Cleaning Carbon Deposits off of Piston Tops / Easy!!!

In this video I clean the carbon deposits off of the top of the pistons in a 5.3 Vortec LM7 motor while the block is still in the truck.
Video that helped me by HumbleMechanic
• Removing Carbon From P...
Music:
Strawberry by Jeff Kaale
• Video
Self-Improvement(Master)
Filmed with iPhone 6. Edited with GoPro Splice.

[@josephastier7421]

Wow, those really came clean. I'm impressed.

[@oliverrojas7117]

Very cool. Thanks for showing how much detail work goes into cleaning the top surface of just one piston.

[@mikeward2980]

Thanks for sharing your experience

[@JT52252000]

Thank you very much i am doing a head job and this has been plaguing me on my 1996 suburban , clean as new money.

[@davidatkinson3755]

Paint some transmission fluid, come back in the morning and wipe it off!

[@mr84ttop34]

Thank you for sharing this! I just sent my heads to the machine shop to get rebuilt. While they are gone I’m going to do this.

[@WendzDarKnight08]

Good Video Man! Thank you for this! Currently cleaning the motor.

[@patricklawler4301]

Great video! 👍🏻👍🏻 2 thumbs up, thanks for doing all that, I got 8 pistons and at least 16+ hrs to go work on 👏🏻

[@kontroldatrap5853]

I’m doing a head job on my 92 305 caprice this definitely gave me some help I’m pulling heads tomorrow 💪🏼

[@garylangley4502]

The gasket sealer remover does not have anything that will harm the piston, which is aluminum, as it is made of carbon based solvents. You can spray it on and let it soak as long as you want. Oven cleaner has Sodium Hydroxide (lye) which works by turning grease and carbon into soap. Sodium Hydroxide will eat aluminum, so you don't want to leave it on for a long time. By the way, back in the 40's and earlier, a tuneup included carbon removal. It won't hurt a thing to leave any acetone behind, it is just lacquer thinner. Again it is a carbon based solvent that won't hurt the metals. It just evaporates and any residue burns off.

[@BostonJoe620]

Awesome points!

[@joshchelvolski1033]

@@BostonJoe620 would it be posiable to use the same method to clean the piston head of a 2 stroke dirt bike engine.

[@blazeaglory]

Nice info! So what about the "orange glo" foam spray? Same deal with the lye? I know on the back of the can it says to not leave on long at all. The stuff makes quick work of the grime tho but ive found it does eat through plastic and rubber and any zinc or other coatings and I think its starting to mar the outside of my aluminum block causing tiny pock marks

[@garylangley4502]

@@blazeaglory If it eats through zinc, then it has a strong base or acid in it. If it eats through plastic or rubber, it also has a strong petroleum based solvent in it. Best of luck!

[@booboothefool3342]

What would happen if I sprayed it on my valves? I got 30 years of gunk on those things and do NOT want to shell out hundreds for a walnut blast

[@jaredbawden6707]

I was admittedly dubios about this until I saw your video. I'd forgotten I had a can of the same gasket remover and have just used it on my heads. I tried a few other things, brake clean, throttle body/carby cleaner and degreaser. Carby cleaner was working okish, but this stuff worked way better. My exhaust ports (which were really bad, and the whole reason the heads were off) were 90% clean after one application. This stufff is the bomb, thanks for sharing!

[@GladiarOfDestruction]

Glad I found this video, thanks for sharing!! I'm about to clean up my R1 motor and it's aluminum block and pistons so definitely don't want to mar anything

[@tjsteele513]

We use a Roloc Bristle disc and a circular air tool.. tape everything off and clean only at TDC, gets pistons clean in less than 5 minutes without any gouges or damage.. Works great on the iron heads too..

[@TheRogeyrog]

first video i watched of yours joe. get a vapor barrier and ceiling in that garage bud! besides all the gm's you seem like a real dude. lol. like the vid and this is what it takes to do this stuff at home without pulling motors. hope the wife appreciates you. good work and keep it up. you have a new subscriber now.

