I Dumped 20 Gallons Of Water Into A Running BMW Engine To Super Clean The Pistons. Didn't End Well!

[@LegitStreetCars]

Who's entering to win the E30? Go to NordVPN.com/legit to get a massive discount off the 2-year plan plus 1 additional month for Free!

[@waqarulhaq9491]

Is this entry is for US only?

[@nanabrimpong3485]

What happened to the liquid Molly? That you ended up using water?

[@awrosemba]

Thanks for doing this! I was diagnosed with MS about 10 years ago. Just donated. Love these old BMWs!

[@Dh.p3]

A better result would come out if you heated the water to boiling temperature and made hot steam get in the engine . It would clean it to shiny like look . I would recommend a steaming machine that boil the water and get steam out . That steam goes in engine and does magic

[@budmcdonald9190]

Check the oil I bet it looks like milk

[@kevinbarry71]

I think you got it backwards. You're supposed to dump the BMW into a large body of water

[@LegitStreetCars]

Haha

[@MM_in_Havasu]

BAHAHAHAHA!!!!

[@frankm8533]

Haha definitely 👍

[@cigarsgunsanddiesel8032]

preferably salt water! 🤣🤣

[@kenharty6016]

Lmao

[@limsolo]

Back when I was an MB Tech in the UK, I had a customer W126 380SEL that was hesitating and flat spotting. After trying a few things out unsuccessfully I put a call into MB UK's tech support line and was told (off the record as there is an element of risk if you dump it in too quickly) to do more or less what you are doing but with a couple of differences 1) take off the fan belt and run the engine up so its borderline overheating 2) use really cold water (I put a few liters of water in the freezer and got it to around 3 degrees C and put a load of ice cubes in to keep it there), dumped that into the intake manifold via the brake booster/servo hose while revving at around 4000 - 5000 rpm (I dumped it quite quickly more quickly than you are doing here probably by at least 2 times), the idea according the tech support guy was to thermally shock off the carbon deposits stuck on the back of the intake valves (hitting hot carbon with ice cold water vapor). Happy to report the MB tech support guy was 100% correct and the engine ran wonderfully afterwards. When I moved to Jaguar then Land Rover, I have done the same thing and its always worked. It is really effective at removing flaky carbon from piston crowns.

[@startingtech3900]

why did you move around shops so much? did Mercedes and jaguar fire you?

[@limsolo]

@@startingtech3900Tech how do you define so much? I've been in the industry for 40 years as it says I was an MB tech at a UK dealer in the 80's. I now work at a Jaguar & Land Rover Importer working overseas. First Jaguar and then when Land Rover joined in around 2008 when TATA took over ownership of JLR we took Land Rover as well. Thats two dealers in 40 years. I moved for better positions, opportunities and pay. I am now National Aftersales Manager.

[@startingtech3900]

@@limsolo are you millionaire?

[@limsolo]

@@startingtech3900 honestly you are not making a lot of sense, if you want to chat no problem but I think it should make sense. So another comment that is out of context and makes no sense I’m going to ignore.

[@startingtech3900]

@@limsolo it just seems after 40 years and being the head of the company you are a millionaire or close to it. congrats on your success sorry if i confused you

[@bonzainews]

I had the water light come on back in the day. turned out to be an intake gasket that failed on a 1988 cadillac deville i used to own. It sucked gallons of water into the crankcase. I was 3 miles from my mechanics shop so I drove it right there. After draining over 3 gallons brown mayonnaise looking oil he pulled the intake off to discover the cleanest looking 153,000 mile engine. I was clean... the oil stayed clean for years afterwards. best $450 fix I ever had.

[@jeremyjones8872]

Whats a water light?

[@noahtrong7531]

@@jeremyjones8872 He might mean the coolant/antifreeze light.

[@marcpledger]

@@jeremyjones8872 lol do you Americans call an oil light a lubricant light 💡 lol “it’s a coolant light! Not a water light!” Great story by the way Larry, I enjoyed it.

[@bugdude21]

As someone who has been diagnosed with MS I was glad to see that you chose to have your donation go directly to fund research for a cure. If I could afford to buy take tickets, I would. Since I can't, I will cheer on your raffle and hope that whoever wins the car enjoys the heck out of it! Good speed to you!

[@afireinside909]

I am all for this! My baby brother was diagnosed with MS at the age of 20 and it broke my heart have to see him cry in my arms as he had to come to grips with the long term out come of it. I would never wish they upon anyone to have to live with. I love my baby brother and always encourage him to not look at this as hindering illness but one that make his goals of finishing collage all that more meaningful as he has to work twice as hard as kids his age. I pray before my tile passes that we are able to find a cure and my brother will live a long life and get to be the loving husband and father he dreams to be. 🙏

[@brockallentaylor]

I've been doing this for decades. The way you do it is buy a mister nozzle. The kind you use in front of a fan in the summer. Unplug the mass air sensor if you have one. Shim the throttle to 2500 rpm. Put the mister nozzle near the open intake after you take the filter off. Slowly turn up the flow until you hear a very slight drop in rpm. Go inside and have lunch. When you come back out the thing will be cleaner than any expensive decarbon treatment and you won't risk ruining your expensive oxygen sensors (they hate water) and you won't dilute your oil. The fine mist will fairly evenly distribute to the cylinders and you can do it for an hour if need be without having to stand there in mess with it. This method is pretty sloppy, super dangerous for the oxygen sensors, going to hit certain cylinders way more than others, and will need an oil change immediately after.

