xxcarguy
Well-Known Member
They used to make a water injection to mist into your running car. Water canister, pump (like your wiper pump) and a tube run through the top of your air cleaner.
Never tried it but it was available. Early 80s.
Anyone hear of "steam cleaning trick"?
- Thread starter spstan
- Start date
Never tried it but it was available. Early 80s.
Water injection can be beneficial but only if the engine needs it to prevent detonation, which is most often in turbo and supercharged applications. Adding WI to an engine that doesn't need it won't help and can actually reduce power (remember, water isn't combustible). It might help you be able to run regular gas in a car that normally needed premium w/o pinging, which was definitely a thing people were interested in back during the oil crisis(s).
Chryslerdon
New Member
Years ago I bought a 76 Eldorado that had a supposed rod knock. I learned of that trick from my machine shop, as those cars were known to have carbon build up problems. I started it and dribble water down the carb while on high idle. The knock went away, and I drove the car for some time with no more problems. I did run out of gas twice. I was thirsty, and when the guage said E, it meant it.
Retired auto tech
New Member
Water/alcohol injection was used in WWII fighters to allow extra boost and add an extra 300-400 hp when needed to outrun or outclimb the enemy pursuer
and not blow the cylinders off of those big 2000hp+ engines. As it evaporated in the incomeing air stream it had a substantial cooling effect and prevented detonation that otherwise occur from the extreme amount of boost. Any liquid water in a cylinder could do a lot of damage because you cannot compress it.
The few engines I saw back in the day that had these systems on for an extended period of time ended up with the valve stems and guides rapidly worn out
because it would wash all the lubrication off the stems.
I used to use a Product by Rislone that you would slowly pour down the carb while working the throttle to keep it from stalling. You would then use the last bit to
stall the engine and then let it hot soak for about twenty minutes, start it up and take about a 15 minute blast down the highway to blow it all out. In those days
having a lot of carbon build up was normal as fuel was very dirty and had a lot of sulpher in it plus there was no such thing as cleaning agents like we have today.
If your looking for old timer tricks here is one I learned in the 60's. Take about a cup of long grained white rice and slowly pour it down the carb wit the engine held at about 2000 rpm. It bounces around and takes the buildup off of the backs of the valves as well as the combustion chambers. Most of it gets powdered but a few little bits of black rice come out the tail pipe with bits of carbon. The rice is too soft to do any damage to the engine but boy did it work! Try this sometime when
a bunch of the guys are standing around shooting the breeze and watch everyone go quite and there mouths hang open. But don't do it with a car that has cats on it.
and not blow the cylinders off of those big 2000hp+ engines. As it evaporated in the incomeing air stream it had a substantial cooling effect and prevented detonation that otherwise occur from the extreme amount of boost. Any liquid water in a cylinder could do a lot of damage because you cannot compress it.
The few engines I saw back in the day that had these systems on for an extended period of time ended up with the valve stems and guides rapidly worn out
because it would wash all the lubrication off the stems.
I used to use a Product by Rislone that you would slowly pour down the carb while working the throttle to keep it from stalling. You would then use the last bit to
stall the engine and then let it hot soak for about twenty minutes, start it up and take about a 15 minute blast down the highway to blow it all out. In those days
having a lot of carbon build up was normal as fuel was very dirty and had a lot of sulpher in it plus there was no such thing as cleaning agents like we have today.
If your looking for old timer tricks here is one I learned in the 60's. Take about a cup of long grained white rice and slowly pour it down the carb wit the engine held at about 2000 rpm. It bounces around and takes the buildup off of the backs of the valves as well as the combustion chambers. Most of it gets powdered but a few little bits of black rice come out the tail pipe with bits of carbon. The rice is too soft to do any damage to the engine but boy did it work! Try this sometime when
a bunch of the guys are standing around shooting the breeze and watch everyone go quite and there mouths hang open. But don't do it with a car that has cats on it.
68PK21 440.6bbl
Old Man with a Hat
Never did the water trick, I just took my cars out on the Interstate and pushed the pedal to the floor for a long period of time to 'Blow the carbon out of it'.
good old italian tune up. not as effective on fuel injected engines, if at all, but still who doesn't want an easy excuse to put the pedal to the metal...Never did the water trick, I just took my cars out on the Interstate and pushed the pedal to the floor for a long period of time to 'Blow the carbon out of it'.
The steam cleaning does work too though. if you have a brake booster, pop off the vacuum hose and dribble water down it slowly. It's actually harder than you think to hydrolock it but not impossible, because the engine rpms will noticeably decrease and that's where you should keep it, no more. There's plenty of warning before you seriously start messing things up. It's the same principle behind a blown head gasket that forces coolant into the combustion chamber, where the cylinders the coolant has been in look very clean compared to the uncompromised ones.
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