Forgotten Trick: Removing Carbon Buildup from Engine
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- čas přidán 21. 04. 2024
- Old school trick that you may not know or may have even forgotten. A easy way to clean carbon buildup off a engine without taking it apart and without spending a single dime
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I'm an old motorhead. 83 yrs old to be exact and I was using this method when I worked at a Pontiac dealership back in the early '60s. Yep, it works! As a matter of fact there would be carbon blow out of the tailpipe that you could feel and see. The only thing a person has to be aware of is that some of the carbon can become lodged on the valve seats and cause a temporary misfire on some cylinders. This will work itself out with a short drive. I've had some engines that would not idle after this procedure until after a short drive to clear the valves again. Thanks for keeping this old "fix" going.
Anyone ever heard of using rice? I knew a ol guy who did it on many non catalytic converter equipped cars.
Thank you and the guy who made the video. I try to absorb as much of this stuff as I can.
Good way break rings
Suburban Pontiac, Bellflower, Ca. Same time. Water works.
I use the main vacuum hose from the matter cylinder... allows it to take a little. Works great. Do not fully submerge the house in the water, allow small sips
I'm 63 and been using water to clean the carbon out since I was 15 works great
not needed these days, just buy a new car every 80ks... never lift hood, dont look at dash.. my newest truck is 02.. no computer..
nice the phone is good for something
Same here.
Me too seen it when I was a kid in the 70's
water wit soap
My dad was a B36 mechanic in the Air Force. Those six big radials on that plane used water injection for keeping them clean inside.
The water injection gave the motors more torque for take off also......that was the main reason
Nope , water injection helps to prevent preignition and detonation. Allowing the engine to make more power.
@@paulberkland5700yep!
@@429thunderjet2 Right, evaporation of the water in the manifold sorta works like an intercooler, cooling the intake charge so you can use more boost.
@@puttputt73 Yeah, I'm not exactly sure at what point in the intake stream they injected the water mist, but that's the deal, it helps ward off pre-ignition & detonation allowing the engines to run hard & produce power without self destructing.
There were some old farm tractors that had water injection too I guess.
The difference was that they ran straight water or water methanol mix in the cooling system and sucked it right out of there. So they would need to top up the radiator periodically and drain the cooling system if there wasn't a strong alcohol mix in them when not in use if the temps dropped to freezing conditions.
I watched my daddy and his brothers do this when a car was running rough. It smoked a bit and leveled out and idled great. I miss the old carburetor engines. Simple and easy to work on.
Yes, I'm hearing you brother.
I have a 72, a 73 , 74 and a 75 car. all running carburators 👍🏻 f**k electric.
@@kkrc999 One piece at a time, huh?
Ya, pre-1980 cars might start running rough and leave you a bit frustrated, trying to troubleshoot an old worn-out carburetor or having to periodically file the points, but they would seldom come to an abrupt stop and leave you stranded on the highway as more modern cars sometimes do.
Electronic fuel and ignition management is why engines commonly go 300,000 miles today. Servicing these systems isn't for dummies.
Does it work with throttle body intakes?
here is a tip for you, replace the clean water with water from when you boil potatoes, it is full of starch and that reacts with the carbon and a chemical reaction occurs that removes all the carbon very quickly, some old bikers will remember cleaning two-stroke exhaust baffles in a bucket full of the potato water and potato peelings, leaving it soak overnight and in the morning the baffles were spotlessly clean,
Never heard that one before. Thanks. And thank you for watching
I was told this years ago, tried to test it scientifically and discovered it was about as useful as pouring treacle into the engine.
Don't recommend.
I have to try that with my GT550. :D
@@fuselpeter5393 I wouldn't. When the starch heats up it turns to sugar and just adds to the carbon.
@@fuselpeter5393 I had a GT250. Man I miss that bike.
WARNING: Tesla vehicle owners DO NOT use this method to improve the operation of your motor. You could get SHOCKING results!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
LOLOLOLOl
But if you do please video it. 😂 😂
Good one!
Guys who drive Teslas don't watch this channel - they're out shopping for purses.
I cherish the days when I unexpectantly get a dose of useful knowledge. So very grateful you took the time to share. God Bless you, sir!
Thank you for the kind words and thank you for watching.
***I had a cousin that was a mechanic all his working life in Florida and he built hot rod engines too. Well my aunt had a first year Ford Taurus that she mostly just drove around town and it ran like crap so he told her to bring it over and I saw him get the water hose, pull the air cleaner out and started putting a pretty good trickle of water down it with it running at a fairly high rpm and after he did that for a while her car ran like a new one and every once in a while she would take her car over and have him clean it out like that and as far I know that car would probably be running if she would not have passed away. So I saw it with my own eyes that it worked and you can't beat the price…lol***
Yeah cars that are driven too gently will always get all clogged up. I always lock my moms and grandmas cars in gear and let them wind up for a period i get the water burned out of the oil plugs all cleaned up.