[@kimokahikolekalihi]

I did this on my 2007 Silverado 5.3 with the active fuel management issues. I had lower compression on a few cylinders and some were abnormally high compression. After running the truck for a hotlap, I ran a quart of water slowly through the intake manifold at about 3-4k rpm while the service stabilitrak light came on and the check engine came on. Afterwards I checked the compression again and to my amazement, all the cylinders were almost the same compression numbers. So it freed up the stuck rings that were causing my oil consumption problem and it fixed the compression issues. I even boroscoped it before and after and you could see the pistons were cleaner. Not nearly as clean as a vehicle that's had a head gasket failure for a while but better than it was.

[@polentusmax6100]

Did your engine oil was contaminated with water? was it with a lighter color like chocolate milk shake or it was like normal dark color??

[@kimokahikolekalihi]

@@polentusmax6100 I changed it right afterwards and it looked normal.

[@polentusmax6100]

@@kimokahikolekalihi thanks dude

[@lebebop9931]

My significant other has MS. Love the channel and love that you're donating to a great cause. Will absolutely be donating.

[@startingtech3900]

what is MS? is it muscular scoliosis?

[@lebebop9931]

@@startingtech3900 Multiple sclerosis, it's an autoimmune disease that attacks the nervous system and affects your brain and spinal cord, leading to all sorts of physical and/or mental problems depending on the severity. It's degenerative, life long, and currently no cure.

[@camill8688]

How does the oil look after this? When project farm did this with a small engine it was full milkshake!

[@aggieE46]

I’d be interested to see, too.

[@MajorMycology]

I’d imagine if your piston rings are good you shouldn’t have much of an issue since the water is entering the engine the same way fuel and air do in a combustion cycle 🧐 but now I’m curious lol

[@whollymindless]

That was exactly my thought at 5 gallons.

[@GoldenCroc]

Yep, I got clickbaited a bit by the title and thought the same might happen.

[@mutt8553]

Shoutout to Project Farm, a must watch before any purchase

[@rayrussell6064]

I've done this type of procedure in the 70s and 80s what I did was took a gallon jug and drilled a small hole in the lid got 1/8 inch brake line crimp it to were I could barely see threw it hook it to a vacuum port on the carb that wasn't being used and drove it stopped to fill the jug somewhere around 10 times and did that for a week and it cleaned it so good I then ran a large bottle of carb cleaner threw the same set up after all that I changed the oil put new plugs in it and it was good to go. I very rarely did that after the late 80s due to becoming a heavy line gas and diesel tech I would tell the drive ability guys that and them being so young they never believed me until I just watched you try to do somewhat the same thing it's a matter of keeping the engine at operating temp. Awesome content God bless you it reminded me of the olden days. As always be safe 👍

[@khobaibbinalahmar]

How about trying boiling water so you don't have to reheat the engine again and give it a continuous water injection?

[@TechnoMonkeyFarm]

What about just using steam?

[@james10739]

Ya but nobody else will be pouring much water in theirs like 20 gallons but boiling that much will take a while

[@richardbaumgart2454]

My dad used to water inject one of his old cars to cool the inlet charge to eliminate ping in his '65 Oldsmobile. He had a gallon of water sitting on the passenger side floor with a valve inline going thru the fire wall to a vacuum port. I think it was something he saw in "Mother's Earth News", a magazine he read back in the 80's.

[@actschp1]

Alex, I'm pretty sure you've already figured this out but, I wanted to mention that it looks like most of that oil is coming from worn valve guide seals. You'll have to do this water trick monthly to keep them that clean until you basically rebuild the head.

[@thomassvedin8701]

I was going to say the same thing.

[@C4LMediaGroup]

Hell no not that fast take many many years again

[@actschp1]

@@C4LMediaGroup with the amount of oil that was leaking by those valve guides, it will carbon up again in no time.

[@nathanbopp6163]

Could new valve seals fix that? If the seals are good, how would oil get into the valve guides?

[@actschp1]

@@nathanbopp6163 yep, new valve guides would reseal the valve stems. They don't leak at all when they are new. The only other thing that would possibly cause so much leak by is if the valve stems were scored.

