I was going install a head gasket tonight and decided to clean the underside of the valves before hand. Upon cleaning it I found this, at first we thought it was carbon deposits but I think these valves are shot.

FYI, these are Supertech valves, can anyone help. I'm totally lost here.

Also, I was losing coolant, so I think my headgasket was going. Could this have been caused by coolant leaking? Also this is on the intake side.

 

They look pretty normal to me (other than their size..wow).Additives in the gas leave alot of funny deposits on valves.
Glenn

 

carbon build up?

 

well, if you said you are loosing coolent, and if coolent was getting in... couldnt that be the coolent/oil mixed together. Its a similar color when you see it else where on an engine.

 

Yeah, but I'm not 100% sure where the coolant was leaking from. I was losing coolant from the over flow reservoir, so it could have been a blown/leaking headgasket.

 

Coolant in the combustion chamber typically has a cleaning effect.There are usually less deposits.Same effect as Seafoam.
Glenn

 

those dont look burnt......just carbon build up........you can spend some time to clean them up if you want but you wont really gain anything by doing that...plus the carbon buildup will eventually happen again.

 

Would it be safe to take some sandpaper to the face of those valves?

 

Update guys ... I got a small screw driver and managed to flake off a small layer of carbon build up. I didnt think it could get that bad, but it did.

I wonder why more on the intake side rather than the exhaust side - I guess it burns up?

I'll be cleaning this crap off then I'll install the headgasket.

So I can prevent this in the future, whats the main cause, could it be the tune? The material the valve is made from? I doubt its the gas I get, seeing only 93 octane is used in this car.

 

Well according to every major tuner, builder ect you will not gain full power till you have soft carbon build up on the head, pistons and valves. The combustion chamber takes in air fuel and burns it, what it is supposed to look like.

It looks a little rich imo, but this is the FI forum 12.2-11.8 is what we all live for...right?

 

Well after doing some searching on HT many have said excessive carbon deposits can lead to pre ignition and thus promote detonation - something no FI car likes or wants.

I'm going to get some sea foam and clean these valves up. I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FredoSP &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well after doing some searching on HT many have said excessive carbon deposits can lead to pre ignition and thus promote detonation - something no FI car likes or wants.

I'm going to get some sea foam and clean these valves up. I'll let everyone know how it turns out.</TD></TR></TABLE>

dooo it......im tired of lookin at that POS not runnin......

 

I'm having trouble location "Seafoam", can anyone suggest anything else? If not I'll get brake or carb cleaner and start to scrub really, really well. I'll probably pick up a little brush too, but nothing too abrasive.

 

i used a toothbrush and brake/contact cleaner on mine

 

you can use a soft wire brush attachment on a power drill to clean up the combustion chambers/valve faces.

once you do that you can test for a burnt/leaky valve by puttin gin an old spark plug and filling the combustion chambers with a light solvent like naptha/mineral spritz or spirits whatever it is...

 

Honda Top End cleaner, most any dealership should have it. Same deal as Seafoam, suck it in through a vacume line and wait for all the smoke to clear.

 

my valves looked the same. as have others ive seen

 

I got some brake cleaner and a razor blade, its looking good!

 

Gotta love Seafoam! Available at your local Napa. There's nothing better than a half hour smoke show! Hehe, just don't do it in a neighborhood where you have close neighbors, cuz I swear they'll think a apartment building is burning down due to so much smoke! LOL

 

you have a LOT of carbon build up. I suggest leaning that thing down a bit hahaa.

 

Mine looked like that (exhaust side only):



You can see the two I cleaned up already. Trust me, NO amount of any solvent/cleaner on Earth is going to remove that carbon. It took me about two hours per valve to get them nice and clean. I started with a stripping disc to remove the heavy stuff then switched to a polishing disc to finish. The stripping disc really scratches at the metal, so you have to be careful and not go too far with it. The polishing wheel is slow and tedious, but it doesn't sand away at the valve like the stripping wheel does.