I have an engine apart that needs some carbon removal from the Aluminum piston faces. What is the best thing to soak these in?

Chuck it in a vise across the skirts with the jaws parallel to the pin. Use a hard wood stick to scrape with. No metal.

Edit: i was in a hurry when i wrote this the jaws will be perpindicular to the pin. Sorry bout that.

If you have access to a bead blast box and a way to THOROUGHLY remove the beads it would be better. Just dont scrape with a steel tool. Use something soft. A light scratch would provide the starting place for a crack.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

sea foam will loosen the carbon up.

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

I had this problem once. I just soaked them for days in carb cleaner and now and then brushed with with a nylon brush. A hog hair brush is OK, too, but nylon will work just as well.

Larry is right about no metal. Not even a soft brass brush.

And then there is the question of how much is enough? I like to clean them until I can read the part numbers which are very small and lightly etched, at least that's the way Mercedes did it in the early 70's. Past that I think you are just going for looks on something that no one will ever see.

And use caution when taking them apart. Some of these assemblies were balanced at the factory and have a number on them for which cylinder they go into. I know the 6.3 (M-100) is like this.

Kmay is right when it comes to chemical help. Seafoam is a great carbon remover.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

If you want to invest, buy a 5 gallon pale of the Berryman's (the real stuff). It will clean them off to near surgical percision.

Out of curiosity, what is the engine? What are you doing?

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Chem dip! I forgot about that stuff.

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

He is working on a lawn mower motor so investing in a big can of carb cleaner is probably not cost effective. Whoops ,wrong project. I don't know what he's working on, but nothing anyone has said does not apply.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

Thanks everyone.

I googled up berryman chem dip, $30 a gallon at my local autoparts.

I need only to flood less than an inch with piston face down, that should cover all the ring grooves even. Rings are still in, low hours on this thing, just ran way too rich for it's short experience. ( I didn't do that, had nuffin 2 do wif it) So if I go that way I should have a lifetime supply of cleaner even @ only 1 gallon. AIR is callin' me cheap and I cannot deny 8 cyl modern block. 350 HP. NOT grease

I have a stainless vessel, but maybe I should put a HDPE layer down first to avoid electrolysis.
kmaysob = Ke-mo sah-bee <---- that is what I always figured your ID was about. Amirite?




This engine is a mechanical device to covert fuels to power via the combustion process, are you new at this?

Doing right now or about cleaning the piston faces – er what?

And just who do you think you are telling me THIS is none of MY biz, Hmmmmmmmm?



I realize that carbon is basically inert and recalcitrant to solvents, but there has to be other combustion and fuel chemicals in this mix. I am in no hurry, I'll start soaking and see what happens. I would love for a 'wipe away the grime' solution to become reality.

Any reason to NOT use an engine degreaser product?

In the event you change your mind, the stuff in the 1 gallon pale is different than the 5 gallon pale. The 5 gallon pale stuff is the real deal.

sea foam will more than do what you want. its available in spray can, pint can, and half gallons. ( im sure bigger is available)

i adopted my screen name as a teen and it has pretty much stuck as my handle/ calling.

stands for Kiss My A** You Son Of B%*(

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

Yup. Use the real stuff. I have been doing some testing in this area lately and can vouch for the fact that the Berryman Chemstrip will take grease off of iron parts if you let it soak for a few days but is not so great for cleaning up alloy parts like the pistons you are working on.

But the real Berryman's carb cleaner will clean an alloy part of all grease and baked on carbon. Not right away; it will get the easy stuff but the baked in carbon will take a few days of soaking to eat away. But a final spray will make them look as clean as you will be able to get them short of some sort of blasting and really you don't need them that clean.

I am also going to invest in a chemical called Xylene which is some pretty touchy stuff. I might have some results on that in a few days since I need to take a work break for a few days due to someone not understanding that all I really want to do is lay around and/or work on my cars.

And while we are on the subject of carb cleaners......

I recently picked up a few cans of generic carb cleaner at Wal-Mart. $1.97 for 12.5 oz. around here. It works really well and collects in the bottom of the cleaning tray so you can apply it again with a brush.

Then I went high dollar and bought some Gumout Carb Cleaner. It cleans faster but it evaporates so quickly that there is nothing left to apply with the brush. And by quickly I mean two seconds after you spray it.

The part is covered in oil and grease, you spray the Gumout, and it looks cleaner and suddenly is dry.

I can see where this would be a plus if you were cleaning a carb or a part while it is still on the car since there is nothing to wipe up. But if you are planning on using it to soak parts it might be best to stick with the Berryman's.

Ke-mo-sa-be. The studio told Jay Silverheels to tell everyone it meant 'Faithful Friend' in some obscure Indian language.

The reality is the shows' creator attended a summer camp named Camp Kemosabe when he was a kid, and he just used the name of the camp since he had to come up with an Indian word.