cheap engine cleanout

[1968k10blue]

I was wondering, the other day I saw a video of someone pouring water down the carbeurator to clean out carbon deposits, is this safe? I know you can run seafoam through the carb via vacuum line but is water safe to do this with?

[Bryan H]

I use to work at a dodge dealership and they would do the same thing with automatic trans fluid. They would hold the throttle 3/4 way down and someone would start pouring. Needless to say it would smoke the whole city block up. Whether it did any good idk.

[DreamRyder1963]

You can use water but it does not work as well as seafoam. Plus there is not advantage to letting it soak like there is with seafoam.

[MARKDTN]

Originally Posted by Bryan H

I use to work at a dodge dealership and they would do the same thing with automatic trans fluid. They would hold the throttle 3/4 way down and someone would start pouring. Needless to say it would smoke the whole city block up. Whether it did any good idk.

This works well on my son's go kart. After a while the valves start sticking. Pour in some ATF while it is running gets them lubed up again.

[jcis4me]

Just a reminder water DOES NOT COMPRESS!!!! You will hydraulic the rod it you add too much. Found out the hard way racing boats and when it flipped over water got in the carb bye bye rod!
Marty

[mmiddle]

The water does work, but is DANGEROUS for your motor.
SeaFoam is a way better alternative.

Back in the day engines would carbon up, but now days the gas has so many detergents and ethanol that carbon is not and issue like 20+ years ago.

[TBONE1964]

Well what ever you use you need to use in moderation or hydraulicing may be an issue and that does tend to be hard on connecting rods. Good old fashion prestone works very well. Have you ever seen the top of a piston that had a coolant leak on it? It does a great job removing carbon deposits.

[hayhauler71]

Originally Posted by TBONE1964

Well what ever you use you need to use in moderation or hydraulicing may be an issue and that does tend to be hard on connecting rods. Good old fashion prestone works very well. Have you ever seen the top of a piston that had a coolant leak on it? It does a great job removing carbon deposits.

The reason the piston is so clean in a leaking head gasket situation is the water in the coolant. Water in the combustion chamber produces steam. I have used water for cleaning combustion chambers and it works great but must be done very carefully. There are company's that sell fuel system cleaners that have a special tip [orfice] that is installed in the pcv line that will suck the water or cleaner in at the right rate when the engine is idling

[eagleuh1]

Seafom works great. I used it on my wifes 2001 Mustang when the V6 would start to knock when hill climbing. Run a bottle through the PCV line while raising the RPM. Smoke the neighborhood and highway all the way into town. But no more knocking from carbon buildup.

[70 shorty]

I remember my buddies dad who was a Chrysler mechanic back in the 60's talking about dribbling water down the carbs on a cross ram 413. He said he rigged up something so it just barely dripped so of course it wouldn't hurt the engine, but instead cleaned it. I"ve used Seafoam myself with noticeable results.

[tlcrz1972]

It does work, I've done both water and ATF, IN MODERATION, don't just dump it down the carb.

Use a spray bottle and just mist it into the intake.

It's an old racers trick back in the 50's -60's, some even made a water injector for going down the track.

[rcrahn]

If the goal is to remove carbon deposits you want to use something that will both dissolve the deposit and then burn. Water is a poor choice. And as others have said it cannot be compressed, so use too much and it's goodbye rods.
Best to stick with something like seafoam

[tlcrz1972]

Another way to do the ATF additive is to pour a quart or two into the fuel tank before fill-up.

I've been doing this on my gas burners for years. It's a cheap fuel additive and cleaner.