[@BostonJoe620]

That house has since been sold. Nice eye. We’re taking all the equity from that flip and putting it into investment property.

[@venomhemi3914]

thanks for the video, any ideas for freeing up a stuck ring? without removing block.

[@trevorhines1281]

Thank you Boston Joe!

[@crutecox3364]

Beautiful results. If you wanna get that mirror shine, sand up to 5000 grit, then buff. Check it out.

[@ruikazane5123]

Easy, but takes time. Like a real mechanic!

[@thevindictive6145]

Better than any seaform and etc cleaner videos that I have watched in the past. This actually works.

[@hussssshie]

Seafoam and such are designed to work with the engine on. When you get down to removing cylinder heads, you can use a lot of different stuff to clean it up. Steam is my preferred method.

[@TheMusicman416]

ver good video on piston clean,ing thanks alot

[@fatwalletboy2]

Fairy washing up liquid neat to start with and brillo pad works wonders. A good soak forst then use cocktail sticks to rub the carbon away from the grooves. Clean off with brake cleaner.....

[@DaVincidevil]

I’m using auto transmission fluid and a green scrubby pad to clean my pistons. There’s a lot of detergent in atf, even more than in high mileage oil.

[@lebronjordan802]

Thanks for sharing 👍!

[@boboconnor1403]

Came out looking great!!!

[@BostonJoe620]

Thanks Bob!

[@charlesbrewer76]

Love WD-40 for this purpose. It worked on my 30 year old 454 big block in the Camaro I'm building up.

[@waltercardenas7354]

I use transmission oil and acetone work good too. Good video

[@gmoney9247]

Great video!

[@mobilemechmantim773]

This is a cool ultra-low impact way of cleaning them. Thanks for sharing! I use a wire brush on an angle grinder to do mine, but it is admittedly not nearly as low impact. It's nice to have multiple techniques at your disposal. You never know when they will come in handy. Thanks again.

[@teammopar771]

dousing your engine in kerosene and using matches helps vaporize carbon build up as well

[@EmmBeeVee]

@@teammopar771 shut up boomer.

[@josephastier7421]

LOL

[@toddcorrigan4874]

I use trans fluid to soak and coat pistons and will follow up with gumout but the trans fluid did a great job of loosening carbon gumout will be to clean rings before I spray wd40 to lubricate before start up. I also plan to pour diesel over the heads after reinstalling and chance oil and filter to remove any debri that may have gotten into oil passages then run a few miles and change oil again. I am rainy season so trans fluid will prevent rust and clean pistons while waiting to do a valve job and reassemble a 3.5 Chrysler, bottom end seems good but had tension failure on timing belt. Easy job if I knew in advance, made a shit show of bent valves. Next is a 5.7 hemi timing chain that make this job look easy. let me enjoy my beer while it rains and hope this helps.

[@kennedywong9854]

Great stuff. Tooth brush work well and will not leave any scratches. Use it all the time and doesn't costs much.

[@htatesil4192]

Will it come clean like his ?

[@biglion6494]

That's nice men thank you 4 that 😀👍👍👍👍👍

[@fivestring4653]

Thumbs up'd 👍. Thank you for sharing

[@shrop]

Good Video. Thanks, dude.

[@HondaCivicFanClub-rj9oc]

Great video joe!

[@BostonJoe620]

+2004 Honda Civic Fan Club Thank you bud!!

[@BostonJoe620]

+2004 Honda Civic Fan Club Thanks so much!!

[@acvn-hg9gy]

Great! Was looking for stuff that's save to use for this. My pistons are not this filthy in my old cb450, but this would do wonders!

[@BostonJoe620]

Yes. The PCV system does this. Researching at the moment for a catch can system to install.

[@martinez1701a]

I use Berryman B12 Chemtool you can pick it up by the gallon at Walmart I soak everything in that stuff makes pistons look new, you can probably let it soak inside that bore then just wipe it all away.

[@rkcannon]

May want to get the glaze off the cylinder walls if there is any. Soaking/wiping with Gunk works.