[@Ordrock7]

I bought an old dodge van that was literally driven by an old lady and parked for a long time before i got it. I did the same thing with a water hose and ran the motor just under WOT. That 318 dodge motor loved it. never smoked again and started right up when i gave the key a little turn. Ran great until we transferred out of the Marine Corps from Yuma AZ. We drove it for 4 years without any issue

[@msiraco]

MS has personally effected my family and I, thanks for taking up a good cause Alex

[@startingtech3900]

what is MS?

[@msiraco]

@@startingtech3900 multiple sclerosis

[@erichibbs5137]

Years ago (40, 50, 60) fuels didn't have the detergents they do now and carbon build up was a much bigger issue. Makes sense that this procedure had more logic decades ago than it does now.

[@sv_cheats1970]

This E30 is 35 years old max.

[@erichibbs5137]

@@sv_cheats1970 the issue isn't the age of the car, its the advancement in fuels.

[@AlienLivesMatter]

@@erichibbs5137 advancement is the wrong word

[@giraffe8554]

@@AlienLivesMatter no it’s not lol

[@sameerajgaonkar23]

Infact .petrols is far more inferior now a days then it used to be 20 years ago ..then petrol was used to wash white clothes for a spotless wash .. now gasoline itself stains

[@jan58joubert14]

Yes we did this often. Never in dead of winter though. One other important thing, in the late 60's and 70's when we did this there were no fuel injection. We used to set the idle at 3500 and pour the water down the carburetor. The big difference a carburetor have a venturi which vaporized the water and we would use about 2 to 3 gallons and it was done. Edit: We also did not try to make the pistons look like new, it was mostly clearing carbon of the back of the valves and what ever we could see on top of the pistons through the plug hole, no fancy borescopes back then.

[@oigleoystereater2003]

What would probably work well is to introduce steam into the engine from something like a domestic steam cleaning machine, it may even help with the vacuum problem. There would also be less of a thermal shock problem. It would also be interesting to see the internals after a long, hard drive which may loosen the carbon that the water has effected during the experiment. I wouldn't be surprised if there would be an improvement.

[@GreenForce82]

That's an excellent thought. I would posit that the thermal shock, whilst potentially problematic, is part of the fix. It's probably causing somewhat of a contraction of the metals the water impacts, and the steam thereby is able to release the carbon deposits easier as the carbon might be less susceptible to thermal changes, and therefore it stays more gooey and partially loosened. At which point the steam is able to penetrate the gunk and send it out the exhaust... Or clog the catalytic converters... But yeah. Interesting.

[@bluefordpickup]

@@GreenForce82I’d like to see some giant exposed tits

[@Tommy_Mac]

I'd be interested in seeing cylinder leak down before and after cleaning. Yes, the carbon is removed via steam cleaning, but does that do anything?

[@UPsideDOWNworld321]

hydro lock is what should happen

[@startingtech3900]

mac daddy is on the case...

[@gtohenry6469]

Thank you so much using the MS Society for the donation! We donated for my wife who has MS diagnosed 10 years ago, her sisters and mother as well. Please keep the great content coming! Thank you Alex!

[@hardnaaklife]

Fill your washer fluid tank with a water/methanol mix. Hook it up to that vacuum line. Go for a drive, and hit the washer pump under load and high rpm. That'll clean it like new!

[@pidhsome]

That sounds crazy but i love it

[@aydenryan5941]

That’s kind of genius

[@mac4boys541]

Finally A MAN of science, and handy too!!!!

[@tellyalater10]

I used a 3 gal garden sprayer from HF. Stick nozzle behind air filter. Drive and spray.

[@IKhanNot]

That sounds brilliant

[@matejlinek287]

I did this last year with a steam generator iron. You need to inject hot water so that it evaporates right away. I spent 1 to 2 hours inserting steam through the air intake with rpm around 3k. After I stopped the steam, the engine wanted to stall in idle so I had to keep high rpm and not let it idle for 10 minutes before it went on running on itself. The oil was a total milkshake after that and it took 20 miles of driving on highway to regain oily liquid state.

[@andersonpostingher119]

Came here to say this... Using steam or hot water sounds like a better idea.

[@buckaroobonsi555]

Just soak the pistons with B12 Chem-Dip or Kreen. Even if you clean the tops of the pistons the water will not get to the rings. On top of that the water will create a ton of acid in the oil! B12 Chem-Dip or Kreen right into the cylinders will work much better. Do not bother with Seafoam it is too weak to use as a piston soak since it is just alcohol and oil.

[@ToomasTelling]

yup using Berryman B12 down the intake will help more than water.

[@vinny6_9]

@@ToomasTelling B12 for the win!

[@350zoomin3]

Im genuinely impressed with the results. For the cost of a few hours and some distilled water, the results are second to none. The second vacuum line you used was cheat codes though, that thing was too perfect

[@nikolaishpak1323]

Donated. Thank you Alex for doing this. Your heart is in right place, our society need more positive people like you.

[@tabryis]

Peepee poopoo tax write offs

[@nikolaishpak1323]

@@tabryis Something wrong with you? Get an appointment for the head exam.

