Unbelievable Carbon Fouling!

[Hal the Elder]

Hello...

This morning I removed Oscar's cylinder head to send to Quenton for milling.

Now, I've owned 24 cars, 7 motorcycles, and one Whizzer, and I've had the engines apart on several of them, but I've NEVER seen such carbon fouling as on my new NE-5 with only 180 original miles on the odometer!

As you can see, I've been running REALLY rich, and my 3000 ft. elevation doesn't help either! Carburetion changes are definitely in store for me!

(What's that...SAND around the intake valve and on the piston head?)

Now to begin scraping!

HAL

 

[RdKryton]

Hi Hal
You must have the #95 jet. Ask Quenton for a #82 or 85 when he ships back your head.

Jim

PS That's not sand! It is serious carbon build up.

 

[Hal the Elder]

Hey Jim:

I just removed and opened my Carburetor. It has a #90 main jet.

Quenton already said he would send me a #82.

The black fouling seems to be firmly deposited on the piston and valve area...I thought it could be easily scraped off.

Is there any chemical product that can dissolve the carbon buildup, or loosen it?

Thanks...
HAL

 

[5-7HEAVEN]

Hal, I just removed my head; it looks EXACTLY like yours with carbon deposit.

I'm at sea level with 1100 miles.

I bought "Mr. Whizzard" last month and drove 50 miles to get the feel of it. At 40 miles I reamed out the carb's phenolic spacer.

What a difference!

Coincidentally, Hal, I'm copying every modification you're doing, even the WC-1 cam.

Also need to use smaller jet.

 

[uncle_punk13]

normal

looks like all of the ones I've owned, and the couple I've worked on... LOL

 

[go-rebels]

I just removed and opened my Carburetor. It has a #90 main jet.

Quenton already said he would send me a #82.

The black fouling seems to be firmly deposited on the piston and valve area...I thought it could be easily scraped off.

Is there any chemical product that can dissolve the carbon buildup, or loosen it?

Thanks...
HAL

I would first use a steel wire brush mounted to a cordless drill. Then I would add a product like "Marvel's Mystery Oil", "Sea Foam" or Chevron "Techron" to the gas every time I filled it up. I had a major problem with carbon build-up on an old Cub Cadet tractor and "Marvel's Mystery Oil" does a good job removing carbon and continues to do a good job keeping it off. I've added that product for years in the gasoline used in all my small engines and have never had a problem with carbon.

 

[Hal the Elder]

Hey 5-7 Heaven

If you're going to copy every modification I make, then you'll install a WC-1 cam, run it for 10 miles, then remove it and re-install the stock NE cam!

That's what I did, because the WC-1 reduced my overall performance, and re-installing my NE cam restored it.

HAL

 

[Hal the Elder]

Hey Go-rebels:

How about using my Dremel and a small rotary steel wire brush to get into the areas around the valves, with some kind of solvent (if any) to pre-soften the carbon?

Thanks...
HAL

 

[HoughMade]

I've seen fouling that bad..worse, but it was on a Briggs engine from 1967 that I rebuilt in 2006.

And oh he!! no, don't use a standard (steel) wire brush anywhere near all that aluminum. Personally, I would not use a brass brush either unless nothing else worked, but that is probably OK. Remove it chemically with a nylon brush to start and give it time to work and let it soak from time to time- a mild solvent would be diesel fuel or mineral spirits- that's the place to start. Easy-Off oven cleaner will do the job, but I wouldn't want to use that unless I was completely disassembling the engine.

 

[Hal the Elder]

Hey Hough-made:

WOW!

I'm glad you told me that before going in there with my Titanium Roto-Rooter!

I'll try the Mineral Spirits (paint thinner) with a soft brush and keep at it until everything is perfectly clean.

Thanks...
HAL