Holy crap
I am almost 80 and what we did in "the olden days" we would run about 5 quarts of water mixed with a bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide. Get the engine hot and run this through a small vacuum tube into the intake at idle. The water would react with the hydrogen peroxide and burn the carbon off. I used it in my 40's cars to my 426 hemi drag car. I am about to use this on my Jeep and Furd F-150 eco boost. I relate these old time fixes with the old timers using natural trees and flowers to aid aches and pains compared with aspirin (same remedy you get from making tea from Aspen bark. Don't knock it until you try it.
Let us know when on the 150
Isn't it like mud? Wouldn't it just gunk up the catalytic converter on a modern car?
Water doesn't react with Hydrogen peroxide and the heat in the engine will turn the H2O2 into more water. It will liberate a little extra oxygen but will also attack any metal/plastic in the manifold and head.
Peroxide will deteriorate the aluminum pistons, though.
Willow bark. FYI
I grew up in the 50s and 60s and everyone knew the water trick.
Same. Old school rules on old school engines.
I grew up in the '70s and '80s and everybody knew that trick also.
I used to use water, but later I used SeaFoam, the first half in the gas tank, and the other half down the carb then shut it off to cook Works a treat, but engines don't get carboned up like the old '60s-'70s engines. I used enough to stall the engine from a fast idle, let it sit 15 minutes, then go for a drive to finish blowing it out.
@@ljprep6250 oh ya I forgot about seafoam. That is the shit
@@Rabbit.760amsoil power foam works even better
And when you said younger people don’t have interest I would say halfway true I’m 23 and only own two cars right now 63 impala ss and a 1969 Buick skylark both original engines so I promise to keep carburetors alive!! And tips like this
Thunderhead 289 is doing some interesting work on combing carbs with O2 sensors to make them run better. More MPG and less apt to carbon up.
I’m 25 years old, I was told this trick when I was 16, thinking it was a prank I never did it till last year. Laid about 100 to 200ft of garden hose out in the sun to heat up, put my spray nozzle on mist and sprayed right by the intake. Worked like an absolute charm. But be aware, you can flood the motor if yours not careful and hydro lock it. (Ask me how I know)
Yes it does work I've do it a few times myself....and I was also looking for this comment about Is hydro locking because it can happen if you Is poor too much water...you can also hydro lock the engine by putting way too much fuel....it happens to hot rod's.
And to mowers to
Yeah, you don't want to flood it, haha, ha ha ha. It does work though. Use a spray, misst bottle from a hairspray. Pump, Rev the motor up, keep it as high idle and spray it in there a little bit of time. Bring your fishing Rod. A couple of trout Mike be coming out the tailplate.
I use a hose connected to vacuum line with a valve and route it through window to control valve from drivers seat and then head er out the highway at cruise speed then apply the water...works best just takes more time
So how do you know? Kidding.. I like the spray nozzle method, and that's what I was thinking, something like a spray bottle or something to create a mist.👍
He's telling the TRUTH. I was taught tricks like this by my late uncles and it works 💪.
My uncle also taught me this trick he was a old school stock car racer
I used to do this on my cars back in the 70"s. I even installed the "Ol" JC Whitney water injection kit, (back when it was mail order). The complete kit was a Mason Jar with a valve on the lid (adjustment) a piece of hose and a T fitting for the PCV. Thanks for a ride down Memory Lane, Brother.
Thank you for sharing and thank you for watching
There was an advertised horsepower advantage, never ran one but was always curious.
Man I miss the old JC Whitney catalogs! It was like a dream book for me when I was a kid about 10 years old and up.
Ha, I had forgot about those. I put one on my 78 GMC pick up!
@@thomshere You too! Some of the other things I bought from JC were side pipes, windsheild repair kit, Disc brake dust sheilds (kept the Cragers clean)and the Universal Wheel Balance kit (which were circles filled with sand mounted behind the wheels). What items did you buy?
It's physics. Water bonds with carbon to form hydrocarbon. Plus the heat helps it release and expel it out the exhaust.
Haven't seen this in years. Worked pumping gas at a service station as a kid and saw one of the owners do this back in 64. He told me exactly what you said it would do. He then proceeded to tune the engine. This is back in the day when leaded gas was still being used. Thanks for sharing.
