First of all, I'd like to apoligize for not replying the last few days, as I have not been allowed to post.
It has been raining almost non stop, so I haven't gotten past 7 hours, but will be continuing this test at least for a little while longer.
quote:
Originally posted by deepsquat:
I don't understand how you think the FP will clean the eingine up in 6 hours?
Once again, I never said I expected that. It should, however, gradually be getting cleaner, right? It's not. It's getting dirtier.
quote:
Originally posted by MolaKule:
Are you using a new head gasket each time?
It appears from the last pic that the exhaust valve is certainly becoming cleaner.
It appears that there is increased fouling of the plug, indicating a very rich mixture, oil consumption, weak spark, or possibly your valves are not sealing which could result in incomplete combustion.
Has the compression changed any?
No, I am not using a new headgasket. I did install a new one at the beginning of this test, and it still looks like new.
Are you referring to the white valve on the bottom? That's the intake valve - I mis posted above calling it the exhaust valve. I don't think I would call it cleaner, just changing colors. If you look at the first pic, there is still some *almost* clean metal on that valve. That area is now covered by the white deposits.
If you're talking about the top valve, in person I would say it looks almost the same as when I started, *maybe* slightly dirtier.
As for the plug, (and the entire engine) it looks that way because I ran this engine on about 40:1 10w30 mix prior to this test, so that I could get more carbon buildup. I left the dirty plug in rather than replacing it because I wanted to see if it would get cleaned. It also appears mostly unchanged to me.
I have not checked the compression, I don't have a compression tester.
quote:
Originally posted by lcd:
Also how old is the mower? How long has this carbon buildup been there without fuel or the engine being run?
The engine is an '84 vintage, I don't know how many hours are on it. It is definately well used, but it was also maintained pretty well. When I got it, it had a stuck valve and I completely cleaned the head/combustion chamber. Then I decided to do this test on this engine, so I made it dirty again. So...the carbon has been there for about 2 months.
quote:
Originally posted by Drew99GT:
Who cares what the valves look like on their seats. You should try and get a shot of the blockage, or lack there-of, on the backside of the intake valve in the port. If any cleaning really takes place (and if the intake valve is actually loaded with gummy crud), that's where it'll be noticeable
I'll try to get a pic of that next time.
quote:
Originally posted by GT Mike:
ZmOz,
Your exhaust valve is getting white due to running leaner. You mentioned swapping carbs. I'm almost positive that's why this is happening. When combustion temperatures rise, the exhaust valves will get hot enough to burn off all the carbon, but it looks like there may be a little lead deposits perhaps on the valve. Just a guess, though I have seen the tops of the exhaust valves look like this in fairly new engines that have never seen leaded gas.
There's definately no lead in this engine. If it is in fact running lean, that should only help FP do it's job.
Now, everyone here needs to understand that the ONLY reason I'm doing this test is so that I can see for myself how well FP does or doesn't work. I just thought everyone would like to see the pics. I never claimed it to be scientific and exact, but like I said, a dirty engine is a dirty engine.
And, I'd like to ask everyone else, what could possibly be wrong in an engine that only one tank of FP would make it run better? That's only 0.15 ounces of FP run through the engine at the shock dosage.