Question re Combustion Chamber Cleaner

I take the air cleaner off the throttle body, warm the engine up and keep the engine idling by hand while spraying directly into the throttle body. Just as you empty the can, leave the engine die. Don't worry, there won't be a mosquito around when you start it back up.

Denny

Thanks Denny. Hmmmm... hot engine, holding an idle by hand. Prolly oughtta wear some gloves, huh?

Yeah, 10-4 good buddy in re to the skeeters ;-) Last time I fogged for skeeters with one of those butane torch foggers the neighbor across the back fence called the fire dept. I can understand why he might, it was pretty thick. I'll prolly give him a call to give him a head's-up this time.

I was planning to do it this weekend but never made it by the dealership to get the stuff, so been reading up on the process. I see some people using plain old water, but aside from smoking up the place I don't see how that could have any value or "soak in" to break up the carbon.

One other thing, since doing this myself is there any specific brand of plugs I need to get and what should I gap 'em at? (97 Ram 5.2L) Tools I have, mechanical knowledge I don't have. Sorta like a steeplejack buying his first shovel.

Use the OEM Champion plugs... I ferget the # but it's on a sticker under your hood. Don't waste your money on any double, triple, quadruple, splifire or platinum jobs... just use the good ol' Champions like God intended....

:^)

Mike

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1) Champions in Mopars 2) AC-Delcos in GM's 3) Motocraft in Fords 4) Bosch, 'splitfire', etc in the dumpster

That's up to you. I don't but nobody has ever accused me of being very bright either......

I've used the ole 50% water 50% atf, shake it up real good till it looks nice and pink and then dribble it down the carb/throttle body while holding a high idle trick a few times in my career and it does seem to work. I never really liked doing it cause of the ole liquids that don't compress theory. The mopar combustion chamber cleaner does seem to work much better.

Yea, what Mike said.....

Denny

Gap? Torque?

Check the tag under the hood. I "think" the gap is .035". I've haven't used a torque wrench in years, just use a 8" 3/8th drive ratchet and turn it down till its snug and then nudge it a tad. How's that for an exact measurement???

Denny

Yep.

If the plugs use a tapered crush washer, finger-tight, then 1/2-turn. If they use a flat sealing washer, finger-tight, then 1/16-1/8 of a turn.

If you go with the Champions (I always liked the truck plugs, #4071, myself... copper core - little bit better construction, plus they look cool in black :), they use a tapered washer.

Ever used a steam cleaner? Same concept. Stick with the CC cleaner, though...

THis is kinda a silly thing to do. Believe it or not, your engine efficency is actually higher with deposits in there due to a higher effective CR ratio. You could use better gas and see some MPG and performance increases or try to clean it out and lower effective CR and keep using that 87 octane sewer gas.

Cable doesnt get that hot, barely even warm. I wouldnt suggest leaning on the manifold though.

To each his own but I think I'll keep doing it my old silly way. I can't think of a single way that a carboned up engine will run better than a clean one...even with your higher cr theory.

Denny

Autolite 3924 work well for me. Cheap too! You can buy them at Wally World.

beekeep

It won't!

Mike

Denny.. I actually have a serious question for you!

Is the Mopar stuff any better than Barrymens' (SP) chemtool or Gumout??

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

You're joken, right????

Different chemicals for different applications. The Berrymens Chem-tool and Gumout are carb/throttle body cleaners that do a fine job removing varnish build up and light carbon deposits from the throttle plate area. There are probably a hundred other uses for the stuff because they desolve petrolum so well. The carbon deposits that build up on the back of the intake valves and in the combustion chamber are usually harder than a rock and have to be chipped off or a wire wheel works good on the valves. The combustion chamber cleaner soakes into these deposits and softens them up so when you run the dog shit out it the deposits will break apart and get spit out of the exhaust. And it does seem to work fairly well.

Denny

Denny is right about the carbon build up being hard as a rock. I once helped a friend rebuild a 348 Chevy truck motor many years ago. We had a HALL seat grinder and valve grinding machine, but the valves had to be cleaned up first and with a drill motor and STIFF burnishing brush it was still one holy mother of a job to clean up those valves, even after soaking them in the solvent tank for a couple hours. We also had something you don't see much anymore... a lapping tool and a tube of lapping compound. Does anyone lap-in their valves anymore then number them and match numbers on the seats when doing a top end overhaul? Used to be a matter of routine.. part of the job.

Yes, every time. When doing valves, the seat gets cut (the newer machines uses a tool bit instead of a stone), the valve gets faced, length gets checked and then it gets lapped in every time. A few steps have been left out of this sequence but that's the gist of it.

BTW, a bead blaster does a helluva job cleaning those valves....much easier that a wire wheel.

Denny

With 3 angle valve jobs you don't lap them any more. With a standard straight grind, 1 degree differential, lapping is still a good idea.