How do you clean the carbon build up off old pistons that are out of the engine.

Whats the best solution to use.

 

iono...steel wool? Simple green? Water?

 

You could ask a local machine shop to clean them...they do it all the time with engine parts

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Irish Integra &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You could ask a local machine shop to clean them...they do it all the time with engine parts</TD></TR></TABLE>

do you know how much that would be? mine are full of carb also.

 

GAS is your friend.......

 

Buy a can of eah of the following, then soak them in one of each at a time in any order:

Paint thinner (Kerosen?)
Peroxide (H2O2)
Soap water (disher)
Alcohol (Ethanol or IPA)

 

how long do you soak them for.... and any order?.... you'd think soap water would be last....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by blk_db2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how long do you soak them for.... and any order?.... you'd think soap water would be last....</TD></TR></TABLE>

Do you want them to rust? No soap...no water. Gas would be good, also brake cleaner would be good too. But once you get them cleaned it's important to put a fine film of motor oil on them to keep them from rusting.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by virusiidx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

do you know how much that would be? mine are full of carb also. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Sorry I've no idea, you'd have to call up...

 

just take them to a machine shop. for 4 pistons it should be around 20-25 bucks. they will hot tank and bead blast them. you do not want to use steel wool an pistons. you will wear your arms out trying to get them clean. methyltoluleneacetate is no longer available on the open market (cancer risk) and that was always what we used in the diesel shop. if you think gas carbon is a bitch you should try diesel buildup sometime.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Haleiwa-Brando &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Do you want them to rust? No soap...no water. Gas would be good, also brake cleaner would be good too. But once you get them cleaned it's important to put a fine film of motor oil on them to keep them from rusting.</TD></TR></TABLE>


The last time i checked ........................Pistons Dont Rust.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 92WhiteHatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The last time i checked ........................Pistons Dont Rust.</TD></TR></TABLE>

correct. they are aluminum. they Do oxidize slowly in the presence of air.

 

hmm, how about air craft remover? simple green, gas, steel wool, and paint thinner should work???

 

it will work ok. you are gonna spend about 15 bucks on a can of the good stuff. you might as well take them to a machine shop. they can also clean out the ring lands for you. that is about the hardest part to do because they are a narrow *** slot and you cant use anything metal on them without risking ******* them up and having to buy new pistons. look into having them coated with swain coatings while you are at it. less friction and heat = a happier engine in the long run. especially f you ever go nitrous on it. you should also have them weight balanced. makes a big difference in a 4 cylinder. that is one of the reasons that type-r motors are so damn pricey. everything was balanced to the nth degree to make them live at high rpm. i had a set of big block ford pistons weight balanced years ago. one of them weighed 15 grams more than the rest of them. that is alot.

 

engine degreaser and some steel wool. Just mnake sure not to damage the surface of the pistons.

 

buy some GM top end cleaner, set the pistons face down in a bucket and soak them with the top end cleaner for a hour. Then wire brush the top and clean the ring lands with a ring cleaning tool or a broken piston ring works too.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by blk_db2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how long do you soak them for.... and any order?.... you'd think soap water would be last....</TD></TR></TABLE>

I am not sure, this combo is pretty much universal as one of them will disolve pretty much any deposit on earth (except epoxy maybe). I tried peroxide on a rusted garage door opener with grease and it comes out clean without scrubing. Engine parts I would assume the same. It is just a brute force approach to cleaning all kinds of ****.