Cylinder head decarbonizing (i found one easier way!)

[DamirGTI]

Hello !

I've started to make/modify one more Peugeot 205 Gti head , and when i was starting to clean/prepare the head i decide to try one test regarding to find some easier way for removing carbon deposits from the exhaust and inlet ports (and also from the combustion chamber ..)
There was a big amount of heavy formed carbon deposits as you can guess especially inside the exhaust ports , very tick and dry layer of carbon deposits all over inside , and was a bit hard to remove/scrub off for me by hand and with my tools so i try one test to see will it works .

This is what i was doing in order to try if this my test will help for the carbon to let loose :
First i plug up exhaust and inlet port entry's with a little pieces of sponge (i plugged the valve guide holes also) , after that i sealed/tape up exhaust side of the head over the sponges plugged inside the ports so that no fluid can leak out past the sponges (for the inlet side of the head this wasn't necessary because i leave the head on the table in angle more at the back on the exhaust side of the head so no fluid wasn't leaking out past the sponges at the inlet side) then i use some …œcarb-cleaner‚ and 99% pure Acetone and soak up all the ports with this mix of …œcarb-cleaner‚ and Acetone ¢‚¬Å“ inlet and exhaust ports fully up to the top .
After soaking insides of the ports i plugged all the port entry's from the top of the head/combustion chamber also with sponge pieces and pour some more Acetone in order to soak the sponges from the top , so that they are wet enough .
I leave this head on the table over a night for the fluid mix to work out . I wake up next morning and go straight into the garage and inspect what has happened over the night and by starting to unplug just one sponge out from the exhaust port i was very pleased/happy with the result !!
However almost all (60-70%) of the heavy formed carbon deposits was scrubbed/fallen down from the pot walls and in big pieces ! As you can see from the pictures , and other amounts of deposits which was still left on the port walls/surfaces was very softened and very easy to scrub off just with a toothbrush or piece of wooden stick !

Well this is just my test and this works for me like a miracle , me thinks that Acetone can't hurt/damage aluminum so that it can't be dangerous ?! Or maybe I'm wrong ? But this certainly works !

Regards !
Damir

Some pics so that you can see this for yourself and you can decide if you wish to try this my method ! :

[Guy Croft]

Good post Damir,

I'm sure a lot of readers will be helped by that. Yes, some carb cleaners are good, I use Safety Kleen or Wynns sometimes, contain I guess toluene and acetone. Cellulose paint thinner has acetone and also works.

I use a commercial decarbonising/paint removing chemical from Gramos Applied in the UK, (Metasoak) but it's very expensive and toxic too and not something a DIY builder would really want to buy.

GC

[DamirGTI]

Hi Guy !

I will be very pleased if this can be of some help to others !

Anyway me thinks that the Acetone was the main agent for carbon melting (i use some 99% pure from the hardware shop..) but also the "carb-cleaner" (which i was using) bottle/spray contains 10-30% of Acetone (Diacetone) and 10-30% of Xylene .
And yes i know about the Toluene and Xylene - they are also good but very dangerous/toxic and a bit hard to find/buy at least 90% pure .

Regards !
Damir

[Os7213]

Hi guys!

Interresting post!
Very good idea Damir
Here my own solutions since few years now:
I use a product called Penlube... This is a kind of "rust remover" combine with oil which can help to clean, loose nuts,studs anything rusted or really dirty...
I take a big platic case, put the head in, add 2+/- gallons of Penlube (I know its a lot but this product can be re-use forever if filtred all times) and wait maybe 4 days.
Unfortunatly I dont have picture of before and after but I can tell the head look clean like a brand new core, just like a "steam cleaning" on exterior and nearly perfect results in combustion chambers and ports, valves ect (I used a toothbrush on some spots too take like 5-6min to clean up!).
After I dry up the head with compressed air, use scott towel with Proform (acetone) to eliminate the "oily" finish of the Penlube

Almost forget this is not dangerous for aluminum, plastic so all the seals remain safe...

Pm me if you are interrested in Tech data!

So im very satisfied with the results but I will try your technique for "quick" clean in ext ports!

Thanks for a good writeup
Hugo

[DamirGTI]

Hi !

Yes , sure I'm interested in that tech data of this fluid which you are using - pm sent .

Thanks !
Damir

[Evodelta]

If you are looking for cheaper DIY cleaning kits then quite often the place to look is the cupboard under the kitchen sink!
We can get a product here in the UK called 'Oven pride' The kit consists of a large resealable bag to put everything in and a bottle of highly noxious fluid, judging by the way it efficiently removes all the baked on stuff from oven and hob grilles and the long list of safety requirements it has I would say it is ideal for de-coking and de-greasing engine parts.
Always make sure you test for suitability first though.

Martin.

[Julian]

We use a product called Metasoak for decarb work. You buy it in gallon bottles and dilute so suit the purpose. For quick work on durable metals you might use a 1:10 mix but for most things it is more like 1:50 or 1:100. The results though are outstanding.

It is vital to test it on the metal you are using first as it is caustic.

Very easy to use though - just dunk your parts in a vat of it and leave it. Typically we use a loft water tank as they are big enough to get a whole engine block in with space to spare for a tray of smaller parts.

[Yugo_Turbo]

I'm using detergent mix which can be found in any home.
It's mix of water( of course), detergent for clothes(dont know the wright word for it), Mr. Propper WC gel, Mr. Muscolo Destroyer and degreaser.

I know it sound pretty bonkers but it acctually works very good.
Part are only dunked in this liquid, and on where there are some havy deposits of dirt/carbon/rust you need light rubbing with some brush or something.
It's extremelly efficient on alluminium/alloy parts.
Only problem is that it causes steel parts to rust if not treated with some light oil after cleaning, nothing bad but you gotta pay attentin while working :)

I know Damir can find these chemicals/detergents at his local store beacuse Serbia(where I live) and Croatia are the some East European market and same products come to our countries.

[4v6]

My personal favourite is a traffic film remover (TFR with wax) found at a local truck spares shop which is used i presume for cleaning off the chassis with a steam cleaner.
It's water soluble, can be used neat or dilute and is none flammable.
It's the only stuff I've ever found that will remove the varnish/gum that clings inside a crankcase or the sludge inside a cylinder head and
it can be washed off with a hose after use.
I have found it to be capable of attacking aluminium even though it's non caustic, so care needs to be exercised in its use.
Also it strips the grease from your skin double quick so gloves and goggles are essential.
To top it all it's very cheap for 25 litres.

[DamirGTI]

Hi !

Thanks for advices !
Yes , I've been testing some oven cleaning sprays/fluids but i wasn't satisfied with the end results , apart from me starting to sneeze badly because of this fluids (me thinks that they are more dangerous then some engine cleaning sprays like "carb-cleaner" or paint thinners , these oven cleaning fluids are a bit irritate stuff for the lungs ..!) nothing serious wasn't happening on carbon deposits melting ... but I've heard from few people that particularly one brand of this oven cleaning fluids is good for this jobs however i didn't try with that one ..

Anyhow i will stick to this my method with the …œCarb-Cleaner‚ and Acetone as this works for me just fine without causing me any sneezing problems !

Regards !
Damir