De Coking

[red vtec]

I was reading a car magazine yesterday when I cam across an article on Decoking, it mentioned that older cars used to have this done regular due to the inferior oils, Petrol etc around at the time. As the Coke builds up it robs power etc. You used to take the head off then clean up with a blunt knife, plenty of white spirit etc and maybe regrind the valves in with paste.

I have looked around on the web and it seems that now this can be done in situ with modern aerosol solutions such as Ecotek Power boost Basically it is sprayed into the air intake Click Here I have read through loads of reviews and people seem to think it works.

Firstly. Is de coking worth it? as our engines are based on an old design I would think its applicable (I have a carbed turbo)

Secondly. Has any one used the Ecotek stuff? Does it work

Thirdly. Does Redex decoke? as I have read that it can be put in the spark plug wells and also in the carbs to clean them out, but is that the same as decoking? And I have a big can of it sitting on a shelf.

Thanks

Chris

[rogerch]

Now there's an expression I haven't heard in a few years. In short, if you use high grade fuel and oil, do long runs as opposed to popping to the shops your engine will have no discernible build up of deposites. It might get a bit black just going around town but a good spirited drive will always clean it out. Running a good efficient thermostat helps, get the engine up to temperature, and burn all the fuel.

The good thing about today's technology is you can get a camera down the plug ole and hav a butchers.

( I did that job last to my elder sisters 1172 Ford Popular )

[Sparky]

Wot he said. If you've coked your Esprit up, buy yourself a flat cap and a Nissan Micra and go out on Sundays to annoy other drivers.

Redex, like all the others, is a by-product that is pretty much useless other than for generating huge clouds of smoke to convince people it's cleaning their engines. Ecotek-whatever is, I suspect, of the same ilk. I wouldn't waste my money.

[Vulcan Grey]

I also don't think those work... IMO

Don't think there is any way to avoid this (74k miles)

For comparison, this was my engine at 55k miles, after some work and cleaning.

The only way might be to use a water/methanol injection... but not convinced.

Edited May 15, 2010 by Vulcan Grey

[shill68]

There is one way, instead of having your crankcase breathe back into the intake per emissions setups, simply put a fuel filter on the end on the breather line. As the motors get older and the rings wear, more and more oil is pushed back into the intake to be burned via combustion and blown out the tailpipe, this is a good chunk of the deposits on piston tops. Normally the intake valves would be really bad as well, but with fuel injectors batch firing onto the intake valves, they stay pretty clean.