[@sweetassugar2076]

Rumor has it this character is still yapping cutting up his sponge puzzle great video that engine has some carbon built up

[@sainhadam1478]

I usually just use a 400 grit power scrub ball made of Scotch-Brite. Gets the job done in less time.

[@jeffnations6649]

MMO works good!

[@abadialsharif2047]

Thnx bro great video 🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@nickl8830]

Hey Boston those clean piston's look so preeety lol

[@BostonJoe620]

Thanks Nick L!

[@mclovin583]

Great job!

[@BostonJoe620]

Thanks Mc Lovin

[@drakevelazquez8728]

Wow plastic razor blades. One of those inventions you think I know I thought of something like this how I didn’t put something into that idea! Good cheap tips. Nothing like some elbow grease

[@NYRM1974]

I would use Marvel Mystery Oil way better to protect the pistons while providing a coating to reduce friction and wear.

[@alphashifter2207]

Instead of gasket remover gradually seeping down past the rings into your crank case...

[@thomasm8699]

Good teacher. Good attitude. Good advice.

[@BostonJoe620]

Thanks you!!!

[@john2ndname]

Interesting video. I was wondering if this can be done by spraying the gasket remover down a spark plug hole on the cylinder leaving for 30 minutes throwing some fuel down there to mix it all up and replacing the spark plug and starting the engine to clean out and burn the residue. would this be a good way to clean out carbon?

[@louisevans2000]

Thanks for the video

[@linshebola8080]

Yo, I liked your video on cleaning inside the cylinders n I got a question 4 u see I' m doing a head gasket n the valves on the exhaust side on #2 the left side is sticking up like 1/4" n the right side is like 1/32 of as n inch, do u think I should put the cylinder head back on n get it to the TDC cause I saw that one video on how to do a head gasket n on some parts it was snap shots n so I didn't see when he did the TDC part so I'm wondering if that's what I should do lnstead of getting that tool to push the valves back in oh sorry n it's a 2005 Nissan Altima 2.5L 4 cylinder engine that I bought as is n have been fixing it n I have all the gaskets n O'rings, oil changed, antifreeze, spark plugs,two new coils new battery n have changed the feul pump already along with the front engine mount n also bought a new exhaust manifold converter n got new O2 sensors n changed the thermostat n the water regulator n bought a new valve cover so I really would appreciate your mechanical advice

[@davidmacfadyen165]

Very helpful, thankyou

[@BostonJoe620]

Glad it was helpful!

[@chemicalspore]

thanks for helping a guy AHT

[@SalvadorSTMZ]

Just soak the pistons in marvel mystery oil overnight. It softens the carbon and you can scrub it right off.

[@coconutads]

Marvel mystery oil is great stuff and smells good too

[@KT-kt6qq]

I am just wondering.. would "easy off" for oven cleaner works good for this type of application?

[@cobimcbride9591]

Good video thank you

[@davedrew9328]

Love watching your videos here in the good old U.K. A thing I have always wanted to know is what is the song you use I love it ? Thanks keep up the good work.

[@jaredmayer3960]

Does it really matter if the crowns are clean? I’ve never worried about it.

[@punchogunter2362]

I enjoyed the video while drinking a beer!

[@BostonJoe620]

Love it! Had a few while doing the work as well.

[@incognito8p298]

that answered my question about how to get the cylinders clean after sanding the gasket surface

[@elisovalenciajr1503]

Fantastic😎

[@user-rt3lb9oq6x]

👍 good job

[@chrischery7492]

Yes thumbs up

[@djbetrue3370]

U got that Boston sound .. !!

[@BostonJoe620]

🤣🍻

[@funwithry1320]

Nice!

[@porkee64]

Get some poly on your ceiling so the glass from the fiberglass stops falling on your car .

[@BostonJoe620]

Finishing that ceiling has been a thorn in my side for a while!

[@calebcrossman5084]

Ceiling finishing is a pain in the ass, no matter what you're doing.

[@investingmatterswithboston49]

That house has been sold so no more thorn. Took all the equity and sunk it into 3 multi family homes.

[@blazeaglory]

Not afraid of getting any grime bits down into the sides and piston rings or anything? I ask because Im about to do the same thing.