[@GRosa250]

My boss was the first person I saw do this back in the 80’s. He would bring the engine up to redline and dump a ton of water into the carb. I thought he was crazy but it never killed any of the engines. As far as the engines running better, it actually seemed like they would. I don’t know how much of it was as a result of the water or from screaming the engine to redline a bunch of times to just blow everything out.

[@rogerwhittemore9950]

One of my dad's mechanics would do the same thing back in the 80's. He didn't redline it (I was that "throttle man" ) but definitely used high rpm's . ;)

[@jimmygrant3212]

Chevy said to do it to the first Chevy 265 V8s.

[@Carlos1180]

In Europe we call that an Italian tune up. Take it out for a drive and rev the nuts off it :D

[@gerhardvanwykzs4rum685]

Why not try to inject steam directly instead of water?

[@tomgeddes7878]

Or even hot water!

[@benhatcher2603]

It would take a really long time to boil off 20 gallons of water even under a slight vacuum, especially outside in Chicago in the winter.

[@grandtheftautotune7715]

@@benhatcher2603 if it was steam, you'd probably get better results faster, thus not needing 20 gallons, probably alot less.

[@duncanb1981]

@@benhatcher2603 run it through a small diameter copper pipe wrapped a bunch of time around the exhaust manifold. Instant steam.

[@robertyoder3790]

It takes a whole lot less water if you use a mister from walmart.The water atomizes and steam cleans better.It doesn't lower the engine temp as much thus, more steam and better cleaning. Not as much blow thru.the longer the steam ,the better the clean.Also use a block of sorts or wedge to keep the rpms up at the throttle body.around 3k rpm is optimal.You will get a much better result.Been doing this for years,the inside of mine is completely free of carbon at 240 k.27k when I got it.

[@marigoldmechanic]

Hey Alex I really want you to revisit this! I want you to have the water pour in while driving on the highway. The engine needs to be under load with high revs and fuel flow. You see when a head gasket is leaking the cylinder is spotless, its because its going in when the engine is under load. Love you input dude keep it going.

[@FishinPhreak]

I'd imagine this has got to be a catalytic converter killer as all of that loose carbon works its way through the exhaust.

[@frodestillingen]

Catalytic converter is also ceramic so if hot blasted with water it could crack internally

[@theroyalcrownedtiger2946]

Remove the cat converter before doing it, and use a piece of pipe in its place, so the cat converter don't take damage.

[@cmte.brazinazzo2061]

Nope, the dislodged carbon is smashed at CC and water vapor will clean the catconv.

[@steverossen2816]

@@theroyalcrownedtiger2946 just remove the cat and keep it off

[@theroyalcrownedtiger2946]

@@steverossen2816 : That could be done too, but not legal to be driving with, or if found to be driving without the cat, huge monetary penalties, and possibly other penalties too.

[@JaySvpreme]

I think its awesome that you are doing a fundraiser for MS, my father has had it since i was 9 and it heavily affected me when i was younger watching it. Glad to see ppl spreading awareness of this horrible disease that not too many people know about. Thank you

[@ze_german2921]

A little carbon layer on the pistons is actually a good thing, it adds as a heat barrier like ceramic coated pistons.

[@andakara27]

Actually carbon will absorbs the heat from the combustion, thus lowering the efficiency.

[@javierrflores]

It also adds compression!

[@apachelives]

@@javierrflores yes and no, that space now offsets combustion ratios and can cause pinging (ECU's will sense knock and pull timing causing hesitation)

[@carpediemarts705]

@@javierrflores yeah, a tiny tiny tiny bit

[@MrGazzw]

Hi Alex, been subscribed a couple years now, lv what you do. I'm from the UK and I lv that the proceeds are going to help MS sufferers, my own younger brother (who is in his late 40's now) was diagnosed and has been suffering from MS for about 8yrs now. He mostly manages but does need at least 1 crutch to get around when he is out, but is always worrying about going down hill quickly and ending up permanently in a wheelchair, so it a really great cause and hope you raise a good amount for them.

[@bullethelldemon]

just can't kill these m20 engines, e30s are bulletproof! loving all the bmw videos lately, you should definitely keep doing more of em!

[@Anirossa]

Stey can tick pretty bad, and the heads can get tired to the point you can't adjust them more, but they can still run pretty well. Got two E34s with M20s, they still get 10km per liter 33 years later after over 300k km...