I was taught this trick around 50 years ago by an old guy in my neighborhood who worked on cars. Back in the day they used to sell water injection kits so you could bump your timing without spark knock. It also had the side benefit of keeping the carbon out of the engine.
They still sell the injection kits today if you look for them.
Same, learned this from an old dude in the 70's. I did it on a few vehicles, it seems to improve performance a bit.
My Chevelle liked it the most. My 69 Road runner440 ci Hurst 4 sp. had a built motor, cam and polished ported heads, all it got me was too many tickets.
@chefgiovanni them hotrods will cost you money one way or another Thank you for watching
Back in the early 80s I used GM’s Top Engine Cleaner. That stuff would smoke-out the whole neighborhood! I was afraid of someone calling the Fire dept. I see it’s still available.. It worked on my POS Chevy Citation ‘iron duke 4’
In the 60's i worked At a Chevy dealer . These were the days of leaded gas and low compression engines. We used to get older folks that came in with bad carbon knocks in their engines . They thought they had bad engine problems. Our mechanics would take them down back and use the water decarb treatment for 10 minutes and come back running like new !
Thank you for watching
This sounds like a Florida comment. We were still doing it in the 90s. I worked with a bunch of old timers though. I learned invaluable lessons.
@@frizzellracinghello sir,
Does a guy want to do this on a warm or hot engine or a cold engine.
Thanks 😊please let me know..
@@frizzellracingAnd what about a truck that has fuel injection???
@@harvdog5669hot engine.
I was taught the same method and transmission fluid in the oil trick as well!....I've known these two tricks since I was a boy and I'm 44 now and I've been working as a ASE master automotive technician at a dealership and guys younger than me look at me like I'm crazy...can't wait to show them this video today 👍🏼
Transmission fluid in oil tell me more
@@adriandelreal9126 to understand the whole atf trick you need to know the history of oil. Using atf oil started back in the 50's-60's. Back then motor oil was more natural oil and atf oil was made from whale oil. Whale oil would clean and help remove deposits from that natural oil. In the early 70's whale oil was banned mainly because so was whale hunting. Around this time motor oil started changing to be petroleum made oil. It is bot recommended to use atf oil in your oil for a modern car or even one from the 90's. There is no detergents in atf oil however what it will do if you want to experiment is todays atf oil is a dispersant. What this does is it helps lift and disperse dirt and the sorts in small passageways and in an engine this will only help in the oil pickup, alleys(cant remember the actual term) anywhere there is a small passageway. Anyways if you have sludge build up the proper thing to do is to tear down the motor and clean it. Additives or any other trick are just temporary fixes. They will remove just enough that its not causing issues but it never get it perfect like it should be. So use the additives or do an engine flush to help make it last for a few months or so and then tear it down to do a proper cleaning.
@@adriandelreal9126
Automatic transmission fluid has good detergent properties.
Put 50 to 100mls in a 9 litre sump and drive for 100 to 200 miles and change oil as normal.
It does a very slow flush.
Some people use diesel fuel instead (same amount).
I'm 75 and my dad taught me this trick when I was about ten. We used it on tractors and farm equipment. I still use it on older cars. Thanks for the refresher
Thanks for watching
One way to tell if this works: Pull some sparkplugs, and look at the carbon buildup around the bottom of the threads. (not necessarily the electrodes) Put the plugs back in, and try this. Afterwards, pull the same plugs again, and see if the plugs look any cleaner.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,besides carbon particles out and under the tailpipe , pullin a spark plug should reveal clean electrodes.......
You CAN see the piston itself at TDC. Or use a endoscopic camera.
My Dad was a Navy Aviation Mechanic in WW2 and Korea. He shared lots of Old school tricks of the trades with me. All good proven practical methods!
Water injection was used on some of WW2 aircraft... water and alcohol mixture.
We were using that trick back in '69 when my dad bought a garage. Never harmed an engine and we've pulled a few apart after the water treatment and they were extremely clean inside. Good to see someone still knows a few of these tricks.
I am 57 and been doing this since I was a kid in the 70's to lawn mowers to make money doing Tune ups at my dad's shop, spark plugs come out perfectly clean, re gap them and carry on.. Then in the 80's when I became a certified mechanic and all the "snake oils" came out I just laughed at the salesmen who would try to sell me their junk., and grab a bottle of water and show them how much better it worked . Potato water works even better.
what about vinegar water?
You're rite I did the same thing and the plugs would be a lot cleaner definitely tell the difference! 🤷♂️👍
Potatoe water? Throw a few potatoes in water then use that water?
@@JayLupe
Water from boiling sliced or cubed potatoes. The starch and steam combination works great.
Explain the process when doing it to lawnmowers....how much water?
