Comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of engine carbon cleaning methods

Carbon deposits are inevitable during engine operation, and minor carbon deposits are generally not a concern. But when the carbon is more serious, if you do not remove the carbon in a timely manner, it will cause the engine power, fuel consumption, emissions and other problems.

There are many ways to remove carbon from the engine, including both non-disassembly and disassembly cleaning, and both physical and chemical cleaning. The following is an introduction to the common carbon cleaning methods on the market and their advantages and disadvantages for car owners and friends to choose.

1. Fuel additives to remove carbon

As the name suggests, it is to the automobile fuel tank to add additives with the function of cleaning carbon. During engine operation, these fuel additives enter the intake manifold (except for direct injection engines), intake valves, injectors and combustion chambers along with the fuel through the fuel pipe, and through the contact with these parts, the carbon, sludge, gum and other dirt on the surfaces of the parts are dissolved and cleaned.

Advantages: Save time and effort, easy to use, the vehicle in the process of driving, you can by the way to clean carbon deposits, do not need to spend time cleaning operation.

Disadvantages: The fuel additives on the market are a mixed bag, and it is difficult to find products that are effective and safe for cleaning; when the carbon buildup is more serious, it is difficult to have a significant cleaning effect with even the best products; it is not possible to clean the back of the intake valves, which is the part of the engine that is most prone to carbon buildup; it belongs to the category of chemical cleaning, and most of the products are harmful to the rubber parts. Most products will have an effect on the rubber parts.

Review: Fuel additives are similar to health products, with less obvious effects and more psychological comfort.

2. Dry ice to remove carbon

Use of high-pressure gas will be the size of a grain of dry ice (-70 degrees solid carbon dioxide) into the carbon parts, with the help of the very low temperature of the dry ice cold shrinkage of carbon, coupled with the expansion of the dry ice gasification (carbon dioxide from solid to gaseous, the volume of the 800-fold increase in the impact of the carbon from the surface of the parts off.

Advantages: Carbon removal is thorough and fast.

Disadvantage: The effect on metal parts and rubber parts will be more obvious. A sudden drop in temperature will make the surface of metal parts brittle, and rubber seals will become hard and brittle at low temperatures.

Comments: the way to remove carbon deposits is too violent, although the effect of removing carbon deposits is very good, but the current application is not common.

3. Micro-molecular hydrogen and oxygen to remove carbon

Using a hydrogen and oxygen generator to electrolyze water into hydrogen and oxygen, and then send the hydrogen and oxygen into the cylinder to mix with the fuel, with the help of the high temperature generated by the hydrogen combustion (up to 2,800 degrees Celsius or more) to burn the carbon.

Advantages: Unknown

Disadvantages: The temperature of hydrogen combustion far exceeds the maximum temperature in the cylinder during normal engine operation (about 1800 degrees Celsius), and the high temperature will cause obvious damage to the engine; in addition, there is a serious security risk, hydrogen is a dangerous gas, and improper operation is likely to cause an explosion and other serious consequences.

Review: use with caution, use with caution!

4. Carbon cleaning in a bottle

The carbon cleaner will be fed into the fuel system in the form of a bottle to clean the fuel system and intake tract (except for direct injection engines), fuel injectors, spark plugs, combustion chambers, and other parts of the carbon buildup. The principle is similar to that of fuel additives, but "bottling" belongs to centralized cleaning, while fuel additives belong to the fine water and long-flow type of cleaning on the car.

Advantages: The effect of carbon cleaning is generally more obvious than that of using fuel additives.

Disadvantages: time-consuming, generally cleaning an hour or so; most of the cleaning fluid will be corrosive to the rubber seals.

Comments: Although the effect is better than the use of fuel additives, but most of the products in pursuit of safety, cleaning effect will be greatly reduced.