[@bullethelldemon]

@@Anirossa they do tick for sure but any engine will have its issues when it gets up in age. it's the fact that they run so long so well is whats really impressive about them to me. i have an e30 and an e34 both with m20s and they run like tops. the regular maintenance schedule is a breeze and a joy to perform as well. if you take care of them they will reward you, it sounds like both of your cars already have :)

[@Anirossa]

​@@bullethelldemon Yeah, I've owned M50 NV and vanos as well as M51D25 E34s before, I love'd how the cars looked, the road feeling, simplicity and the smoothness of the I6 M50, but I didn't fall hard for the E34s before I got my first M20 model... my first car was a European Ford Granada Mk2s2 with a V6, so I was used to older tech before the BMWs. M50 and M51 are okay, but I find they lack the soul you get with the M20. One of my M20 cars I picked up last year, a man in his 80s had it, had only had it serviced at official garages, and it runs like new without a sound... the other one, that I've dailied for 1 and a half year minus when its snow and its salt on the roads... was off the road 10 years under 4 owners... and its engine is much more tired, but it still starts easily every time... my dad has a E32 735i, the M20 and M30 are my favorite engines, the M30 less revy, safer with its chain, but more headgasket problems and a bit of an anchor.. but still a really great engine... and yeah, maintenance really are a joy on these cars. How would you say a M20 E30 feels compared to a E34? Is it more of a gocart-like sort of feeling?

[@yo_its_gingey5329]

Mix brake cleaner, trans fluid, and WD-40, poor a little down each cylinder, let it sit over night, try to dry it up a little the next day in each cylinder, do an oil change, and then start it up and let it run for a while, it works wonders. It loosens up all the carbon and cleans it all out after it runs for an hour or two of driving. It’ll look real clean in there.

[@ashleynyamadzawo]

Alex is allergic to bad videos, another fantastic watch! Thanks Alex!

[@loopie007]

I did this back in the '70s on my VW's. Worked really well. The next step is to get a longer version of your hose, and a control valve from your hardware/garden store. Run one end of the hose into the intake system of your engine. Then run it out of the hood, into the passenger windows to the floor. Put your gallons of water on the floor and go drive your car. As you are on the freeway generating heat, you can open the valve and let it suck the water in slowly. The heat from the engine with boil the water and clean the pistons. You need heat and rpm with time to clean the pistons properly. Also, check/replace the oil. If you are dumping that much water in the engine, you are building enough pressure to go past the piston rings into your oil, and possibly back up through the valve guides. The fact that some pistons were clean and others dirty, should give you an idea your cleaning method needs review.

[@benhatcher2603]

Dang, Alex. In just over an hour you're more than half way to your goal! Nice work! Thank you for helping the MS Society.

[@mobilemowers]

Think misting is the key. I did it (not with gallons though) on my 78 Olds 88 w 403 years ago. Seemed to help a little. Friend did the same with same year car and engine made a huge improvement. Did it a few of my 350's also. Used to be way easier with carbs as it can go straight down. Seems lots of throttle bodies are horizontal now. I still do it time to time. I prefer Seafoam now. Do it often with my direct only injection Chevy through pcv system as scared to get dirty valves which would need sandblasting if not kept up.

[@Al_Pollock]

The way I was shown was by using a spray bottle. This mists the water up into tiny droplets. However Iv never inspected an engine afterwards.

[@carpediemarts705]

That's what a vacuum hose connected to a garden hose would accomplish under high air flow.

[@jdizzforyou]

I would man… but “the misses” as I call it (AKA relapsing remitting MS) prevents me from doing a bunch of work on cars especially. Back in the day, back in The Heights (if ya know ya know), back when I’m pretty sure I served you food in my (Portillo’s) drivethru that I changed the starter on my Galant in the parking lot of in a snowy February, I would love this project. Thanks for doing the good cause thing, not just for those with the disease but everyone affected by it’s effects.

[@borisp9499]

I think the reason the old timers were confident in their water cleaning approach is because they didn't have a bore scope to confirm that it doesn't work.

[@Flies2FLL]

I drove Tom O'Connor's E30 BMW back from the West End of Dallas in 1996 along with a drunk Bill Gnegy [he was killed in a jet dragster crash later] and I was amazed about the steering! That car steered like a go-cart! I owned a '92 Corrado SLC at the time and the Corrado was way faster, but the BMW communicated with the driver far better.

[@edreeder9853]

The trick is the vacuum line trick, I remember dad doing this years ago and it worked but he feed it to it at high speed small amounts at a time, he run a long vac line inside the car and stuck in the water pulled it out over and over, I didn't exactly clean the engine, it removed the carbon especially on the valves.

[@oldtc3615]

As somebody that did dumb stuff in my younger days..... I also did the vacuum line thing but inserted sockets to use as an orifice to control the amount of water. Also take an exhaust hose from the tale pipe and run it to the intake. That way you are recycling the already hot atomized steam and it more easily reaches the harder cylinders. I thought about boiling pots of water and running it threw the air intake but never tried it. One thing for sure is bad head gaskets that allow coolant into the cylinder always made the leaking cylinder spotless!

[@devinhobdy6081]

Hey Alex can you try the BG fuel induction service and show a before and after.

