Valve grime - Ideas please

[66overhaul]

Hi:
I am upgrading my intake manifold and carburetor, and when I pulled off the the manifold i can see that the valves are loaded with soot. Is there an additive/ cleaner that would work satisfactory or should I pull out the headers (both) and remove the valves? Also, I have only had this car for a couple of years. Do you think the problem was caused by a lack of lead or not enough oil changes? Do any of you recommend regular use additives or lead? I have never been a fan of either.
Thanks,
Frank

 

[chromedog]

this may sound crazy to you, but the old timers call it an italian tune up...run the car, and get it up to opperating temperature. remove the air cleaner, bring the rpm's up to about 2000, and SLOWLY trickle about 8 to 12 ounces of plain old water down the primary bore. do it slowly, too fast and it will stall the engine. after you are done, let the engine run long enough to evaporate the water from the carb, intake, etc... like i said before, it may sound crazy, but when you see all the black smoke coming from the exhaust, (hmmm... wonder where that came from?)you will believe...btw, a regular dose of fuel system cleaner (i like lucas) is almost a necessity in small displacement imports, ask someone with a 1 liter suzuki engine

 

[tylerrocks]

I would seafoam that biaaatch. Same method as above but a product made for this pourpose. The billows of smoke are so cool.

 

[allcarfan]

+1 on the water suggestion.

However,

if you pulled off your intake manifold (and I am assuming valve covers)...how do you see your valves? are you talking about the pushrods and rocker arms covered in soot? You cant see the valves when you remove your intake manifold. If you ARE referring to the pushrods and rocker arms, then adding the water will not help. It would be best to remove the heads and clean them.

 

[rbohm]

actually you can see the valve, well the valve stems and the backside of the valves anyway. the build up on the backside of the valves is due to oil, and fuel deposits, mostly fuel. in the old days gasoline had more junk in it than it does today, as gasoline today is more refined. you will need a two pronged attack to clear out the deposits;

1: running water, or better a bottle of seafoam, down the carb will clear out the combustion chamber of deposits, as well as aiding in removing deposits from the backside of the valves.

2: adding seafoam to your fuel tank when you fill up will clear the backside of the valves, as well as helping in clearing the deposits on the valves.

you can also use BG44k as well. be aware that you may have to do the above procedures a few times before the junk is removed.

 

[1966conv]

You could also replace 1 qt of oil with 1 qt of ATF, run for 500 miles and change your oil. You'll see the blackest tar/oil you can ever imagine coming out.

 

[rbohm]

You could also replace 1 qt of oil with 1 qt of ATF, run for 500 miles and change your oil. You'll see the blackest tar/oil you can ever imagine coming out.

not a bad idea, but better would be replacing 3qts of oil with atf, and running the engine for about 20min at idle. then change the oil, while the oil is warm. this will clean the inside of the engine out rather well.

 

[allcarfan]

ah,

I guess you could see the valves looking through the intake ports....


If they are that nasty though....id take them off and clean them. Or better yet...UPGRADE with a set of used heads.

 

[66overhaul]

Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the info. It is really very interesting and helpful. By the way, yes I could see the valves through the ports.

Frank

 

[ForceFed70]

Is this just soot, or is there a thick buildup of "junk". I found alot of junk on the back side of my valves when I was doing my rebuild. Turns out if was from the valve guides being worn. Oil would leak past the valve guide and follow the valve stem until the oil got to the back side of the valve. Once there the temperature was hot enough to sorta "burn" the oil into a rubber-like mess on the back of my valves.

 

[69 Rustang]

It is my understanding that water injected will clean the cylinder head surface of carbon through the combustion process, I don't see how it would clean the intake valves stem-side as that is not in the combustion area.

 

[chromedog]

the back of the intake valves still see some heat, granted, its not as much as the tops of the pistons, but they get a bit toasty. it is usually enough to break the carbon free, and send it out the exhaust valve.

 

[66overhaul]

Chromedog's comment

Good afternoon:
I think Chromedog's comment is really worth considering. For example, what is the sense of putting the Seafoam into the carburetor if it is not going to get to the back of the valve? I would really like to use an additive and not have to take the head apart, since it wouild take me more than a weekend. Plus, it could lead to more problems with gaskets, clearences, torques, and who knows what else. At the same time I do not want to think I am solving the problem, only to find out later if the engine goes.
Has anyone actually done this for the back of the valve?
Frank

 

[66HertzClone]

I owned a BMW in the early 80's, it was plagued with this problem. Carbon build up on the bcks of the valves, I was instructed to use Chevron's Techron Fuel Injection cleaner on a regular basis.

At one point the dealer pulled the intake off, cam followers off, and used crushed walnut shells in a sandblast like tool to remove the build up. There is an idea for you to try

 

[xoxbxfx]

sea foam...another method is to use a vaccuum line off the brake booster (if you have one) and let it suck down the sea foam. Its going to make a LOT of smoke

 

[BlackGMC]

I would seafoam that biaaatch. Same method as above but a product made for this pourpose. The billows of smoke are so cool.

 

[raleighstang65]

If the soot we're talking about is on the push rods and rocker arms, is using Sea Foam or the water method risky? Meaning if it breaks down the gunk thats coating the heads, where does it go and in what form? I am guessing that it leaves mainly as smoke, I've read about the smoke clouds from Sea Foam. And I know you have to change the oil to get rid of it too. But going from the heads to the oil pan, is there any chance it clogging or jamming something up?