Steam Cleaning the inside of an engine

[Terry Stapley]

Fact or Fiction??

Does introducing water into the carburetor with the engine running at about 3000 RPM do anything to "Steam Clean" the tops of the pistons and valves?

Fact or Fiction??

[rokndad]

My Dad used to fly for the Navy in the Phillipines in WW II and he told me when I was a teenager that those old radial piston-driven airplanes had water injectors for giving the engines a "little boost" and blowing out the carbon from the pistons and plugs.

I also recall seeing him use the hose with one of those "aqua guns" on the end, and using only the very smallest of misting inject it into the carb on our old V8 flathead when it was missing. Keeping the rpms up, because the water would make it want to stumble, the darn thing would smooth out after he did that. I think it had something to do with the fact that water doesn't compress in liquid state and a little bit of it introduced into the cylinders exploded in the combustion chamber thus blowing off the carbon. Just what I recall anyway, and wouldn't recommend anyone do it to engines today.

[wtm442]

I have done that to some old small blocks. Worked OK, but you had to replace the spark plugs.

I would not recommend this procedure now with injected computer controller cars. Just add a can of injector cleaner.

[mrmustang]

FACT

Any other questions?

[RedCSX1]

I have seen it done with brake fluid as well which is poured down the carb as the motor is running at about 2500 rpms. huge amounts of white smoke blowing out of the tailpipe while this is done. Basically also done free up the vavle train.

[vettestr]

We used to spray a mist of water into the carb at about 2500 RPM when the engine was up to temp to remove carbon and cobwebs. Use a mist not pour water holding RPM up and give her about 10 to 15 pumps on the spray bottle.

The quenching affect of the mist fractures or brakes carbon loose from piston tops and so on. Did this to cars with a heavy choke setting and not driven often enough or hard enough to blow out the crap. Taking it out on the highway and hitting passing gear a couple of times did the same thing but took much longer. We did this for our little old ladies a few times during winter months. Don't get crazy with the amount of water but it works.

[dont]

Edelbrock sold a water injection system in the early 80's. They claimed it created HP.

[xracerbob]

Or go all the way:
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl...THISWEEKSISSUE

[LoBelly]

Very interesting article and obviously MR Crower has an enquiring mind and an enduring passion for engines and inovation when a lot of others would be kicking back

[RedSabre]

I'm far for an expert but just last week I had my aluminum heads rebuilt with new valves, guides, etc. The machinist commented on the valves as they had pits in them and stated it was due to water getting into the cylinder. I don't know how this occurred- whether intentional by the previous owner or via a internal leak but in either case, the valves showed damage. One might want to rethink about this procedure your suggesting.

By the way, the car did not emit any white smoke prior to me tearing down the engine which leads me to think there was no internal water leak.

Mike

[vettestr]

I have a turbocharged small block right now and it uses an alky + water injection (closer to a spray) but only under boost conditions. The amount it sprays is fairly small compared to even the gas.

My original post a few down was about using water to clean out the cobwebs not to reduce pinging or pre-detonation.

[MacGyver]

Years ago as a young service advisor I used to work for an AMC Jeep store. The 258 sixes were notorious for carbon. We would actually get vehicles coming in the drive that sounded like they had a horrible rod knock due to enough carbon on the pistons that it would bang on the underside of the cylinder heads. There was a "seasoned" tech that would roll the throttle up mid way and slowly pour water in the carb as the engine was running. This would "steam clean" the cylinders he said. It worked but be very very careful as you know what Hydrolock is. True story but I am don't recommend it as a cure. Currently the best way I have found to safely reduce cylinder carbon is a product called 44K in the gas tank. I have used it personally with measurable results. Another method is GM top engine cleaner. This is poured into the combustion chambers, let set, cleared than started up. It does a good job on engines that ping due to glowing carbon induced pre-ignition.

[Ron61]

If I remember correctly, and I probably don't, but didn't Mercury come out one year back in the 60s with a water mist injection on some of their cars? It seems to me that a man who I knew had one on his Comet and he said it came from the factory. But since I never saw many, I am not sure if this is fact. I do know that J.C. Whitney used to offer them, but then they offered about anything that anyone could dream up back then.

Ron

[RICK LAKE]

Terry Stapley Yes it is fact. When used correctly you can pick up 20-40 hp on SOME cars. You can run more timing. The 50/50 mixture of distilled water and windshield washer fluids work the best. Turbo and blower people have been using this for years. It's cheaper than a $1,000.00 air to air intercooler. A cheap spray bottle on mist works the best when hot. There is a down side that if the motor has alot of carbon of oil buildup in the intake manifold, It can come loose and damage the motor. A large piece can jam open a valve and you have piston/valve damage. Too much poured into the motor, hydro lock, and bent rods. TEC or top engine clean, GM has used for years and works great on breaking the carbon down and having it go out to the exhaust. Here's the caught, It gets caught in the Cat Convertor and plugs some of the small channels through it. Over time the cat fails for flow. O2 sensor are also funny with water injection if they are the heater ones. Have had a couple of them fail emmission test after a (steam cleaning). The heater breaks from the cold water or the debre clogs on the wire and it burns out over time. Jack Miller is running 2 paxton supercharger and water injection system for racing. The man runs in the 8'0s. An e-mail to him might give you some good info on running a water system. There is akit for about $400.00 that is a high pressure mister setup for desiel motors, Try Snow Performance or Waterboy for the kit. Shop hard the prices are all over the map. In real numbers for power 10-18hp on a regular gas is possible. I think there is a pressure switch for turn the system on and off. In a gas motor it would be the vacuum to turn on and off. If you enquire, tell them for a gas motor. Rick L. The new system are alot better than the old, old system was like you windshield washer sprayers, the high pump is a straight mister and controllable

[JeepSnake]

Yup, Buick & Olds used water injection back in the early '60s on their turbocharged engines in the Buick Special & Olds F-85/Cutlass.

Water/alcohol injection helps build power in several ways. As already mentioned, the cooling and cleaning effects let you run more timing or more compression/boost. Additionally, simply by adding the MASS of the water to the fluid passing through the engine, you create more power. More mass flow rate = more power.

I believe military jets have even used water injection to boost power (B-52 is one in particular I think used it in some models???).

MacGyver - take a look at some Jeep tech boards that cover the 258 and later 4.0; they still fight carbon problems! Standard procedure is to introduce Seafoam cleaner into the intake via the brake booster hose till the engine stalls. Let it sit and soak for 10 minutes, then crank it back up and enjoy the smokescreen for a few minutes! (Yes, I have done it...)