Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) cylinder cleaning

[ALehman]

My teacher at school told me that if you pour water into your air intake and work the throttle to prevent stalling, it will clean the pistons. He said he has done it on many airplanes and vehichles. Can I do this with my turbo? Has anyone else hear about this?

 

[A Johnson]

Oh it will probably clean em all-right. Right up to a seized piston, or bent rod, hydraulicly blown head gasket, and who knows what all, if you mess up and do it wrong. I would not try it, just run a quality engine oil.



Yes, it is probably true as several engines I have torn down have had clean piston tops and valves when there was water running in the cylinder for a few miles.



A Johnson

 

[WoodChuck]

I worked for Tune Up Masters years ago and we did this all the time as part of a tune up. We just put the water in a squeeze bottle (like a shampoo or soap bottle with the lid on) so you can control how much you're injecting and shot it straight into the carb bores or TBI while goosing the throttle.



This was back in about '81 '82 and there weren't many fuel injected cars back then. I can't see it hurting any motor if done within reason. It just raises the compression if done in moderation.



Too much water could of course hydro-lock the motor which would make it stall. Usually the damage to a hydro-locked motor is done when water stalls the motor (or leaks in from maybe a blown gasket while off and parked) and the driver then turns the key in an attempt to restart which is where the damage (usually bent rods) occurs.



The water does not compress and it's like the piston hit a brick wall and the rods give first. I personally did this to a '85 Toyota 4X with only 18,000 miles on it (4 wheelin' in deep water at too high a speed with a poorly designed air intake) . I saved the connecting rod as a souvenir. Cranks are so hard they don't bend. They'll break instead.



If I was you I'd talk to a Cummins or diesel mechanic to see what they have to say before I did it to my truck. I think romping on it or "driving it like you stole it" once in a while does the same thing.

 

[MToney]

Drive it like your stole it, or pull/haul something heavy and run her hard, keeps the cat and the engine cleaned out. I have learned from many years of driving diesel, both PSD'S and Cummins that your cannot baby them, diesel love to be worked hard, just make sure you idle for a couple of minutes after a hard workout to kool down the turbo bearings. Cheers Mike

 

[Forrest Nearing]

the water thing is correct... you'd have to TRY to feed the engine enough water to hydraulic it... water injection has been used on turbo/piston airplanes for a LONG time, and it's been used in many automotive applications, including high performance diesels... it's generally used on gas engines to cool the charge and keep detonation at bay, and on diesels to keep EGT's down, but as an added benefit, it basicly "steam cleans" the pistons and cylinder head chambers and valve faces...



so, yes, it can be used to clean the carbon out of a chamber...



Forrest

 

[Dieselnut59]

I know some of the serious tractor pullers use water injection to keep temperatures down. A friend of mine pulls with a highly modified International Harvester antique tractor. They like to keep their tricks of the trade a secret, but he told me about the water injection which injects upstream of the turbo... along with the nitrus.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

careful injecting in front of the turbo, it erodes the compressor wheel pretty quickly!

 

[britannic]

The key is to atomize the water, so it's a mist. Gobs of water can end up lying in the intercooler or in some other intake location and might become a hazard later.



At the end of the day, it's your decision, risk and pocket book !

 

[CumminsPower98]

Sounds risky to me... I have not seen many of these engines apart but the one I have had the head off of twice was not very dirty at all and that's with about 170k miles. I would vote to just take it out and run it hard. Maybe run a couple cans of 44K on a full tank at the same time.

 

[Muleskinner]

Originally posted by ALehman

My teacher at school told me that if you pour water into your air intake and work the throttle to prevent stalling, it will clean the pistons. He said he has done it on many airplanes and vehichles. Can I do this with my turbo? Has anyone else hear about this?



This process works great for a gasoline engine when we used leaded fuel. (If you know what you are doing!!!) With unleaded fuel carbon build up is not a concern.



I cleaned the carbon out of many combustion chambers when I was a tune up man for Ford back in the 60's and 70's. I would NOT try it on a diesel engine due to the compression ratio.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

Originally posted by Muleskinner



This process works great for a gasoline engine when we used leaded fuel. (If you know what you are doing!!!) With unleaded fuel carbon build up is not a concern.

how long has it been since you pulled apart a gasser? every time I tear down one of my smallblocks for a re-fresh, I end up cleaning a lot of carbon off the pistons and chambers... these are later model engines that have never been anywhere near leaded fuel.



Forrest

 

[Jdimig]

i read this thread and got me interested and i went and looke at some water/methanol kits that snow performance makes. i must say one ive never heard of injecting water into the engine! but after i read a bit it amazed me at what this kit does. it used a pump that pressurerizes the water/meth to between 60-all the way up to 200psi, to get the proper atomization of the water, then injects the fine mist into the intake cowl at a 90 degree angle to the flow of the air. guys that have these kit can see a 200 degree drop in egts, as well a a 40-60 hp gain. now that's awsome! im seriuosly thinkin about getting one of these kit once i get some more hp output!



wes