Popular Mechanics had a article about this in the 80s.
In the 50's Popular Mechanics had a easy build for a water injection on a vacuum line to the carburetor to boost power and mileage. My friends and I all put it in and my mileage went from 16 to 18 mpg but all of our exhaust systems rusted out within 6 months
Man, Popular Mechanics magazine was the absolute greatest magazine of all time, at least as far as I am concerned anyways!!!
Haha @@dw9666
That's where I learned this trick too, cleaned out the pistons on my first car, Nissan Pulsar N12 front wheel drive, 1.5 litre 4 cylinder engine. I learned how to work on cars by reading every Popular Mechanics magazine I could find at every college library(TAFE) all across Sydney Australia late 80's early 90's. They had the Saturday Mechanic section at the back that answered all kinds of tech questions on car problems.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. My grandfather told me that the water-injection on WW2 airplanes would clean the top end of an engine as well. They always knew who was really pushing the throttles!
Water was used as emergency power. Greatly raises compression.
Wow, this video just dislodged a number of memories but this reminded me of when I was visiting my girlfriend and her sisters husband, a dealership owner and mechanic, used this trick to de-carbon my girlfriends parents car. It ran like new after a few cups of water carefully poured through it. Thanks for the memories, this happened when I was 18 and I'm 60 now and I have actually used that trick on my old '76 Cutlass.
Awesome thank you for watching
I'm 56 years old and I remember seeing old shade tree mechanics do this water trick on their engines. The easiest way to do it is by pouring warm water into a spray bottle and slowly squirting the water from the spray bottle into the carburetor while pressing the throttle on the carburetor to increase the RPM.
Ever notice how your vehicle runs better on a rainy day? That humidity helps an engine run more efficient. A little water in the engine like he did here won't hurt a thing.
OMG I'm 62 years old fool and I noticed that too never even though about it as the humidity was actually helping.
Humid air is less dense than dry air, if the barometer and temperature are the same. But when it is raining it is also generally cooler and then the air may be denser. Cars run better with dense air and they perform better at sea level than at higher elevations.
Mine runs worse
1st, Go Chiefs. 2nd... nope! It's prolly cooler where you live when it rains. DA is the term racers use to measure air density. Humidity is bad.
@@ohane1yes but density altitude is not humidity. High Density altitude is like being at a higher elevation then you actually are. Yes the air is thinner then.
I started working on cars back in 1997. We use to use a spray bottle and spray water into the throttle body or carburetor. We did this to eliminate any chances of to much water in the cylinder and bend something like a rod or valve.
How frequently do you spray, roughly? Constant spray, or intermittent?
@BehexagusTheGreat depends on how bad the carbon is. Mostly just a light spray. You don't want large chunks of carbon coming off and scratching cylinders, lodging into rings and or stuck between valves and seats, or fouling up the plugs.
.........................get the engine up to running temperature ,,, block the throttle slightly open [cloths-pin ] to get 2500 rpm steady ,,,,use the spray bottle method with ethylene glycol [ anti- freeze] ,,,,,,,,,It removes the surface layer or the fluffy light layer of carbon......won't budge that hard layer that bonded to the piston top..................
Is it the same for more modern diesel engines?
I've done this several times I always do it it just before changing the oil. Had a fella tell me about this when I was about 19, tried it once been doing it ever since. On multiport fuel injection I just pull the brake booster hose
Been a mechanic for 40 years and I remember my mentor when I got started in the business doing this all the time. He would also pour transmission fluid in the carb to unstick lifters.
Transmission fluid works well also. Thanks for watching
You would have to pour the transmission fluid into the engine oil to clean the lifters.
@@heystarfish100 Now that I think about it I believe you may be correct. That was over 30 years ago.
I remember being taught this by High School Automotive Instructors back in the early to mid 90s.
Yup. In TBI engines!
Unrelated to engines but as a youngster, I learned to free up a stuck axle by bolting a heavy chain to it, and stretch it out and do a whip action with it. It works and I haven't seen or heard of anyone else that's done it in over 40 years.
What a great idea. A new one on me.
I'm 56 and I use to do this as a kid. Works extremely well. The colder the water the bigger the chunks of carbon!
But he's right it has a nice steam cleaning effect.
I used to do this when I did a lot of hot rodding and auto mechanic work in the '80s. I usually revved it a lot higher and poured the water in fast enough to start slowing the engine down. Another thing we'd do is take the vehicle out onto the highway and do several full throttle pulls in a low gear from low speed to near red line. We called that one the quick "Italian Tuneup." Ahh, the good ole days!
