How to Effectively Remove Carbon with High-Performance Chemicals Rather than Wasting Time?

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Being a Sunday mechanic who enjoys more in-depth maintenance, I try out various tools as well as chemicals and ask myself, "Isn't it better if I do this? "Wouldn't it be better if I did that? You will learn the joy of maintenance by yourself while struggling in each and every situation.

If disassembled engine parts are found to be dirty, engine parts should be cleaned before installation, but there are many cases where a mistake can lead to poor results. In this article, let's remove the carbon stains that have accumulated in the combustion chamber of the cylinder head.

Before scrubbing with a metal brush

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Carbon removal from the combustion chamber is an important task when performing disassembly maintenance on engine parts, as is carbon removal from the piston tops. Instead of using metal brushes, scraper tips, or cutter knives, it is better to spray a highly effective carbon removal chemical or gasket remover chemical and leave it for a while before using a brass brush. Even if it is the same metal brush, the brass brush is easy to use because it is less aggressive to parts than iron or stainless steel. By leaving the spray on for a while after spraying, and then brushing it off when the sticking loosens, it becomes easier to remove the stuck-on carbon stains.

Disassemble and clean the valves

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Prepare the valve spring compressor and set the frame to match the spring retainer outer diameter. Then, compress the valve spring. In this case, it is better to clamp the cylinder head or the valve spring compressor in a large vise and then remove the cotter by retracting the spring in that position. You can decide which one you want to clamp for better workability. Once the spring is retracted, it's a good idea to pull it out by adsorbing it with a magnetic rod so as not to blow off the two separate cotters. Be careful not to lose it!

Do not pull out the valves forcibly!

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Once you have removed the cotter and the countersunk retainer that the cotter fits into using the valve spring compressor, you can pull out the spring. Be sure to mark the direction in which the springs are set, both inner and outer. When replacing the spring with a new one from the factory, the colored side of the spring seat should face upwards. Keep the removed parts in a small plastic bag (with a zipper is recommended) to avoid mixing up the intake and exhaust. If you can't get the valve out, use an oil stone to remove the burr from the stem end instead of hitting the stem end with a flat punch. If the valve stem end is hit by the tappet adjuster, the burr may appear on the edge of the stem, and the valve may not come out smoothly. By polishing the outer edge with an oil stone, it can often be pulled out smoothly. When disassembling the valve, it is a rule that the valve stem seal is always replaced with a new part.

Easy to use two-way tip tool

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When you want to remove the stem seal, you can use the same tool that you use to remove the clip from the interior of the motorcycle. If you want to remove the stem seal, you can use the same tool that you use to remove the clip. The long flat pliers are easy to grip the stem seal.

Build your own if you are a Honda 4 Mini enthusiast!

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This is a wooden parts tray for storing the parts incorporated into the cylinder head in an organized manner. This tray has been produced and sold in the past based on an idea of the editorial staff. This tray can be used for single cylinder engines in the 250cc class.

Polish the umbrellas of intake and exhaust valves with non-woven sheets

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The disassembled intake and exhaust valve umbrella parts, both combustion chamber side and port side, often have carbon baked on and deposited on them. Especially, the exhaust valve is exposed to high heat of exhaust gas, so it is easy to accumulate carbon stains. The tool that can be used to polish the valve umbrella is a drilling machine. The valve stem is chucked and the carbon stuck on the combustion chamber side of the valve umbrella is removed with a cutter blade or scraper. You can use a non-woven polishing sheet to polish it further. The intake side is also easy to polish by using different roughness of the non-woven polishing sheet. It is basic safety to use bare hands when working with machine tools like this. It is necessary to take sufficient care. Here we are using a large machine tool lathe, but the same work can be done with a desktop drilling machine.

POINT
  • Point 1: Don't scrape off carbon forcibly by using metal brush or scraper.
  • Point 2: Chemicals such as gasket remover are the best for breaking down carbon stains.
  • Point 3: Don't mix up the parts around the intake and exhaust valves, but always separate them into small bags and organize them!

When you get a piston that is covered with carbon stains, your instinct may be to polish it with a wire brush or sandpaper. However, it is best to hold back and remove the carbon stains without causing any damage. Scratching the pistons with a wire brush or using sandpaper or water-resistant paper to finish the job will reduce the piston dimensions to some extent. In particular, if you polish the skirt of a 2-stroke engine to make it beautiful, the piston clearance will increase and the piston sound (slap sound) will become louder, which is a disappointing result. I'm sure many of you have experienced this.

It is important to know that carbon contamination in the combustion chamber can be removed surprisingly smoothly by using chemicals such as gasket remover instead of forcibly removing it using brushes, sandpaper, scrapers, etc. All you have to do is clean it so that it is restored to a state where it was never contaminated in the first place. Polishing the combustion chambers as part of the tuning process will prevent carbon contamination from sticking to the chambers during maintenance, and if it does, it will be easy to clean. However, over-polishing will change the combustion chamber volume and decrease the actual compression. There are many Sunday mechanics who have become addicted to the bottomless pit of 4 mini engine tuning by repeatedly trying such things. In fact, you can enjoy it!

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