James_T
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I stumbled across this: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=35053 while looking for ways to clean the upper cylinders of gunk.
I actually gave this a try, more on that in a bit.
Apparently, this is supposed to be an old mechanic's trick of "steam cleaning" the cylinder walls and heads with water first, then using an upper cylinder cleaner (seafoam, GM/Mazda products, etc.) afterwards to really deep clean. According to other searches I made, apparently this is a pretty useful technique and actually works.
I had planned on seafoaming anyway, so I went and also got some distilled water from publix for a dollar per gallon. I did exactly what the instructions said, and began with about a full party cup of water. I had my OBD scanner running alongside to monitor everything.
I chose the vacumn line just right after the throttle body, and attached a clear plastic tube so I could sit in the driver's seat and modulate the throttle to avoid a stall. I slowly added the water by letting the tube suck it up about a 1/4 second at a time, with a second in between each dip in the water. My OBD readout (Torque app on my phone) displayed the expected P00XX codes for misfires. The engine was stumbling most of the time, but it stayed up and no check engine lights were lit.
After I went through the cup of water, I let the engine restore it's idle for about 30 seconds, then I put in the seafoam through the same vacumn line, with the same procedure. Except for the final gulp of seafoam, where I dunked the tube into the can to stall the engine and let the seafoam sit at the top of the cylinders. The engine stalled out with no noises that sounded alarming.
Fast forward 20 minutes later, I start her up, and after a few stumbles and hesitates, the truck fires up in a glorious cloud of smoke. I do the whole race the engine to redline down a backstreet several times to clean out the engine, and eventually, the smoke dissipates. After everything, the idle was around what it was before, which was ~600-700.
---
Results: I immediately felt a difference in WOT acceleration. It definetly felt harder and sharper than before, and felt like the engine could breathe better. Not really sure how to explain that, but it starts up smoother than before and accelerates smoother as well. It might just be a placebo, but it definetly felt like it made a difference.
As far as im concerned, distilled water doesn't really damage an engine, unless you hydrolock with the water. So, the risk shouldn't have been too bad, heh. :laugh:
I actually gave this a try, more on that in a bit.
Apparently, this is supposed to be an old mechanic's trick of "steam cleaning" the cylinder walls and heads with water first, then using an upper cylinder cleaner (seafoam, GM/Mazda products, etc.) afterwards to really deep clean. According to other searches I made, apparently this is a pretty useful technique and actually works.
I had planned on seafoaming anyway, so I went and also got some distilled water from publix for a dollar per gallon. I did exactly what the instructions said, and began with about a full party cup of water. I had my OBD scanner running alongside to monitor everything.
I chose the vacumn line just right after the throttle body, and attached a clear plastic tube so I could sit in the driver's seat and modulate the throttle to avoid a stall. I slowly added the water by letting the tube suck it up about a 1/4 second at a time, with a second in between each dip in the water. My OBD readout (Torque app on my phone) displayed the expected P00XX codes for misfires. The engine was stumbling most of the time, but it stayed up and no check engine lights were lit.
After I went through the cup of water, I let the engine restore it's idle for about 30 seconds, then I put in the seafoam through the same vacumn line, with the same procedure. Except for the final gulp of seafoam, where I dunked the tube into the can to stall the engine and let the seafoam sit at the top of the cylinders. The engine stalled out with no noises that sounded alarming.
Fast forward 20 minutes later, I start her up, and after a few stumbles and hesitates, the truck fires up in a glorious cloud of smoke. I do the whole race the engine to redline down a backstreet several times to clean out the engine, and eventually, the smoke dissipates. After everything, the idle was around what it was before, which was ~600-700.
---
Results: I immediately felt a difference in WOT acceleration. It definetly felt harder and sharper than before, and felt like the engine could breathe better. Not really sure how to explain that, but it starts up smoother than before and accelerates smoother as well. It might just be a placebo, but it definetly felt like it made a difference.
As far as im concerned, distilled water doesn't really damage an engine, unless you hydrolock with the water. So, the risk shouldn't have been too bad, heh. :laugh:
