What is THE answer for disolving carbon off engine parts?

zMAX Carroll Shelby says so.




(sorry could not resist after being bombarded by the ads)

 

I haven't found a local soda blaster, but I like the effect on aluminum. Anyone in the La Crosse, WI, area know of someone who does soda blasting?

 

try CHEM DIP carb cleaner ( gallon can from napa) doesn't hurt carbs so I wouldn't think it would hurt pistons. wear rubber gloves and eye protection, this **** will eat the skin off your hands and must likely blind you!

 

lye will turn aluminum black and eventually dissolve it.

 

We have a winner!!

 

resturant supply houses sell a product called Carbon-Off. says its safe for aluminum. i've seen it clean some pretty nasty saute pans.

 

I give in. I'm getting an 8" wire wheel for the bench grinder tomorrow. My pistons are clean enough, but I've got 1/8" of chunky carbon on top of my valves that refuses to come off. I even tried boiling them for 2 hours.

Untame

 

Breakfree

 

I have used dishwasher soap to clean parts buy soaking them for day. I made the solution good and strong, If you get it on your hands you know it right away. soak and rinse.

 

There used to be a product called "HydroSeal"; I think made by GUNK. It worked extremely well for me; just soak the pistons in it, rinse with water and dry well. Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

It may have seemed like a joke when I wrote it, but a near-boiling solution of strong detergent plus agitation equals some serious cleaning power. I know a guy who used to clean his Cadillac spoke hubcaps in the dishwasher, but only when his wife wasn't around!

Here's an idea--- old dishwashers are a dime a dozen, they heat their own water and run on 110 volts. Why not have one in the garage as a parts washer? You could even recapture the waste water in a 50 gallon drum and re-cycle it by letting the solids settle at the bottom and pulling the re-used water from the top.

 

I have used a spray on gasket remover, worked great. Can't remamber the name.

 

I just did this job a few days ago on some incredibly crusty pistons.

I let each one soak for 24 hours in a gallon can of Berryman's carb cleaner, then I wiped them clean, taped the skirts with duct tape, and cleaned the tops with the wire wheel on my bench grinder. Take it easy with the wheel, just use light pressure and the carbon will fly off. I gently cleaned the ring lands with a broken ring, using the factory end (not the broken end) and then sprayed them down with WD-40. The pistons look brand new, and I wish I would have taken pictures of them before I did this job. They looked like they came out of a pit barbecue when I started.

 

Yup. Its also a surefire way to piss off the wife!

 

Old thread update since this comes up early in a Google search. I found that a 30 minute soak in half Gunk and half liquid B-12 Chemtool works well. Then a trip to the parts washer and a scrub with a br*** brush. The longer it sits the easier the carbon comes off. Bought a new bucket of Chemdip $$ - did not do well. Not as good as the old days.

 

I always used carb cleaner in the gallon can, rubber gloves required.

I like the dishwasher idea, don't have water at my shop, but the 55 gallon drum might just work out.

 

one of my frieds is using dry ice blasting ( real small pellets of dry ice like sandblasting ) , cleans with no harm to the metal the carbon littlerly explodes off the parts and the parts are dry too with no after to wash off , but to find a shop that does it is the hard part .

 

NaPA used to carry the good dip (macs from ashland chem ) but they went green and no longer have the stuff with the methylene chloride in it that was the ingredient that removed all the **** . I still have my 2 gallon bucket down stairs and its in a 5 gallon bucket of oil to keep it from eating the 2 gallon one .

 

Of course we have left out hydrogen fusion for a possible solution for removing carbon. I would think that 50 kilotons will get it done.

 

Nothing wrong with the wire brush treatment. A light touch will take the carbon off and not scratch the aluminum. You would have to be pretty careless to do any damage, really.

 

I'm the third person on this thread to recommend spray on gasket remover. The carbon basically melts off in minutes. It's a dangerous chemical, read the warnings and be careful. Amazon sells it, it is made by Dynatex.

 

Guess I've been wrong for 40 years on my LSR GMC's; I've been using the fine wire wheel on my pedestal grinder. One set of Pistons were bought from Nick Arias in 1976 and we're still being used in 2004 when I went to longer rods. I'll grant you there not much on them but I never gave it a thought just cleaned them along with the ring lands and back to get her again. They will be going in my sons street engine with a cylinder head that hasn't been milled. To each his own I guess..

 

The best way to remove carbon is with a torch, carbon is flammable and burns right off. Get an oxy-acetylene torch going to get it started, and once the carbon lights, turn off the acetylene and use just pure oxygen to keep the fire going until the carbon is all gone.

It's 2019 now and I change my mind. The best way to remove carbon from a piston is use a little toluene or acetone, and with a brush or s****er, it comes right off.

 

That's how I used to clean out EGR p***ages and crossovers in intakes.
I'd try it with a junk piston first to get the feel so you don't sag a good one.

 

food service industry.