[@shanekneeshaw3483]

Wd40 works a treat

[@BostonJoe620]

Agree. I use both. Gonna try gasoline as another commenter mentioned

[@josearellano3268]

Boston Joe 620 yo, so how did it hold up with gasoline..??? I’m thinking of using gas to clean my heads...

[@allbrant]

@@BostonJoe620 Diesel Fuel work good too.

[@mmholling87]

Is using ethanol gas the cause of all the carbon build up? I only use Shell 89 gas not sure if it's worth the money or not. Thanks for sharing!

[@kennethmonson]

Octane rating really only concerns the auto-ignition temperature, not the quality or cleanliness of fuel. If your vehicle is stock, you would be doing yourself a favor to find out what octane it's designed to use and run that. You won't necessarily hurt anything running higher octane than you need but it's a waste of money.

[@Sam-to1zg]

Wonderful

[@Sam-to1zg]

Your look

[@ron4413]

Will you notice any difference in the way it runs?

[@utamayadi175]

Super!!!

[@lakecortes]

Do u think the green scotchbrite pad can damage the alu head surface?

[@GladiarOfDestruction]

I looked it up and it says there's aluminum oxide (very fine) evenly placed on the pad. I would not use those pads (i'm doing my research as I type this). The blue pads seem way less abrasive for Alu heads in combination with plastic razers than metal.

[@thrasher305]

Wow!

[@cammed_chevy9285]

Man I appreciate that

[@BostonJoe620]

: )

[@endall6783]

Well my build up was so bad head and all that the W D ran away and did not want any part of it. I tried this but it was a waste of time and W D . I ended up going with wire brush on my 4 1/2" grinder which worked great. I'm just seeing that what build up is here IS NOT THAT MUCH so I guess it depends on how bad it is.

[@lucianoromero777]

Happy I just have an in-line 4 to clean up. I couldn’t imagine doing 8 cylinders

[@fwhoffman]

Seafoam Deep Creep probably is the best product to use for this! Menard's seems to have best price!

[@BostonJoe620]

Lots a guys mentioning the same thing about SeaFoam. Gonna be adding that to my arsenal!

[@darkhorse21xx]

Gr8 vid Boston Joe. Tunes are kinda weird, but info was awesome.

[@BostonJoe620]

Yes. Finding something that I can use without copyright is tough.

[@pakethomusic4149]

Cool

[@BostonJoe620]

+PAKETHO Music Thanks!!

[@seanbrown3123]

Where r u located I have a 97 k1500 5.7 i just did head gaskets on and don't know if she's 100% yet I have her running but oil was still milky and my timing is off 20° all the way cntr clkwise and 46° clkwise. Trying to fix this b4 next storm.

[@BostonJoe620]

I’m in Massachusetts. If you replaced the head gasket and started it up and the new oil got milky again you may have a cracked head or block.

[@overbored617]

yeah we've got that problem too but the ship generator i've worked on doesn't have cracks on its cyl head and we discovered that there's a leak of sea water on the exhaust(i still don't know why the exhaust need cooling when it's just an exhaust) so we welded that

[@chris6200]

@@overbored617 marine exhaust needs to be cooled to prevent it from burning and heat soaking everything around it. It also reduces the exhaust volume and servers as a good way to exspel the cooling water from the boat. This is a common practice on most boats all the way from 1hp outboards to huge container ships.

[@chefrobertcaldas]

did you have any issues with the scotch brite getting caught in your bearings after this? i used green scotch bright pad and scrubbed it now im worried its in my ringing and gonna mess up my bearings in motor

[@jjczarnik17]

I was hoping there was a response to this because I'm in the same situation right now. How did things turn out for you?

[@BostonJoe620]

No issues at all with mine. I was very careful not to leave anything behind.

[@aaahtex902]

GOOD VIDEO!!!

[@BostonJoe620]

TY Aaah Tex!!!

[@TheOldGunsmith58]

ive rebuilt about half a dozen engines . the only one ive had blow a piston afterwords was the one i cleaned off the tops of the pistons .

