Heavy-duty combustion chamber cleaner

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Hi all,

My truck is suffering from pre-ignition spark knock. I am in need of a heavy duty combustion chamber cleaner.

Just last weekend I wanted to clean my combustion chamber, i intended to buy seafoam but they were sold out so i used B12 Chemtool instead (i actually i think i like this stuff better).

I ran the chemtool thru a vacuum hose to the intake (not the brake booster it was actually a piece of vacuum hose i hooked up to the PCV inlet on the manifold since the hose on my 04 silverado 1500 is plastic i had to remove it and use my own, if that matters)

It was a little bit colder than usual night here in Houston TX, and several hours after doing the cleaning i went and took it for a spin and the spark knock was practically non-existent. 90-95% better. immediatley.

Today, while entering the freeway on-ramp i ran WOT trying to see if there was any spark knock happening and it did come back although this time it was a less "harsh" sounding ping (not so much "TICK TICK TICK" as it was "tshh tshh tshh" sounding) about 50% less harsh sounding than usual.

I know for 100% certainty that carbon in the combustion chamber has artifically raised the compression ratio in my engine causing the spark knock.

That being said, my dad seems to think the spark knock is caused due to "cheap gas" which I do use often, but im still expecting 87 octane which is prescribed for my truck, not to spark knock in the winter, even if its from a "generic" gas station such as "Murphy USA" (walmart)

Long story short: I'm wondering if anyone can reccomend a heavy duty combustion chamber cleaner, perhaps one that takes 30-60 minutes to complete, something I can rig up a system to feed the intake with while leaving the truck at idle so i dont have to worry about it stalling.

Also, i know a lot of people recommend filling up the intake with some solvent then killing/stalling the engine to let the solvent sit and clean or break up the deposits, and while i agree that is probably the best way to do it, i am actually too afraid of hydro-lock to do this, so i'd rather spend the extra money and do 2-3 treatments the way mentioned above rather than risk damaging the engine due to hydrolock.

I am considering the MOPAR and/or GM Combustion chamber cleaners, but I am open to any and all suggestions, and also I am interested in hearing anyones experiences chasing after spark knock and hopefully ridding themselves of it due to carbonization in the combustion chamber.

edit: i am also interested in both aerosol and liquid forms, however liquid would be most preferential. if i could rig up a system like the BG cleaner, i'd simply go get a can of BG44k (does anyone know how i can rig up something DIY to use this cleaner with? it seems perfect because it takes 30-60 minutes to actually complete the cleaning process and i need something that runs long and hard to get rid of 150,000 miles worth of PCV blow-by and carbon deposits)
 
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Hot water fed slowly through a vacuum line works very well at removing carbon. We've discussed it here a lot, or Google water to remove carbon in an engine for more info and how to videos. Just be careful not to hydro-lock the engine.
 
Mopar combustion chamber cleaner has worked really well for me in the past and is about $10 for a can.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Hot water fed slowly through a vacuum line works very well at removing carbon. We've discussed it here a lot, or Google water to remove carbon in an engine for more info and how to videos. Just be careful not to hydro-lock the engine.


He is right. Water works well, there are videos around the internet.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Hot water fed slowly through a vacuum line works very well at removing carbon. We've discussed it here a lot, or Google water to remove carbon in an engine for more info and how to videos. Just be careful not to hydro-lock the engine.


In WWII many of the turbo/supercharged fighter engines, like in the P-38, had water injection systems. Safe, effective, cheap.
 
Could be knock sensors going bad, but just not bad enough to throw a code. I would try better fuel first before testing or bypassing them however.
 
Thank you for all the suggestions I am actually impressed by the amount of products available suggested here, many thanks.

Some bg on the spark knock:
I just replaced the knock sensors, intake gasket, harness, AND plugs + wires about 1 and 2 years ago respectively. I wish i had done this comb. chamber cleaner before all that, i dont want to mess up my new spark plugs these are "supposed" to last the rest of the life of this truck... ;_;
 
We run a fleet of GM 5.3's and 6.0's. Carbon knocking is a familiar complaint here. 2 cups of Kreen in the gas tank removes every trace of it FAST...
 
I have used Kreen on my Diesel Benz with almost 300k miles and it cleaned up 19 years of sludge, freed up rings and felt like the car I purchased it 18 years ago.
Put it in the crankcase and drive 500 miles, drain and change oil/filter. It has money back guarantee.
 
If you want something very safe to try, check out 3M DIY Intake System Cleaner. You can buy the can only or get the 3-step process.

I had success removing the carbon from the EGR intake path and managed to fix the P0401 code on my van.

The usage method is pretty much fool proof and takes abut 12-15 minute to complete. There is no risk of hydro locking.

Berryman Chemtool also has something similar where you can control the amount of cleaner being fed. It too has got good reviews and is dirt cheap on Amazon with free prime shipping. This chemical would be little bit different than the B12 liquid as this one will not flash as quickly as that.
 
hey guys i just wanted to report back....a few weeks after i made this post i had a buddy around finally for a helper and decided to just try my luck.

my platform is a 2004 silverado v8 5.3l which had about 130-140,000 miles on it at the time. And being that GM decided to go fly by wire on these accelerators i REQUIRE the assistance of an extra hand in the cab to feather the throttle because i have zero control of it under the hood.

that being said, it would make a great case for an electronic tool to pin the throttle around 3,000RPM.

I wanted to go with seafoam since it is readily available. None was in stock at the parts store i visited, so i either had to wait another unknown amount of time for another extra set of hands, or settle. I went ahead and purchased a pint of berryman's b12 chemtool, which is not suggested according to the Chinese Water torture tek posted above.

All that said, after 1 bottle fed thru an intake vacuum line, i was COMPLETELY SURPRISED that the spark knock was 99% gone.

Simultaneously i installed a catch can so that no more oil is washed back into the intake thus mucking up the manifold (it was sticky as [censored]...no way i was getting it clean while i had it off if i wanted to finish the knock sensor job in the same day)

I wanted to do 1 more cleaning treatment continuing with b12 chemtool since i had such good success with it, but i havent had the need to do so, 6+ months later and im still knock free...even into our hotter summer months.

Carbon deposits had artificially increased the compression ratio in my engine thus causing the knock. So much knock that the sensors could not do their job no matter how new/old they were...just wasnt happening.

in the future, i would like to do as the gentleman above suggested and put 16 oz Kreen in the gas tank, had i known of this method previously i would've went this route as there's no sense in disconnecting vacuum lines if its not absolutely necessary.

So far i've had around 15,000 spark knock free miles, and the engine has never ran better nor has it ever revved higher. Now that the spark knock has vanished the engine actually likes to rev up into the upper ranges it never could reach...3,500...4,500...sometimes even 5000+ i am astounded how much difference 1 treatment made. it cleared up over 100,000 miles worth of carbon deposits enough to rid the spark knock entirely... im not saying my combustion chambers and intake are spotless...but whatever artificial compression ratio increase the carbon deposits had made...causing the spark knock...has been resolved.
 
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Good job on fixing the problem!

Originally Posted By: TexasTea
in the future, i would like to do as the gentleman above suggested and put 16 oz Kreen in the gas tank, had i known of this method previously i would've went this route as there's no sense in disconnecting vacuum lines if its not absolutely necessary.


The 2nd reply of this thread:

Originally Posted By: Ramblejam
Kreen
http://www.kanolabs.com/engCle.html
 
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