[@glenwaldrop8166]

We've done it, spray it through the carb, not through a vacuum line. We also didn't do it in January in Chicago, that was probably a factor as well. On a car that blew a headgasket that hasn't gone through a gallon of coolant the cylinder is almost always in pristine condition. I think the problems boiled down to the temp, too much water vs vapor and not enough RPM consistently. We ran at a steady 2000 RPM, wouldn't let it go below 1500 RPM. We didn't have a scope then and only pulled down a few engines after trying this but it worked in those cases.

[@fatherandsonfix]

Keep up the good work, Alex! We appreciate your attention to detail on all the videos, editing, and all the behind-the-scenes work you and (now you team :)) are doing to make great content. Great idea for the donation giveaway, always thinking with your heart :)

[@nobodynoone2500]

I was always taught to: 1. warm up the car with hard driving first 2. Use seafoam or acetone/ATF mix 3. Add as much as possible at intake plenum 4. While at maximum saturation, someone kills the engine (not by hydrolocking it JFC, not ok!) 5. Let it soak. 6. Repeat a few times. 7. CHANGE THE OIL!

[@pfsantos007]

I thought the results were pretty good, considering the most you undid were vacuum lines. And the remaining carbon on the pistons looks pretty thin. Good work.

[@DonnieB]

Yep! We use to do this on old Fords. The "NEW" unleaded fuel was known to leave carbon deposits and that would cause the engine to keep running after the ignitions was turned off due to the hot carbon igniting the fuel from the carburetor. Grab a big 12 oz Pepsi bottle and fill it with water, then pour it into the engine. One may help but, often we did it twice. With the carbon cleaned out, the engine would shutoff normally for a while. We would also take the car out for a "test drive" and hold it in second gear to force the engine to run at higher speeds and "blow out" the carbon in the engine. It probably never fixed anything but, we had a lot of fun trying anything that didn't involve going to the dealership.

[@Lifelesstoaster]

Donated, watching you give back as much as you have through cars and everything else making a donation is the least I can do. Thank you for you do for your community. We need more people like you

[@irongoose3865]

I had a guy years ago tell me that you use ice cold water when you do this. I've never tried it myself but it makes sense. Extreme hot or cold is used to loosen nuts and bolts to dirt up. It works because either or causes expansion and contraction which causes stuck on things to lose their grip. Try this with ice cold water! Doing this makes me think about Dry Ice Cleaning and how well that works. Ice cold water hitting brittle hot carbon deposits should work very well.

[@HeavyLifter941]

Love the video content Alex... Thank you so much. Love what you do for kids wanting to learn as well. That was an awesome thing

[@Uufda651]

My dad has MS and I always appreciate people who do MS fundraisers! 👍

[@mlchristopher]

Hey Alex, I know you're using the pistons as a gauge of how well this method works, but what about the valves? Isn't cleaning the carbon off the valves more important?

[@DiscoFang]

Different type of buildup. The carbon deposits in the cylinders that is a result of incomplete combustion is not the same as the goop that forms in the intake manifolds and backs of the valves of a modern direct injection engine.

[@cbstuff6542]

Thanks for your support for MS Society. 💪🙏

[@nlumby]

DO NOT DO THIS ON A DIESEL!

[@manowaari]

Yeah, you'll melt thru piston really fast on Diesel.

[@nlumby]

@@manowaari ...you'll put a piston through the block in a flash ...diesel combustion works on high compression (which is why the block and often the cylinder head are cast iron not aluminium) ...water doesn't compress readily so your pistons will find another way to escape (way before they melt, lol) either through the block or by bending the conrods! If you've got a diesel vehicle take GREAT care if you ever get caught in a flood ...driving through a puddle can have the same effect if any water gets up into the air intake somehow BEWARE! ...been there, done that!

[@n9wox]

Diesels have a much higher compression ratio.

[@sameerajgaonkar23]

You could have 6 small fish tank pipes joined together at one end ..then a water controlled valve ,and then put the line in a gallon container above the engine level . Put one pipe each in the intake runners So you can be assured .. you are not hydrolocking the engine at the same time , best equal distribution of distilled/ demineralised water in the engine .. It's coming from a powertrain quality engineer , working in a powertrain division , testing engines on top of the line Dynos for 15 plus years . N been working on engines for 40/ 53 years on daily basis ..!

[@RJon2006]

On the next video, Alex drives the BMW into Lake Michigan to see if the carbon finally breaks up.

[@bigwink5351]

cold water through the carburetor we used to do that as a spring tune up with new plugs, points, and condenser. I owned a few 1967 Pontiacs that I actually drove to the junk yard because the frames rotted out from underneath the cars. Road salt killed them. Caution if you are doing this you have to be careful not to get a hydro lock, (steam is powerful when it expands and can wreck the engine) so I was told. A cup full of water is all you need. 20 gallons WoW! crazy.....

[@xFlow150]

Good video. I like the experiment. As with all scientific endeavours, sometimes one doesn't get the result one desires. At least you now know that the water treatment doesn't work all that well. Also, please wear your seatbelt when driving! Safety first, always!

