Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Piston Carbon Removal?

Feel kinda dumb not fiqurin' this out, but I'm having trouble removing carbon build-up on the INSIDE of my 216 pistons. I've scraped and power wire brushed them ,but really can't get in there for a good cleaning. My local machine shop doesn't want to glass bead them either. I think it's just bad timing for his one man operation right now. Any other suggestions as I'd like to keep moving forward. Thanks.

I Would use the product called Sea Foam on the pistons.

I run it in my 1960 evinrude outboard to clean up the carbon deposits.

Sea foam Deep creep is in a spray can.


Jimmy

Okay,Thanks. I'll give it a try.

Simple Green for aircraft,,works great on carbon,it's not green ,it's actually clear,,,awesome stuff!!!

Heavy duty Easy Off oven cleaner.

MBHD

Hank, how caustic is that 'Aircraft' simple green (odd, I've never heard of it, don't doubt it's out there though).

Well, I've used the Sea Foam Liquid on 3 pistons so far and it's doing a decent removal of the hard carbon. I soak the piston for a few minutes making sure it's been thoroughly covered with the liquid Sea Foam then I cook it in an old propane grill until it stops smoking.Then I power wire brush the entire piston. Safety is important. I do this away from the house/garage and keep an extinguisher handy. So far though there have been no flame flairs,just a lot of smoke which the precautions on the Sea Foam container clearly explain.

I think it is biodegradable????

It does not seem caustic @ all,, airplane products needs to be non caustic ,otherwise you could easily damage airplanes,I use it to clean airplanes & other nasty carbon build up ,espcially for the exhaust thrust reverser areas.

Not sure how long this product has been out for , but I would say for at least a year.

I can ask where we buy it from if you like.


MBHD

Here's their web site, but I couldn't pinpoint the cleaner Hank refers to. http://www.simplegreen.com/

Greetings . . .

Sea foam is great stuff. It even cleans carbon out of assembled engines by adding it to the gas tank. I use it in my '92 MR2 which is prone to carbon build up in the combustion chambers and on the piston tops. This build up used to cause me to fail SMOG tests for N O emissions because it raised compression ratio. Now I run a can of Sea Foam in every tankful for the 6 mos prior to my SMOG test and pass every time.

regards,
stock49

Using denatured alky in the gas tank for smog check works also.

;-)


MBHD

If you could I would apprecitae it.

We still run round engine aircraft, so if you have any info on anything that would help clean the exhuast trails off the wings that isn't caustic that would likely help. ('cause carbon covered stainless riveted to aluminum riveted to magnesium wouldn't corrode, more than alot ).

Thanks.

I've used a product called CLR. It's a household cleaner that's commonly used to remove residue from hard water off windows or shower enclosures. Just soaked the pistons overnight and clean them with a parts cleaning brush. Rinsed in warm water and let them dry. Got the suggestion from a car restoration guy. I had to do some pistons twice, but hey, it took them 50 years to get crudded up that bad. The stuff softened up the carbon great.

Yikes ,,sounds like disimular metal corrosion going on there just by talking about the metals...


I will ask,,tomorrow.

MBHD

The Aircraft Simple Green is "safe for aluminum", which is unusual in the cleaning products.
A lot of products (409) will cause corrosion of Al. I've heard stories of significant aircraft damage done using 409 degreaser/cleaner.
The Aircraft Simple Green has been out several years, but I've never run across a source other than mail order..so I've done without it. I would like to try it on exhaust stains.

-Tad Cessna 175

I am telling you,,,,,,,A/C simple green is awesome.


Especially on exhaust stains....


I tried isopropyl alky, M.E.K. Toluene, etc,,,, & they would not remove the exhaust stains,,,hit it w/ A/C simple green,,,it took it right off.

I forgot to ask where we get it,,I am thinking Aviall,,,but I will find out.


MBHD

Here's the link to the Aircraft Simple Green. Perhaps it can omly be bought through a supplier, not a store,unless aircraft store.

http://gsa.simplegreen.com/gsa_products_extreme.php

Thanks all, that's good to know. Sounds like it works as well on exhaust trails as the old "Air Show". We don't use that anymore, something about it's a neurotoxin.

================================================================

Aircraft Spruce carries it.
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/09-00809.php

Not cheap, but I have pistons to clean too, so maybe I'll try it.
MBHD: Thanks for bringing that to our attention.

Note: check price diff between 32oz and whole gallon.
I'm buying a gallon!

Pete

We buy it from CAPS .

Corporate air parts.


http://www.corpairparts.com/

MBHD