Carbon Removal Questions

Unknown

Good day Everyone,



I (novice) have been reading "Everyman's Guide to Motor Efficiency",

first published in 1921. This copy is from 1927. Actually pretty

interesting reading. Here is some of what it says about "carbon

removal".



"Removing Carbon with Kerosene". "About once a week if the car is

used a great deal, put a couple of tablespoons of kerosene into each

cylinder through the relief-cock or spark plug hole while the engine

is hot-just after stopping. Let the engien stand overnight. When it

is started up in the morning the carbon wil blow out, the kerosene,

vaporized by the heat, soaking into it and loosenig it up. If the

deposit is an old one the same process will help, and repeated

applications will get rid of a good deal, but not all of it."



"Removing Carbon with Denatured Alcohol". One of the best carbon

removers is denatured alcohol. It will often do remarkably good work

and will not affect the cylinder walls, pistons or rings. It will

free the piston rings if they have become gummed in their groovea and

so possibly improve compression somewhat."



It goes on to say "Alcohol can be used in the same way as kerosene,

though more of it should be used, as it evaporates rapidly. To do a

thorough job, however, proceed as follows:



Bring one or more pistons, according to the number of cylinders in

the engine, to the top of the compression stroke. Both valves will

be closed at this point. Fill the combusion chamber full of

denatured alcohol through any opening, and then close it up leaving

no way of escape. Let it soak for not less than six hours. Treat

each cylinder in turn. When all have been treated, run the engine to

blow out the carbon."



It goes on further to say, "Run the engine with adulterated oil for a

short time. The alchol is a cleaner and willl give the engine a good

washing out. Then throw away the oil and put in fresh.



To keep the engine clean, put from two to four ounces of alcohol,

depending upon the cyulinder size into each cylinder every three or

four days, while the engine is hot. Be sure that all openings are

closed. Of course it is impossible to have all the valves closed at

the same time, but the cylinder that have valves open one day should

be treated with valves closed the next time, and son on."



"Removing Carbon with Water". "Run the engine at fairly high speed

and while running feed water in through the air intake of the

carburetor. Give the engine all the water it will take without

losing much speed. A great deal of carbon may be losened and blown

out in this way. When getting rid of carbon by these and similar

methods run with the muffler cut-out open to keep carbon from

clogging the muffler. Run the engine for a few minutes after the

carbon has stopped coming through to make sure that everything had

been blown out."



Questions:



1) What do you think of these methods of cleaning out carbon?



2) What is a "relief cock"? (See Removing Carbon with Kerosene)



3) What is a muffler cutout? (See Removing Carbon with Water



Thank you,



Rick Gatling)