italian tuneup finer points?

[eljefino]

Enjoying a bout of warm weather, I'm trying to drive my 95 Saturn SW1 5spd more aggressively to blow out any perceived carbon. I'm wondering if it's the high revs or wide-open throttle position of the classic "Italian Tuneup" that does the work? Ideally I'd do both but the roads around here are limited to 50-55mph and I'm quickly doing that in 2nd gear. Once fully warmed up I get two seconds here, two there, which I don't feel is enough.

I can more gently rev to redline at half throttle (car still zips) and I can upshift to third earlier and spend some time there (not really lugging, maybe 3500 rpm).

I put in exactly one gallon of 93 octane and some FI cleaner when I filled this tank (the rest 87 octane), so I want to "do it right" the next 300 miles....

 

[Patman]

One thing I've always wondered is if you have built up carbon, will driving it hard actually get rid of it, or simply prevent more carbon from forming?

A lot of guys with LS1 engines have carbon buildup and they drive them very hard, so certain engines just seem to be prone to carbon buildup.

 

[Whimsey]

Being an "old" man I remember all to well doing "Italian" tune-ups

. They usually involved a vehicle with a carburetor driven VERY conservatively by our parents. OR a true sports car that ran rich and loaded up unless it was "exercised"

. Unfortunately I was relegated do doing "Italian" tune-ups to my parent's cars. If only they knew

.

Whimsey

 

[Leo]

I dont see how running at WOT will clean the carbon. On the contrary, the fuel mixture will be rich, which will cause more carbon to form IMO!!!