What prompted you to perform piston soak?

[Ed_Flecko]

I read the recent post about the member who recently performed the "piston soak" on his Cobalt and got wonderful results!

I've read, on several occasions, about some BITOG members who perform this maintenance task, and it's prompted a few questions...

1 - What prompted you to perform this task?

2 - What's the underlying "root problem(s)" that created the situation that you needed to perform a piston soak? Is it, typically, one underlying problem with your motor that creates this need? How do you prevent the problem(s) from reoccurring?

3 - Would you think of a "piston soak" as a maintenance item that would be good for any car/truck, or only those that exhibit certain problems/behaviors?

4 - Are there specific products designed to be used for this purpose?

Thank you for the explanations!

Ed

 

[eljefino]

I could feel my saturn loading up with oil and pulling timing after coasting down a hill in gear and nailing the gas at the bottom.



I'd do it on anything "carboned up", and I'd use seafoam or GM TEC over MMO.

 

[zach1900]

Why are people so obsessed with piston soaks whebv they have zero justification for one?

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: zach1900
Why are people so obsessed with piston soaks whebv they have zero justification for one?



Great,well thought out answer.
Thanks for sharing your vast knowledge. We can end this thread now since its been answered so completely.


Op
Some engines will consume oil when the ring lands are gummed up so a pistol n soak then a high rpm run breaks the rings loose fixing the consumption.
Short trippers may experience this at low miles so each case is its own animal and needs to be treated as such.
MMO works good as do the seat own type treatments. When acquiring g a new to me vehicle I'll do a piston down just so I'm starting off fresh and can strike it off the list if issues do present themselves.
If an engine has been operated in s spirited manner there likely isn't much a piston soak will do since the rings should be loose already.
I like the vacuum line treatment method. Suck in a can of seafosm or mmo and let sit overnight.
I've got inverse oilers on everything now too so once the combustion chamber side is cleaned up the inverse oiler maintains the cleanliness.
It's cheap to do and can extend the useful life of a vehicle if neglected.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: Ed_Flecko
I read the recent post about the member who recently performed the "piston soak" on his Cobalt and got wonderful results!

I've read, on several occasions, about some BITOG members who perform this maintenance task, and it's prompted a few questions...

1 - What prompted you to perform this task?

2 - What's the underlying "root problem(s)" that created the situation that you needed to perform a piston soak? Is it, typically, one underlying problem with your motor that creates this need? How do you prevent the problem(s) from reoccurring?

3 - Would you think of a "piston soak" as a maintenance item that would be good for any car/truck, or only those that exhibit certain problems/behaviors?

4 - Are there specific products designed to be used for this purpose?

Thank you for the explanations!

Ed


The only reason to do it would be excessive carbon build-up.

I wouldn't do it on ANY engine unless it was already headed for the junkyard and this was a possible way to drive it to the junkyard instead of tow it. Well, maybe not drive it to the junkyard, but only if its the last hope to get a few more miles out of a shot engine.

If an engine has excessive carbon build up- something is WRONG. No amount of soaking will actually fix the problem, just likely cause more problems when you accidentally hydro-lock the engine, or break carbon free and score a cylinder wall or burn a valve.

Water or water/methanol injection under high RPM and load is the best way to de-carbon an engine safely, and then you still have to be very careful. Better to use quality gasolines and oils, an occasional dose of PEA-containing fuel treatment (the only ones that work) and prevent build-up rather than try to break it all loose in a slug.

 

[Ed_Flecko]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: zach1900
Why are people so obsessed with piston soaks whebv they have zero justification for one?



Great,well thought out answer.
Thanks for sharing your vast knowledge. We can end this thread now since its been answered so completely.


Op
Some engines will consume oil when the ring lands are gummed up so a pistol n soak then a high rpm run breaks the rings loose fixing the consumption.
Short trippers may experience this at low miles so each case is its own animal and needs to be treated as such.
MMO works good as do the seat own type treatments. When acquiring g a new to me vehicle I'll do a piston down just so I'm starting off fresh and can strike it off the list if issues do present themselves.
If an engine has been operated in s spirited manner there likely isn't much a piston soak will do since the rings should be loose already.
I like the vacuum line treatment method. Suck in a can of seafosm or mmo and let sit overnight.
I've got inverse oilers on everything now too so once the combustion chamber side is cleaned up the inverse oiler maintains the cleanliness.
It's cheap to do and can extend the useful life of a vehicle if neglected.


Thank you for the explanation!

So you do a piston soak on any used vehicle you purchase?