I am 73 and my father did the water trick many times. He used a small Coke bottle of 7 oz filled with water and as he raised the RPM, he would slowly empty it down the carburetor.
It really worked. Thanks and take care.
Thank you for watching
In the 90s, my buddy showed me this trick.We didnt feed the water to it so slow. We used a garden hose. Make sure it is warmed up first, rev it to 3000 rpm, and feed it the water slowly. We used a piexe of cardboard 2 feet behind the exhaust pipe to see what came out, and judje when no more crap was coming out.
I have done the same. I used a spray nozzle on the hose set to a mist. It worked great!
I love it! My dad always said that water is the best way to clean your engine.
Thank you for bringing back that memory.
Thank you for watching
A old guy did it to my car back in the 80s. My car was dieseling and fix it right up. Cheers Graham
That was part of our standard tune up procedure at Tune Up Masters in the 80’s. We did it under load on the dyno.
Finally a good relaxed CZcams video that's instructional
I try. 😂
Water converted to Steam in an Internal Combustion Engine is well documented and proven. Motors with blown head gaskets affected cylinders are always sanitary clean like they'd just been overhauled. Me I always use ATF just by habit. I build engines the bottom end with White Lithium [Lubri-Plate] and have for 40 years. The pistons and rings I always dunk in ATF. Lubricates well and stays in the combustion chamber longer than anything else I've found. Good Video KUTGW.
Thanks for the video. Another trick old timers would use to clean the carbon was to add a gallon of diesel fuel to a full tank of gas.
I worked for Chevy in the ‘80s and we also used water and trans fluid to dissolve carbon, we also had what GM called Top Engine Cleaner which also worked great.
My uncle used transmission fluid and trickled it down the carburetor worked great
I've always used tranny fluid on an engine that has been sitting for a long time ( like in a salvage yard) It lubricates the valves and possibly prevents valvetrain damage.🤠
Born 87 garage head here. Dad a mechanic an pappy was a body guy. We've done water cleaning b4 many times. ❤from Pa
I learned that trick working with Andy Granatelli's Tune Up Masters in CA in the early 80s. We called it a 'Carbon Treatment', and Andy explained it to me as 'steam cleaning the combustion chamber (heads, valves, and piston tops) and blowing it out the exhaust.
Back in the 70s my Cadillac engine would carbon up and knock after riding around town for a few weeks.. I used a 16 oz bottle of half water and half transmission fluid mixed, then trickled in the carburetor at high idle.. It would blow smoke, steam & chunks of carbon for a couple of minutes , then it ran like brand new..🥃🤠👌
Yes sir. Thank you for watching
Yes Sir...I remember this trick as well. I also learned this from an old school mechanic in the 70's. Water is the best cleaner on aspirated engines. Good job Bobby for bringing this back!
This was honestly something I took for granted everyone knew. Then I mentioned it to someone the other day and they had no idea what I was talking about. I forget sometimes these things don’t get passed down
The gas back then was leaded for our old school engines. This was one of the major causes of carbon
I imagine today's engines run somewhat cleaner so this water method was eventually forgotten.
@@davidzarr1832 Had nothing to do with leaded gas. Usually, our customers cars that just putted around during the carbureted emission hose nest era. Often do complete tune up's wires everything (they were due) still not much better cup of water or two down carb would smooth em back out all better. Didn't do it allot, but often and was a customer specific issue mostly.
I knew an ol' guy who would use Uncle Ben's rice.
I'm 65 and this is the first I've heard of this. Was always a Seafoam believer. Gonna do the H2O next time
I’ve actually used the garden hose pouring down the carb on several cars. Slow rate engine revved up. All these cars saw over 270k miles in the time I had them.
IIRC the expansion ratio of water from liquid to gas is enormous. It’s why water injection is so beneficial. And the water is going into a vacuum, so the water’s boiling point changes dramatically too. These engines are spotless inside.
Water vapor injection is another cool thing too. Not to be confused with water injection.
Used this method several times. Tuned up a 71 torino,still ran rough.
Ran water through it and it smoothed right out. Definitely a great trick.
Yup water is all I ever used . I’m old and the old guys taught me that
Did this on a 1969 GMC. It was a low rpm motor all it's life, so I took a 12oz bottle of water, added 3 holes from a sewing needle, and emptied the bottle into the engine. Shut it off, waited 15 minutes, then ran it down the freeway for 20 miles. Felt like a new engine.
It’s amazing how simple things work. Thank you for watching
@@frizzellracing good day sir.. what would the method be if you have a newer vehicle and no regular carburator ?
