additives for cleaning valve deposits

[CHL2T]

I remember hanging out with an old mopar buddy that had a 426 hemi in his 64 Coronet.  He was washing the engine with a garden hose and literally spraying it down the carbs while the engine was off. I was freaked out by how much he hosed into it and said "aint that gonna hurt it" he said nope it don't hurt a thing unless you don't fire it up right away. He proceeded to fire it up on the first crank and continued to just douche the carbs at idle. The thing didn't sputter, pop or anything, just continued to idle like nothing was happening. Said he did it all the time but didn't say it keeps the valves clean. I had to learn that one on my own

He took me for a ride after and I have never held on so tight, I swear the car was going to fly apart when he hit the brakes at a hundred

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Thanks for educating me guys. I can't wait to try this and see how angry my engine gets.   

[IMNCARN82]

 YuP      A cup of cool water and keep the RPM's up.  Been doin' that for 20 yrs.  Never a problem.  New plugs are always a good idea. 

[shadango]

Well, I decided to try the seafoam route.....the water things scares the poop outta me! LOL

I just happened to have exactly a thord of a pint left of a bottle of seafoam, so figured I would try it.

Not as much smoke as I had feared but definately a lot of smoke.

Not sure if it runs any better or not yet....a storm was on its way so I took it around the block and that was it.....wish I could see into the runners to see if the valves are cleaner...LOL

Also threw a 16 0z can of it in the gas tank.

One thing i DID learn during this....the throttle linkage get HOT!  Got me a nice little burn on my thumb pad......shoulda worn gloves.   DUH 

[MEK-Dangerfield]

This is what I want to know... Is the smoke out the exhaust because of the breakdown of carbon deposits on the valves, or is it because whatever Seafoam is made out of causes smoke?  Ahh yes, another mystery of life.   

[06Daytona]

I do the water thing at least once a year on my carbed stuff. Once upon a time I had a buddy dump a little diesel in the carb too. I know it smoked like crazy, but I don't remember what it did in the way of cleaning. I think I'll do that on the Cuda this weekend and see if it helps and as an added bonus I'll get to annoy the neighborhood

[Changin Gears]

I had the carb of my 68 Dart daily driver with 45k miles on the engine.  The manifold looked perfectly clean on the inside.  Back in the day (30+ years ago) intakes were pretty nasty inside.  I think it must be the fuel injector cleaner now added to gas.  I use only the cheapest Walmart/truck stop gas in this thing.  Anyone else seen this?  I wonder what the valves look like.

[mopar12372]

 

[shadango]

  I wonder what the valves look like.

Well, MY valves look like this:

[mopar12372]

 where is the valve picture?

[shadango]

Well, its not a great pic, I know....but look into the port.....you can see part of the backside of the valve.

[KZ]

no one is afraid of a piece of  carbon deposit dropping off and possibly working its way down to the cylinder and getting embedded in a cylinder ring and possibly scratching the wall?

[shadango]

 

[1970 RT Challenger 1970]

 

[heminut]

Back in the 70's I worked at a GM dealership and got a car in one day that had a loud clatter. One of the old timers told me it might be a piece carbon and to run about a pint of tranny fluid through the cars carb while feathering the throttle to keep it running, and then to kill the engine with the last bit of tranny fluid and let it set for about 30 minutes. I had to do it outside of the shop because of the huge amount of smoke it causes. After sitting 30 minutes he had me start it up again and dribble a coke bottle full of water down the carb while feathering the throttle, then rev it a few times to clear the cylinders. This didn't take care of the clatter, so he told me to pull the head on the side the noise was on and get the screw or nut or whatever it was that was in there out, as it for sure wasn't carbon. I pulled the head and found a small screw in one cylinder, but the amazing thing was how clean the valves and combustion chambers were! I swear there was almost no trace of any deposits! I have used this process on many engines over the years and never experienced a problem of any kind. The way the old timer explained it to me was that the tranny fluid soak softened the carbon deposits and the water broke them up and helped wash them out of the engine. When I pulled that head it made a believer out of me.