i finally found a good way to clean the exhaust valves.

i googled forever and everyone on the forums says its impossible to clean.

some people claim a magic solution that just dissolves it but i wasnt able to find it

i tried 2 sets of valves and couldnt clean some of them off all the way

heres why

when you use high speed drill with wire wheel. at some point it starts just polishing the carbon because the wire in the wheel becomes smooth on one side and doesnt grab


at first i mounted the drill in vice and rotated the valves by hand to clean the stem.

it is pretty dangerous as the wire wheel can grind through your finger in a second. faster than sandpaper...

so safer way is to wrap the valve in paper and mount it in vice

if its really thick buildup start grinding slowly you will see alot of dust flying off means its working.
once you see that its starting to polish reverse the rotation and grind again.

once a thin layer is left you can grind full speed



1 use a smallest wheel for hard grinding.
2 use the next size up for final cleaning up

i just tested it and cleaned up the 6 valves that sat in the box for 2 years that i couldnt clean first time.


i bought the wire wheels from harbor freight nothing special (link below)
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-piece...-set-1341.html

 

Carb cleaner for a long time will net the same result without ruining the seal of the valve.

 

Berryman Chem-Dip will dissolve all of the deposits in no more than 24hrs of soaking. I used it for every part that would fit in the bucket last rebuild I did (D16 with 150k miles) and everything- pistons, rods, valves came out looking new. like magic.

 

I can vouch for this product as well


It'll get the jobby done. Might take two soakes for incredibly nasty stuff, but, it works great.

 

I had them soaked in chem dip for 2 days and it was all there.


Exhaust valves not intake valves.

 

Easyoff oven cleaner works great,and its cheap

 

I could try to explain what I do(that is pretty effective), but this video does a great job.

 

Cleaning carbon deposits not valve job

 

^Watch the first few minutes of the video. Did the exact same thing with my B16 valves and they now look brand new.

 

Didn't even watch the video did you

 

I assume you have plans for the valves you are cleaning, but just thought I'd ask the question. I need two b-series vtec intake valves. What are your plans haha

 

Sure like doing things the hard way. Buy a bench grinder like in the video posted above. Add a wire wheel and you can clean the valves spotless in minutes with no damage. (aslo good for various gaskets...)

 

oven cleaner from wallmart will clean them you need to let them sit in it for like a day but works great!

 

did the overn cleaner too.
the valves i get are usually much worse than what i see in that video.

and not everyone has a bench grinder or space for all the tools and acessories

i do with a minimum

 

Not every one should be working on cars ,but they do.


A bench grinder can be had for less than 50 bucks at Harbor freight, and the space required for one is just a few square feet.....

 

my bench is about size of computer table dont have any space to spare

it is a good idea tho for my next set im gonna have to do something about it.

 

Its a good (and cheap) investment. Like I said, it can also be used to remove gasket material.(Silicone,cork,paper and even baked on rubber if you're patient enough) It does so fairly quickly and leaves a clean smooth finish.....

 

A bench grinder with a wire wheel and grinding stone is a great tool to have at your disposal. If you get one, you'll probably question how you got along without it lol. We have a Baldor at our shop and I would highly recommend it to someone else looking to buy a bench grinder. It runs extremely smoothly. That said the smoothness does comes with a price tag so if you're just a DIY only working on your own stuff kind of person, something in the $50-$100 range from Lowes, Sears, Home Depot, HFT, ect. would probably suit your needs just fine. If you don't have any counter space for it you could throw together a little stand made out of 2x4's to bolt it down to. Heck even put wheels on the stand so you could roll it around easily and stash it in a corner when you don't need it.