@@paulkwiatkowski1059 you might find a port on the intake tube, like for a pcv or vacuum, apply the water there, and then run it on the freeway as described
Thank you @@garywarren3600
@paulkwiatkowski1059 you can also remove the air intake and pour directly into the throttle body. I haven't done it with water but I've used seafoam this way and it worked great. Just make sure to pour slow and find your throttle cable before you start so you can keep the rpms up
I love watching these Old Timer tips but about 5minutes into your video that hey I’m an old timer now !
Been a shade tree mechanic on my own rides for almost 30yrs, owned mostly OBD1 and it was easy to use a fine mist spray bottle to do this on horizontal intakes. Warm it, pull the elbow, rev it up a little and spray some in. Sure it'll miss, o2 sensors bump fuel trim up but it burns hotter and blows carbon out. It's situational depending on a few things. OBD2 ya needed a vac line to the motor or adapter in the intake hose and it still acts up terrible
Good for you,I'm an older guy too, and I know that trick, you never hear anyone doing this anymore, it's good to see someone doing this again, I will subscribe, If you ever did a head gasket you probably noticed that the cylinder that had the leak was clean as a whistle, the same thing is being done here, Thanks for sharing this old trick with the younger ones that may not have ever heard of it, Good Work
Thank you very much.
If you have a catalytic converter you will kiss it goodbye doing this otherwise its a great trick for older cars
A Cool Old Hillbilly, just like me, I'm 76. Great video !
Thank you
I am on the fourties’ and fell fortunate to learn from you. Your purpose of passing the ‘old’ trick is in me and it will stay for long because is not only in my head but also in my heart. Loved to watch and learn. Water is such a thing !😄
Thank you for watching
We mostly drove manual cars here in South Africa. I was taught to drive the car to around 3/4 of the rev range in second gear. Then you would change to 3rd and take the spead up to where it would be close to redline in second. Pull the manual choke open and change back to 2nd. The car would blow out clouds of black smoke out the back for a few seconds and stop smoking. Then you would change to 3rd and 4th as needed. Engine would run smooth after that.
good job on pointing out towards the end to make sure your motor is up to running temp before hand. Also,, its kind of important that the water you use is not cold,,, as you also pointed out.... the warmer the water the better.
kudo's here from west virginia and keep on doing vids like this,, the young bucks who are interested will benefit
Seen this done once when I was 10 years old in 1985.on a 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass supreme 350cid.... Rev the engine and poured water down carb. WOW, black smoke filled a huge industrial garage in seconds. Car ran perfect afterwards..
Yes sir. Thank you for
Watching
We actually did this in trade school back in the early 80's. The teacher brought a car in with a bad carbon knock. The thing was hammering like crazy. We got it going out in the parking lot, dumped a bunch of water into it, same as you did. Kept at it until the knock was gone. Brought it into the shop, let it cool down some, and whipped the heads off to see what it was looking like inside. Clean as a whistle. It's a proven method, works great, the steam blasts it all off. Little tough to do on modern day engines now with the computer controlling everything, but maybe you could let a vacuum line take a drink and see if it would work.
Awesome story. Schools need more shop classes now. Thanks for watching
@@frizzellracing I agree. This was during trade school while apprenticing for Mechanic's license. Been licensed since 1987 now. The trade has sure changed over the years.
Walnut shells ( an old WW2 trick used on radial aircraft engines) also works well to break carbon loose from the combustion chambers. I would be hesitant to use it today with catalytic systems and related engine sensors.
It works great, done this many times. Even if the windshield washer was connected to the engine, it was used while driving. However, there will be some water in the oil, so you should drive it really hot afterwards.
I learned this trick in the 80's and still do it. There is also another substance we use and alternate with the water. I start off with some brake fluid and then water, alternating until I'm happy. I learned that the brake fluid softens the muck and the water pops it loose and out...
I’ve seen that done as well but I seen it with transmission fluid. Same idea.
Old school rules 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
@@frizzellracingSticky valves
You are Absolutely right my father taught me this method. Back in the 60's Sunoco sold a can of "suntune" it worked the same you had to keep the engine reved up or it would stall out and smoke came out of the exhaust, come to find out it was mostly water.
Back in the I've seen guys add a qaurt or two gas to their oil and let it run for ten minutes and then change their oil, they did this to loosen any sludge build up in the engine. Great video!. I add a little racing gas in each tank load of gas on my 67 ford highboy to lubricate the valves, it has lead in it. Great video!.
