Hey Veeky Forums. Haven't been on here in a long time, but it's time to do some 'spring cleaning' on my 2012 car with 42k miles on it. I'm going to be cleaning it inside/out/engine bay thoroughly and also do what I can to clean out the Engine.
My #1 issue is removing as much Carbon buildup as possible from in the Intake system, Valves and Pistons. I pulled a Spark Plug and was pretty shocked to see the entire Piston was coated with a thick layer of black Carbon. I've used a LOT of Fuel Additives over the years such as: Seafoam (Intake Spray and Bottle), B-12 Chemtool, Chevon complete fuel additive, Lucas fuel additive, Royal Purple fuel additive, Marvel Mystery Oil, etc.
I've never noticed much (if any) difference when using additives just in the fuel tank, and for most of that car's life it's been ran on 93 Octane which may have better detergents than 87. It had 300HP when new but it doesn't seem as quite as responsive anymore or have the torque it once used to. On my old car, the only treatment that seemed to actually work was Seafoam through the Vacuum Lines directly into the Intake Manifold, but of course some of that could be confirmation bias via the patented smoke show. I've watched the video of ETCG using water through the intake, but I don't exactly trust him for technical things. I have a hard time believing Water alone would be more effective than harsh Solvents like what's in Seafoam.
I'm going to try Seafoam this morning anyway, through the Intake, half for fun and half for hoping it works.
Any products or methods you have found that work well? Thanks for any help!
Nolan Cooper
Little bit of bleach in the tank, works wonders.
Christian Adams
Also looking for a recommendation on good solvents to add to the Oil before changing it to remove any Sludge/Carbon. Pretty sure all Walmart has is Motor Medic Engine Flush so I was planning on trying that.
delet this
Brandon Sullivan
If you really want your shit done right, fuck the additives (except for Seafoam) and pull your engine to clean the pistons, housing, valves, and fuel injectors yourself r get someone to do it. After that, use better quality gasoline like Shell or Hess, which have more detergents to prevent shit from happening. Use good oil, and don't pump your car with that additive shit. It's like giving pennicilin to someone who's organs have been damaged by sepsis. Yeah it'll help a little bit, but otherwise shit's already damaged, or in your case, dirty. Be curious and try doing it yourself. Get some online guides, watch videos, and if you have a friend who's a mechanic, ask if they can make sure you do it right.
Jeremiah Carter
BG44K is the best over-the-counter solution you can get, though you probably won't find it anywhere but online or at dealerships. If that stuff won't fix your problem then you're in need of legitimate cleaning services.
Thomas Diaz
I do use good oil, always use 93 Octane (not always Top-Tier like Shell and BP, but sometimes), and add additives pretty regularly. Really surprised with all the Carbon on the Pistons but I have been switching around Aftermarket Tunes which affect the AFR.
Don't know if the Tunes actually contributed but it's the only thing I can think of. I'll try to use Top-Tier 93Oct more consistently but Shell's prices are absurd on 93 and BP isn't much better.
I'll probably take off the Upper Intake Manifold to get a better look around but both the Upper and Lower manifolds are Plastic, so I don't imagine there's Carbon in those?
I also might as well change the Plugs while I'm at it - they too had some Carbon build up that may be affecting performance.
Anthony Nelson
Thanks for the advice. Never heard of it but the reviews look promising (though they're all high for everything). I wonder what the shit is that Mechanics pump through the Fuel Rails is. Like, what chemicals are most effective?
Toulene, Benzene? Who knows. Weird how there isn't much definitive carbon removal info out there.
Cooper Gray
Your europoor ignorance is showing, using higher octane fuel than required leads to greater carbon buildup from incomplete combustion.
Adrian Hall
Never use BG44K unless you are ready to change your oil immediately afterwards.
Tyler Smith
What? I'm American and the tunes require fucking 93 Octane because they advance the Timing a lot. Stop being a presumptuous cunt.
Carson Nguyen
Does your car require higher octane fuel? If not, use only the fuel the manufacturer recommends. The manual isn't just there for pictures to look at while taking a shit. Also yes, probably change the spark plugs too if they have a buildup, and use good sparkplugs or OEM ones for the best performance. If you're also using good fuel, additives are a waste of money, and will provide more harm than good in a clean car. What basically said, higher octane fuel requires higher compression. If your "tunes" are causing problems like these so quickly, your "tunes" are probably not doing anything good, or at least not enough to justify causing buildup in a car less than 5 years old.
Evan Davis
I am going to change my Oil today and need something off-the-shelf to clean out the crankcase. There's the '5-minute Motor Flush' crap but I don't know how much it does. I've used Seafoam and B-12 Chemtool in the Oil before draining before but they didn't seem to do a whole lot.
Looking in through the Oil Fillter Cap the Cams and everything look pretty clean, but it's my first new car and I want to remove as much possible crud as I can. I'll probably try the Motor Flush.
Christian Jones
Highest octane fuel you can get Octane Boost + Injector clean Subaru Upper Engine Cleaner Take it for a proper 1hr drive, about half way when it's fully warm thrash the absolute shit out of it, redline every gear. Eventually top out 3rd and then back off without changing gear, let it engine brake down to about 1/2 max revs, drive it home normally and for the last 5 minutes or so of drive be nice and gentle.
Done
Asher Thomas
Don't leave it for 5 minutes, you'll clog the pickup.
Buy the cheapest oil you can, use 1/2 of the engine flush for about 1.5-2 minutes, drain it and put the cheap shit in, run it for 5-10 minutes, put the other 1/2 of the flush in for 2-2.5 minutes, drain it and put the oil you want to use in.
Jacob Garcia
The Tunes are fine, AFR is in check and I do get more power using 93 (especially low-mid Torque) but it's the only thing I could think of that may be contributing. It's probably normal Carbon build up but it's my only new car and I was to be as preventative as possible.
Cooper Brown
Nice advice plus it'll be much easier to see the difference in effectiveness with the new oil coming out. Thanks.
Henry Thompson
Also, higher octane fuels contain more detergents and additives than regular fuel, which means it's not just an issue, strictly, of unburned _fuel_, but rather all the rest of that stuff put in gas, which may be designed to work under temperatures your car cannot reach.
I only buy Shell Premium or Midgrade, I have a 3-year-old direct-injected turbocharged car, and even I get deposits. The top of my pistons are coated in a flaky blackness, I haven't even looked at the intake manifold yet.
Tyler Lopez
For what it's worth, OP I used Seafoam on my 97 Taurus with the DOHC 3.0 and it produced a ton of smoke. I used a second can afterward and barely any smoke came out the second time. It idled smoother and had better response and top-end HP so it seemed to work for me.
Henry Cruz
I have a theory.. Could you try disabling spark, crank the engine for a bit so it thoroughly coats the pistons with the solvent? Then let it sit for a while, reconect the spark and fire it up?
Sounds reasonable in theory... when the engine is running there is virtually no time for the chemicals to soak into the carbon plus it's obviously extremely hot in the combustion chamber. I don't know how you could disable spark without taking off the boots or wiring clips, maybe there's an easier way.
Hudson Adams
I believe B-12 Chem. is very similar to Seafoam in bottle, label and everything and seems very similar. I don't think B-12 has whatever makes Seafoam smoke so much but it's a powerful solvent.
Plus it's like $4 at Walmart and Seafoam is $8-10
Aaron King
>require >a lot >presumption
I could tell from your posts that you're clueless, thanks for reaffirming that.
Austin Cox
>Subaru Upper Engine Cleaner This stuff is the shit. Fucking awesome.