5. Carbon cleaning machine to remove carbon

This cleaning method, is in the "hit the bottle" on the basis of evolution, mainly to solve the "hit the bottle" when the pressure is not stable. Cleaning principle is basically the same as "playing the bottle". The main role of the cleaner is to adjust or maintain the pressure of the cleaner into the engine as needed, making the engine run more smoothly during the entire cleaning process.

Advantages: better cleaning effect than the "bottle"; applicable to all types of injection engines (including intake injection, direct injection engines and hybrid injection).

Disadvantages: time-consuming, usually takes more than an hour to clean; most cleaning fluids are corrosive to rubber seals.

Review: mostly used to clean carbon deposits in direct injection engines.

6. Walnut sand to remove carbon

With walnut sand to remove carbon is only in the last year or two began to appear carbon cleaning methods, and there is a trend of large-scale application. Using high-pressure gas, granular walnut sand (broken walnut shells) is sprayed into the cylinder from the intake valve position, and the collision between the walnut sand and the parts is utilized to knock off the carbon on their surfaces. This is similar to sandblasting the surface of a component, except that it uses less hard walnut particles, which will only sand away the carbon without harming the metal parts.

Advantages: Good cleaning results and virtually no side effects.

Disadvantages: Currently not widely used, mainly for high-end models, cleaning costs are high.

Comments: the most promising carbon removal method.

7. Disassembly to remove carbon

This cleaning method is the easiest to understand, where there is carbon, the corresponding parts will be disassembled, with scraping or agent soaking method to clean up the surface of the carbon. In many people's impression, the mention of disassembly will feel more trouble, the fact is not so. Although there are many parts of the engine with carbon deposits, from the throttle valve to the intake valve, from the injector nozzle to the spark plug, combustion chamber, there are more or less carbon deposits, but in general, more carbon deposits and the most obvious impact on the engine's performance is also when the back of the intake valve, especially in-cylinder direct injection engine. Therefore, in most cases, if you take the method of disassembly to remove carbon deposits, generally remove the intake manifold can be removed from the back of the intake valve and injector nozzle carbon deposits. Of course, if you want to use the disassembly method to remove the carbon inside the combustion chamber, it will be relatively more troublesome, and you need to remove the engine cylinder head.

Advantages: Best results and visualization.

Disadvantages: Time-consuming.

Comments: If the engine carbon buildup is serious, the only way is to disassemble and clean.

In the above seven methods of cleaning carbon, in addition to dry ice, walnut sand and hydrogen oxygen three methods have not personally experienced, the other four I have tried, I feel the most obvious effect or disassembly cleaning. In addition, whether it is the use of fuel additives, or "bottles" or the use of cleaning machines, we need to use cleaning agents, and the main ingredients are similar. Because it is a chemical, as long as the carbon has a cleaning effect, more or less on the metal parts and rubber seals have certain side effects, and the better the cleaning effect, the greater the general side effects will be.

Carbon deposits are a persistent engine problem that no engine can avoid. In general, the intake tract injection class engine carbon is generally not too serious, the impact on engine performance are basically in the controllable range, just regularly dismantle and wash the throttle and idle valve can be, and the rest of the parts of the carbon can be basically ignored. However, in recent years, the rise of the cylinder direct injection engine is different, due to its own cleaning function with the fuel does not pass through the intake valve, resulting in the back of the intake valve is often very easy to produce carbon deposits. Intake valve carbon makes the engine air intake is not enough, resulting in a mixture of too thick, the engine cylinder combustion is not sufficient, thus further accelerating the formation of carbon, forming a vicious cycle. Therefore, the cylinder direct injection engine carbon problem is much more serious than the traditional intake tract injection engine. I usually drive the Maiteng, in driving about 130,000 kilometers, the engine power appeared to be a significant decline in the start of a serious frustration, at first also once suspected transmission failure, but dismantled and cleaned the intake valve to start the frustration basically disappeared. Before the old Fukang, driving more than 300,000 kilometers, just in the maintenance of the incidental dismantling of the throttle or idle valve, basically do not feel the impact of carbon deposits.