De-carbonizing

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The 1915 reprint in the lates  PASB has a mechanics tip about adding a pilot light to a welding oxygen nozzle to burn the carbon off in the combustion chamber. I find this interesting. I have seen references to de-carbonizing before, an SAE report from the ’30’s talking about doing it every 15,000 miles as routine maintenance. I had assumed that it meant removing the cylinder head and abrasively removing  the carbon., but this article sounds like it was routine to blow oxygen into the cylinder and use matches to start burning the carbon off.

Wondering if anyone has any light to shed on this? Just curious.

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I can’t speak to the gas approach for carbon removal, but have used a mix of water/Windex poured slowly/carefully into the carb with moderate RPMs for steam-cleaning, and it works great. This requires a steady hand and prudence, of course…

My aerosol go-to for carbon removal in marine (and other non catalytic converter) applications is MarineCare, which has been around since the ’30s. This product also works great for cleaning carburetors and varnish residues and green gunk left behind by ethanol. MarineCare is produced by Dri-Slide NA, although it isn’t advertised on that website. Give Dri-Slide a ring and ask for Joseph if you’re interested in the product.

(614) 291-6900

1452 Delashmut Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43212
Operating Hours: Monday-Friday, 11:30-4 EST

 

 

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We did this with large-bore two-stroke engines to unstick the rings. We put Marvel Mystery Oil in each cylinder via the spark plug hole, let it soak for a couple/ few days depending on how much offline time we had, then ran it.
Some car people recommend several different products and report good results, so this seems safe to try. Some swear by drizzling water or atf into the carb while idling but I haven’t tried this.
I suggest cranking over with the plugs out to avoid hydraulic-locking damage due to too much liquid trapped in the cylinders. We always cranked over with the indicator ports open in case coolant had leaked into a cylinder during down time for the same reason.

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