carbon cleaning, dead guys

["J. Grammer" <jkdaley@domain.elided>]

>Whoa!!!  Tranny fluid into the carb!!!  Wow!  That is a new one on me!  I
>bet it smoked!!!
>
>Michael

Both tranny fluid and mineral spirits(paint thinner) can be used as carbon
cleaners. In the late 70's I worked at Sears as a tire buster while
attending Yuba College. The tune-up mechanics religiously used a can of
'combustion chamber cleaner' on every tune-up. When I asked, I was told it
was essentially canned mineral spirits that they could charge another $5.00
for on the ticket. I guess the mechanism at work is the old incompressable
fluid thing.......and yes, lots of smoke if the cc's are clogged up. There
wouldn't be any direct effect on the lifter, but the 'shock' might move the
poppet enough to clean off some varnish or something. A big caution - that
carbon may be holding more things together than you'd like to think, like
the intake valve sealing surfaces, etc.. You may find out things about your
engine that you really didn't want to know... ;). I'd definitely try an oil
additive first if I was the least bit suspect about the condition of the
top end. There's a few things I've seen used with some success as oil
additives(run for a bit, then drain); diesel, tranny fluid,
Rislone(detergent in a bottle), and Marvel Mystery Oil(MOM for us devotees).

>But of course, dead men don't talk.
>
>Tom H.

The old saying amongst us country boys is something like 'shoot fast, bury
deep, and don't say a word'

Jim
from a very green Lazy Bar K (damn goats are slacking!)