My dad showed me this trick and told me about the history on it. Back in the days of the old checkered cab, these cars would develop a carbon knock from city life. Basically, they would never see high RPM, and thus would never get properly blown out from a good run. Their fix to this was to trickle water down the throat of the carburetor and throttling the engine until the knock went away. My dad also sometimes used transmission fluid to help lubricate the valves. The idea being that transmission fluid is a semisolid which will help polish as it passes through. Note: If using transmission fluid, a little goes a long way, too much may cause damage...lol. Great video, glad to see someone looking out for the younger generation. Thank you for sharing this valuable information.
Totally legit, a droplet of water expands 1000x as it flashes to steam. In a closed loop system (tightly sealed combustion chamber) steam is a corrosive especially when an oxidizer is present.
Even better, 1700 times the volume!
It’s only when it becomes superheated steam that it expands that much fellas
I worked at a marina back in the 90's. We would do this with older carbed inboard engines that were used to just putt putt around the lake. Also, OMC made a "tune up in a can" designed to remove carbon build up in small two stroke engines used for trolling motors. Worked great.
I like using Berryman's or Seafoam with any mystery engine I get. Warm engine, pour the stuff in until things are really smoking, then shut it off and let it sit for 20 minutes. Once you start it up again, rev it really good and maybe go for a spin. Clouds of chunks will often shoot out the tailpipe.
That’s what I use to do. That’s what our high school auto shop teacher taught us. I’m retired now.
I used this technique on a dirt bike I was racing a little back in the 70’s. It did a good job. Learned it from my dad and uncle who bought an old Pontiac when they got back from WWII to go dirt track racing just for something to do in their spare time…I got a “feeling” of just how fast to introduce the water as the engine was up to temp. Also since the carb was horizontal intake I get a spray bottle and sprayed the water slowly…thanks for reminding me of this…
Recommend using a vacuum hose with a 1/8" barbed reducer as an orifice. This will eliminate ingesting too much water causing internal engine damage. I also use -32F washer fluid (methanol) to avoid drowning out the engine computer based fuel injected engines. HTH
I owned a few MG TD's back in the 1960's. The water cleaning to remove carbon worked really great.
Really like your honesty - but will try this - and THANK YOU for all the information - I am 72 years old - Like your videos -
I got a lot of Jeeps in that you thought they had a rod knock but water cleaned it up like new. I never saw a customer so relieved!
When I was younger my 1969 Camaro was running ruff popping up thru the carb a bit an old guy told me it could be carbon build up he told me to let the engine warm up and try to slowly pour a little transmission fluid down the carburetor so after trying everything else I thought I would try it and he was right it smoothed out the engine after it smoked white for a few minutes.
A 50/50 water/ethanol mixture will do it and makes a great chemical intercooler for high compression engines on pump gas. You can buy a kit that does just that. It’s an old trick that is making a comeback.
Yes but water/meth needs to be tuned for, thus if/when you run out of liquid or your nozzle misfires, you're kind of screwed lol..I'm personally using a 35 wet shot of nitrous. I know my engine can take it with no issues, and it doesn't need a tune. Should clean carbon up well too.
yeah and some of the old indy cars used the water alky injection to make power
@@jaynikk758 actually you dont need to tune for it, but if you want the most out of it then yes you need to tune for it. Adding it with out a tune will pull the power out put down, but it is a great safety fuse agaist predetonation. I wouldnt run a nitrous system with out it, what if your wet jet gets clogged? then your engine is screwed, would be better to run a meth injection system with your wet shot set up just as an added safety feature.
Same idea use on some WW2 aircraft engines to produce emergency power.
@@Twolife yes it is, Old tech but works amazing. The new systems are much better though, alot better control over the spay volume and pattern.
I 'Invented' this over 45 years ago. My friends all laughed at me.
I was actually working on something else when I accidently 'discovered' this.
I used a Windex bottle and a long tube to the carburetor. I pumped the water in as I was driving and, yes, I did get a lot of smoke out the back as it got clean. It was a well worn motor and it ran a lot better after that. 😁😁
I learned this while working for AMC years ago. love it.
I did this once with a car of mine. I started slowly inducting water into the throttle body. Little by little, I poured in more and more water. Eventually I got carried away and put in too much and blew the engine! I ended up pulling the motor and rebuilding it. One of the rods was broken in half. My point is, if you do this, be very careful. You really should use a spray bottle and spray in the water very slowly.
I use a marine product to remove carbon. It works wonders - made by quicksilver - power tune. It’s designed just for this purpose for 2 and 4 stroke engines. It eats the hell out of carbon deposits everywhere and unsticks piston rings. It works. Big time!
We soak a carb in that stuff all night the junk that comes out is insane good stuff!
Learned this back in 87 from my cousins friend when they helped me tune up my GTO for 1st time. Yeah it blew a lot of carbon out of that original high mileage engine. Did it before we put new plugs in it. Haven't done it in a while though with current engine so will be doing it soon.