[@ron4413]

Now you tell me

[@tee-chmp4047]

I used a bottle of awesome I got from the dollar store and a wire brush it worked in seconds for me.

[@frankgeorge1744]

Can an engine block with some internal rust surface in the block still run after surface cylinders are cleaned

[@BostonJoe620]

Probably should be looked at a little deeper to decide. May be a candidate for total rebuild.

[@joshstaley7459]

I would be worried that solvent would get between the piston in the top ring and wreak havoc later on.

[@jamessouthworth1699]

That piston came out great but that was a lot of elbow grease. If you are going to do this semi often I would suggest trying a white bristle Roloc. You will never go back to doing this by hand.

[@BostonJoe620]

Great tip!!

[@breaklaw93]

Use melamine sponge aka magic sponge for better result😁

[@jamesguralski5156]

Guess I'll be doing this to my 2009 Chevy Silverado 1500 5.3. I have to do a DOD delete kit.

[@BostonJoe620]

I love working on the 5.3! Enjoy my friend!

[@standard74521]

Not being rude but does all that need to be done? As long as any egregious chunks are of, wouldn't running a few courses of high pea additive and top tier gasoline clear most of that over a few tanks?

[@BostonJoe620]

Not at all. Most folks actually leave the carbon alone when they do a simple head gasket change.

[@justme2661]

If anyone runs across this video,use pb blaster the carbon almost wipes all out very very easy. I also use it to clean carbon out of my rifles works really good but stinks 😅

[@davidmartin2231]

All that 87 octane 💪🏾

[@BostonJoe620]

Also going start doing SeaFoam more often.

[@jon-paulcooper8336]

Additional detergent is added to premium because it actually burns dirtier. Just fyi

[@dancingwithdavetalesfromth6136]

I’m wondering why you don’t do the tops of the cylinder at the same time ?

[@BostonJoe620]

Mostly because I was making the video.

[@NeutronX101]

Will driving this for one week produce all those back again?

[@BostonJoe620]

Pretty much. Was an OCD thing for me! When I put something back together I just love to have clean parts.

[@samghebrit8054]

Man Sonic wow u made me speechless 😍😍 smart intelligent way to melt that carbon respect 💪💪💪👍👍👍👍

[@BostonJoe620]

😁🍻🤛

[@seansenorin5082]

that just patience.

[@InClaymont]

Berryman Chem Dip Parts Cleaner would have worked better from my experiences with cleaning pistons. It takes some scrubbing but not as much as you did in the video. It does depend on the level of carbon buildup as to how effective what you are using will be at breaking down the carbon.

[@righteous_entertainment8539]

I alway use berrymans b12 Chemtool it just eats away at the carbon within seconds

[@jgizzy]

7:00 O_o really? I wasn't expecting that admission at all, but.... I guess the results speak for themselves?

[@jennytalbert5547]

They are aluminum and everyone knows if a magnet doesn't stick it's most likely aluminum.

[@rhllnm]

My concern is junk getting into the rings and scoring the cylinder walls. I guess the grease suggestion below is OK, but it would dissolve with WD40, etc.

[@BostonJoe620]

Agreed. I pretty much loosen some carbon and clean it away before loosening more so that I’m removing everything before it has a chance to get anywhere.

[@brotharuss]

Give deep creep (airosal seafoam) a try to clean with... Zero worries with that.

[@BostonJoe620]

Awesome information my friend. I love Seafoam products!

[@chopperdown9114]

6.17 PLASTIC RAZOR BLADES GOOD FOR HIS BEARD

[@bextar6365]

I wonder if oven cleaner would work letting it set overnight ??

[@BostonJoe620]

I’d be weary of leaving it over night. The chemical could do damage to the aluminum.

[@lukecannon6458]

I wonder how well steel wool would work instead of the scotch bright pad? Would it mabey damage the sealing surface around the cylinder?

[@BostonJoe620]

Too abrasive.

[@Shamrockjason]

Luke Cannon scotch Brite is the way but not those, the color you want is grey from your local bodyshop parts supply store