white rice, don't think I'll Ever try that

[Horsedoc]

In the old days when we were building hot rods out of the old 50s 6 cylinder chevys, we would take the breather off and rev the engine up pretty tight and then slowly pour a bag of white rice down the carb. Could not go too fast cause if you let her stall, you had a mess. Just keep it revved until all the rice quit coming from the exhaust. It worked, but I never saw a Chevy dealer do this.

[LittleBill]

Dave H M wrote:
Well folks thanks for ll the scoop. The hard carbon that was packed up by the piston ramming it against the head came off with the cyl head gasket. I did some presoak in lacquer thinner and things went quite well. The ole pig is not trash. It fired up and ran like it was happy.

i think it is ready for another ten years of semi retirement chores. The deck is in storage. It does demanding things like pulling the fertilizer spreader and leaf rake.

BTW on the seafoam issue, for all your guys that swear by it, do you know that you can mix your own for a pittance of the shelf price, minus the aromatic whatever. it works for me.

mind providing the recipe?

[Dave_H_M]

Well folks thanks for ll the scoop. The hard carbon that was packed up by the piston ramming it against the head came off with the cyl head gasket. I did some presoak in lacquer thinner and things went quite well. The ole pig is not trash. It fired up and ran like it was happy.

i think it is ready for another ten years of semi retirement chores. The deck is in storage. It does demanding things like pulling the fertilizer spreader and leaf rake.

BTW on the seafoam issue, for all your guys that swear by it, do you know that you can mix your own for a pittance of the shelf price, minus the aromatic whatever. it works for me.

[joshuajim]

In the old days we used crushed walnut shells in the carburetor. Works like sandblasting without any damage.

[myredracer]

I would check the engine construction details for your particular make & model. Many small engines use an all aluminum cylinder block while some have a cast iron sleeve. If it's all aluminum, your engine could very likely be beyond saving. The noise you are hearing could be piston slap.

Briggs & Stratton engine info.

We bought a new lawnmower once and it wouldn't work. I took it apart and found a broken piston ring and it damaged the wall of the aluminum cylinder wall so badly, nothing could be done to fix it and it got exchanged. AFAIK, aluminum blocks are common in chainsaws and weedeaters. When these blocks get worn, the whole thing is a throwaway.

[AlbertaNewbie]

Water in the intake in mist form (spray bottle works good) with the engine at 3/4 throttle for about 5 minutes, 1 spray every 30 seconds, or after the engine runs ok for 5-10 seconds after the last spray.