[@ricardojano3716]

Did something like that to a 1965 Olds 88 had a 4 barrel , saw an article about water injection so i tried it i didn't have the proper set up but i took a jar with water put a vacuum line in it rev'ed it up and to my amazement sucked the jar dry WOW - not how it was suppose to work but the Olds ran well

[@akeemd2120]

Love the old-school BMWs but definitely not the new ones

[@scottouimet2865]

My dad taught me this 20 yrs ago with a car they got me for my 19th birthday. It sat for a long time and didn't run great. We used an old windex bottle to spray into the throttle body. The old 91 Eagle Premier ran so much better after like half a windex bottle. Definitely worked wonders on that car and a few others over the years.

[@Keirdo69r]

People who post 'first' under youtube videos is the definition of virgin behaviour

[@billscow]

No, it's the LEGIT STREET CARS FIRST COMMENT RACING LEAGUE, people racing each other to get the first comment, just making more fun. Don't dump on the racers, nobody is dumping on you for not wanting to race.

[@Carlos1180]

I have a water/methanol injection kit lying in my garage from a mk4 Golf Gti stage 2 car. I now have a mk1 Audi S3 which has a very similar engine. I also have 5 UK gallons of medical grade methanol. I could set it up to constantly spray a 50/50 mix.from inside the car and switch it on when the engine gets up tp temp. The kit comes with 2 sizes of mist nozzles

[@yessinesellami9315]

buy a mercedes w124

[@ppellet4738]

Alex, I made a donation, a friend of mine has MS. With that said, I would’ve made a donation anyway. You always pay it forward. You’re doing great things to help your community!!! Keep doing what you do brother!!

[@drasticmart]

So I do seafoam spray in the intake and the liquid in the oil and gas right before my oil change on my '08 IS250 (DI). It would get a misfire and would run super rough before I started doing that and daily redline!! So it can definitely work but the thermal shock of flashing water to steam in the cylinder can only do so much. The solvent in seafoam, especially after letting it sit for awhile after running it through gives me a huge smoke show, not steam. 10/10 would recommend

[@davepax982]

Personally the way I would have done it is get a garden sprayer, the one you can pressurise yourself, take the intake tube off before the throttle body, hold it at 3 to 4k and spray into the TB. You will get even distribution and it will be a much finer mist so it will vapourise with much less effort and less risk of hydraulic locking the engine. Then do a few oil changes to clean it right up.

[@sgttombailes3380]

My old '87 BMW 325 es was indeed the best out of 7 BMW's I have owned over the years. Not including my 3 Porsches. The Porsches were awesome ! But that little '87 was a Trouper !! Awesome Car !!

[@jonathanrabbitt]

Hey Alex; I reckon you should engineer a system that you can take a car for a blast down the highway at highish loads, but introducing water into the engine via a temporarily plumbed in tube and orifice. You could size the orifice for a known (measured) flow rate (at the cruise manifold vacuum), and have a valve in the cabin to start/stop the water flow. A bit of PVC tubing or PE irrigation hose and a few garden irrigation fittings and nozzles might work. I might try it myself.

[@chrisbarnhart4178]

thank you so much man. i have multiple sclerosis and so does my mom. you have a more genuine vibe than others in this space and seeing this confirmed that even further in my book. God bless bro

[@anonimous2451]

What 2 things DO NOT mix with water? 1. Electricity ! 2. Gasoline Engine's, unless of course you are doing the reverse and dumping the car in a large body of water to HIDE it. 🤧

[@jefflilyea4669]

I got a flathead 6 unstuck and poured a mix of trans fluid and water in the carb while revving. Flooded out, let it sit. Cranked with plugs out, then install new plugs. Ran like new once the smoke cleared. Love your videos

[@seanmiller6585]

I used water years ago to free stuck valves in old small block chevy and a couple fords. I just slowly dumped a large cup of water down the carb as it ran and I throttled it and it worked great! I have also used marvel mystery oil, it smoked a lot but ran great after it cleared up.

[@theroyalcrownedtiger2946]

Just 1 or 2 of those water jugs would have done the job, and a spray bottle, sprayed into the throttle body, without hydrolocking the engine, without stalling the engine, after the engine has reached normal operating temperature.

[@kennethsandberg8247]

Alex, took up your call to action and donated. Thank you for everything you do!

[@thatguyinthatoneshow]

Imo, for free, this was pretty great. It looks like the one valve we got to see was pretty clean, and the edges and valve reliefs of a few of those pistons looked sweet.

[@chucky2030]

It use to do a 50/50 mix with water and transmission fluid in 20oz bottle. I have done that on many cars to fix leaking valves, miss at idle, and other carbon issues. Get the engine nice and hot, suck in the mix in a vacuum line quickly, turn off the engine, let sit for 20 minutes and then take it for a test drive. You will enjoy a massive smoke show on the test drive.