Ed

 

[Trav]

I only do this when the engine either has high oil consumption traceable to sticking rings, low compression for no known reason on some or all cylinders or the engine is known for excess carbon issues that can cause knocking or increase the octane requirement eg the Cadillac North Star.

Otherwise no i don't do it. A slight amount of carbon can be a good thing, it helps protect the piston heads.
This service is becoming less and less necessary with todays oils that keep the piton ring areas much cleaner.

Today an at idle flush with one of a few product is usually more than sufficient to clean the rings out of any minor amount of carbon or varnish.

 

[buck91]

Originally Posted By: Trav
I only do this when the engine either has high oil consumption traceable to sticking rings, low compression for no known reason on some or all cylinders or the engine is known for excess carbon issues that can cause knocking or increase the octane requirement eg the Cadillac North Star.

Otherwise no i don't do it. A slight amount of carbon can be a good thing, it helps protect the piston heads.
This service is becoming less and less necessary with todays oils that keep the piton ring areas much cleaner.

Today an at idle flush with one of a few product is usually more than sufficient to clean the rings out of any minor amount of carbon or varnish.




What product(s) would be best to idle flush with for sticking oil rings (eg. Oldsmobile shortstarq v6)?

 

[Ed_Flecko]

Originally Posted By: buck91
What product(s) would be best to idle flush with for sticking oil rings (eg. Oldsmobile shortstarq v6)?


From my quick research, it sounds like the "go-to" product is the GM Top Engine Cleaner - GM Part #1050002 - http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/results.cfm...tnumber=1050002
http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/part_images/1050002.jpg
https://www.google.com/search?q=gm+top+e...680&bih=926

Ed

 

[Oro_O]

The exact product isn't critical. People have had success using SeaFoam, Berryman's B-12, Kreen, MMO, and GM cleaner.

Personally I used SeaFoam I had on hand and the results were excellent (clogged oil ring drain holes; known problem on that vehicle and others).

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: buck91
Originally Posted By: Trav
I only do this when the engine either has high oil consumption traceable to sticking rings, low compression for no known reason on some or all cylinders or the engine is known for excess carbon issues that can cause knocking or increase the octane requirement eg the Cadillac North Star.

Otherwise no i don't do it. A slight amount of carbon can be a good thing, it helps protect the piston heads.
This service is becoming less and less necessary with todays oils that keep the piton ring areas much cleaner.

Today an at idle flush with one of a few product is usually more than sufficient to clean the rings out of any minor amount of carbon or varnish.




What product(s) would be best to idle flush with for sticking oil rings (eg. Oldsmobile shortstarq v6)?


Berrymans Chemtool in the oil for 15-20 min at idle will work well for this condition.
Its cheap and can be found at anywhere.
Protec Engine Flush DETOX4 is one of my favorites, it is expensive in the US but still worth every penny.

https://www.protecautocare.com/motor-vehicle-care/engine-flush?gclid=CJK18uG7tcQCFeJj7AodxWwAPA

Or you could run Kreen from Kano labs for 1K in the engine, it also works very well.
Piston soaks on V type and Boxer engines is hit and miss at best, you cant really soak the entire circumference of the piston.
A through a vacuum line solution is better for these engines if carbon is an issue.
In line engines are another story.

 

[Cujet]

Nothing you purchase at the auto parts store dissolves carbon. Not Seafoam, not carb cleaner, not Marvel Mystery Oil. Piston soaks do nothing.

EZ-Off oven cleaner will dissolve carbon.

 

[Olas]

Originally Posted By: Cujet
Nothing you purchase at the auto parts store dissolves carbon. Not Seafoam, not carb cleaner, not Marvel Mystery Oil. Piston soaks do nothing.

EZ-Off oven cleaner will dissolve carbon.


You're right, nothing will actually dissolve carbon, but PEA is very effective at removing carbon through calcification (iirc?) or a water mist into the inlet will sublime the carbon in to CO or CO2.

 

[Trav]

I have to disagree. When i have the heads off and spray the piston top with Kreen, MMO, ATF and a few other things i can wipe it away with a rag after it sits a day or two.
I agree the stuff that gets on the valve face that you need a chisel on to remove nothing really works.

 

[buck91]

I used M1 20w50 v-twin to soak a 2 cycle piston overnight during a leaf blower ring replacement. Significant fouling noted on all surfaces which wiped practically 100% clean with a paper towel the next day. Of course I doubt that has much relevance to a assembled engine but just thought it was neat.