Learned this trick in high school back in 1996 by my automotive teacher who I'm still good friends with today. I as well always hung out with folks much older than me. I've learned so much over the years from people who were "well seasoned" at what they were teaching me. Automotive, plumbing, electricons,carpentry etc.
Things you're not learning on Google and Chilton books and in today's age, school!
I myself like to think I'm pretty well educated in many things. And have passed my knowledge down. But im still learning.
Best advice i can give the younger generation. No matter how many times you've heard the story. Pay attention. Listen to the older folks.
I like how you took a sip of the water right before the demonstration. I've been using Seafoam (newer 2000s vehicle) - had heard about this but not seen this done before. I dribble the seafoam in a vacuum hose then let the last bit stall it out, or shut it off and sit a few minutes, then start and run it down the road (smoke).
YOU GOT IT !
Agree , I have used this a lot back In 80's. Also for blocked idle jets cross a couple of leads to get a nice backfire. .
Absolutely. When head gaskets fail and coolant/water breaches into your oil it does the same effect of steam cleaning it. This works on newer engines through injection into the intake after the afm might set codes and ping but clear and with a scope inspect. There are a few tricks to lower ect’s as well, basically water mixes. Appreciate you shedding light on truth.
Thank you for watching.
65 years young Pauly here- You bought back many memories of my youth being born a gear head and will die as one as I was building engines by the age of eleven and working on mechanical equipment even pryer I remember doing this succesfully on many of those vehicles, It's good to see some of these simple mechanical methods that were born out of being resourceful and applying good old fashion common sense which seems to be lacking in many of todays so called technicians, hopefully shows like this will help bring some change
Thank you so much for the kind words. That is why I do videos like this, hopefully to keep the old simple knowledge around. Thank you for watching
The wisdom of the old-school boys: thank you brother. The yungins today don’t want to believe our old boy tool-box tricks. Also periodically practice “Italian tuneups” while merging onto the highway via a nice long entrance ramp. Another great carbon blow-off tip to keep combustion chambers clean and tidy. 👊😁
That's wild!
Back in the day, the shady gas station owner by me got caught running his garden hose into the underground gas tanks. He was actually doing us a favor.
He was actually ripping you off. Getting less gas for your money .
I was just reading a post on FB that mentioned this exact method. I'm definitely going to try this on my 81 F100 I just bought. It sat for 10yrs
If it hasn't run in that long, I'd suggest some marvel mystery oil first to free up the rings and anything else that may have rusted/stuck together. You can pour it in the crankcase, intake, or directly in the cylinder IIRC. Let it sit for a couple hours or overnight and burn/drain it. Did wonders on my '75 f250. My farmer uncle told me about it 👍
Love the old school tricks and natural methods, thank you for the content.
Thank you for watching
I used mountain dew to put out a carb fire on my 64 Plymouth sport fury 362 and the black carbon that came out the exhaust was a huge amount ran like a champ after that
prolly a 361
It’ll tickle yore innard’s 🤪
My dad would use casite to do similar. Today people do not think of carbon build up. You used to look forward to a long drive at hiway speeds to do similar. I have seen a rough engine turn into a very smooth idol. I am 83 so that is what I remember. Also in the 50's you often heard someone getting a valve and rig job on the engine at about 50K miles and If you got 100k out of a car it was considered junk and used up.
Thank You so very much for sharing this! I have a '78 Ford F150 with the 300 Six in it and I will definitely be trying this out.
I just genuinely appreciate this information.
Thank you!
Thank you for watching.
I had an old school mechanic show me this trick 40 years ago. I actually witnessed him doing it! It actually blew my mind that he was pouring water into the carburetor!
My truck prefers a beer.
As long as it ain’t light beer 😁
Technically I think bud light IS just water. 😂 😂
@@frizzellracingdrink a dozen and tell me it’s not beer. Unless you’re an alcoholic.
@@FYMASMD I actually quick drinking years ago. Just having fun is all.
My truck prefers me to have a beer.
I have watched my Dad do this when i was younger on a car he brought at the sell, these days the gas has a lot of water in it so that may help on the engines today and you right about smoke and got keep it running while you doing it
I seen UTG do this to his mopar several years ago. Old service station in my hometown would do this as part of the services they provided. Lost knowledge nowadays,thanks for keeping old school alive!
Thank you for watching.
I saw a super experienced mechanic on CZcams use Totally Awesome to this. I think he mixed it half with new oil on a new oil change and it worked unbelievably well. I was shocked until I went out and bought some, I didn’t try it on my truck but feeling how oily it was made me think yeah this would work