[@cesare8020]

Should try this trick with atf. I've added it to my regular oil, and it made quite a difference. My understanding is its got quite a bit of detergents. Maybe thats what you need to help get rid of the carbon.

[@apachelives]

This. I had an old Subaru with sticky valves on cold start (ticking), had some old ATF around and thought eh ill try it. Dumped in around half a litre (a little overfilled) and did a few hundred kms before the oil change was due. Noise disappeared for at least 6 months.

[@oldjarhead386]

Try windshield washer solvent. Water, alcohol and detergents. The reason the piston venters are more carbon is that there generally more carbon there. But why is the same reason the cleaning works better around the sides of the piston facts. Combustion swirl. Modern cylinder heads are designed to swirl air in and out of the cylinder. This spinning are passes thru the valves more efficiently. The coriolis effect. I’m also glad you talked more about the proper use of water/meth injection. I then had to delete about 6 paragraphs from this post.

[@donelias1981]

When I was a mechanic back in the day I did intake cleaning where we hooked up an IV to a vacuum line which allowed for the car to run without a huge leak and steamed cleaned the engine like shown in this video except it wasn’t water we used.

[@bigbens55]

I donated what i could...So happy to see you doing great things.....As a native Southsider living in Cali "military career" i love the videos and the background of your stories.

[@marcosborras4804]

I donated to the cause because my sister has MS and I see her struggle through it everyday the meds help but the cure would be better thanks for putting this out and supporting the cause.

[@aaronciviris]

This is the only time I loved seeing a Nord VPN sponsorship. Loved it LoL. Awesome channel.

[@md11b777]

Have you tried a lbottle/can of Coke? Long ago in the mid 60s I was watching a very good mechanic tune a 392 hemi in a 57 Imperial. After removing the air cleaner he proceeded to pour a bottle of coke right from the machine down the carter carb of the running engine. Smoked like crazy but engine did not stall. He changed the plugs and the car was smooth as silk.

[@danielhurley7018]

Mix 1oz carb cleaner, 2oz PB blaster, and 1/2oz MMO. Add this amount to each cylinder. Soak overnight with the plugs in. The next morning the cylinders will look dry. The carbon will have dried and "delaminated" from the piston. At this point remove the plugs, attach a thin hose to an air blow gun. Put the hose in to the cylinder and blast away. You will be amazed at the carbon that blows back out of the spark plug hole. Add the mix to the engine and let it sit for 2 more days. After 2 days remove the plugs and turn the engine over to remove excess liquid. Put the plugs back in and run it till it stops smoking, then change the oil. Pistons will be squeaky clean.

[@1966badnova]

well kept secret. Run x66p cleaner made by delco mixed with gasoline sprayed down the intake. Make sure it's pass the mass air flow sensor. Get it nice and "damp". Then let it sit an hour or 2. It will soften up all the carbon. Start it up, bring it up to temp and the oil should smoke out the intake track thru the exhaust. Also the best cleaner you can run to clean injectors, You have to have a pressurized injector cleaner to add the x66p fluid and gas mix. I'm not endorsing the product I just know it works.

[@EVGUY13245]

Hey man why not do this test again in the summer time when it's actually hot out?!

[@ImpalaSS08]

My dad and I did this back in the late 80’s on a 1980 Turbo TA and it worked great. We did do it in the middle of the summer though.

[@typedrew]

When you do this type of steam cleaning. You need to then go out and give it the Italian tune up on the highway to break up the stuff that steam alone could only loosen. Timing and heat will break up stuff the rest of the way

[@TheNothing34]

Where I am from, they use stove cleaner to clean carbon buildup. Some years ago my mechanic did this on my e39 520d, beacuse the copper washers that seal the space between the injectors and the block where broken, and when they removed the injectors some carbon buildup fell in the cilinders and there was the risk of seizing the engine. So they removed the valve cover an poured stove cleaner directly in the cilinders and leave it there for a while. After that, they moved the engine manualy so that all the dirt squirted out and after that we were good to go.

[@SergioLRosa-ye8kc]

Crazy stuff. To clean an engine this way is insane! Love your videos. In spite of beeing a technical matter, you speack a so good English, that makes easy to understand. I'm Brazilian from Rio de Janeiro, portuguese speacker. Greats from Brazil. 👏👏👏👍👍🤗🤗🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@colemanbonner]

I do this to clean the intake valves on my 4.0L Jeep engine from time to time, with about a quart of water over the course of several minutes. Works great, stops the hi-RPM misfires that can show up

[@JesudeGannes]

I've used this method on 3 cars recently, they all had pinging issues, after I fed about 5L of distilled water, via vaccum tube they stopped pinging. They also ran generally much better.

[@Matp345]

In my older engines I would always hold the idle up and some revs while slowly pouring water down the intake. It's a steam clean that always made them run better

[@Victor-ox1no]

Donated! 2 hours after you posting the video, more than half way to the goal! Thats amazing!