Cleaning up the carbon ridge while in the vehicle.

[Brad S.]

Things moving pretty slow on working on the pickup, had another question for the OB.

What are the pros & cons about cleaning up the carbon ridge, now that I have easy access to the top of
the motor.?? (the heads are off, btw)


I know I would need to be very careful with clean up. It probably goes without saying that I wouldn't be able to
use a ridge reamer.
But let me what you guys think.

 

[chris142]

If you clean it wont it be back in a few days?

 

[Kevin 007]

How bad is it? Is it worth getting a bunch of that crap lodged between you pistons and cyl walls? Because there is no way you will get ALL of it out.

 

[Brad S.]

Sorry I should explain little more. The engine is in the pickup and the heads are off.
(no plan of pulling the engine, unless I have to)
Since the cylinders are open I could clean the carbon ridge at the top of the cylinder bore.
Just wondering what I could run into if I do this?
For instance, if I clean the ridge will I get more blowby after the engine is running once again. etc.

 

[icanfixall]

Nothing will chane if you cut the ridge.. No real need to cut the ridge because its not harming anything but you thinking its doing something bad. If you really want it gone use some grease on the piston to cylinder wall area. Make a donut around that so any material will get caught there. Now sand off the ridge with something easy on the cylinder. Probably wont see much if any differance in how the engine runs. Surely it wont change blow by..

 

[gatorman21218]

Are you talking about the ridge that forms at the very top of the cylinder wall? that ridge forms because the rings wear away the wall, but stop before they get to the top of the deck. Carbon will build up there because the rings dont wear it away. I wouldnt worry about it too much. Ring wear and cylinder taper affect blowby. The only thing you can do that will affect blowby is by allowing lots of crud to fall in the hole. You can clean the carbon when you clean the deck for the new head gasket. Spend your time getting the deck spotless. dont forget to chase the bolt holes with a bottoming tap. I made one by grinding a regular tap flush on the bottom.

Make sure you coat every thing in light oil to prevent rusting. Right before you put the heads back on, id coat the walls in clean oil and turn the engine over by hand a few times to make sure oil gets evenly coated.

 

[Brad S.]

Thanks guys, I really didn't want to do that mainly from getting other engine parts dirty.
Once again lots of really good reminders on what to do in this situation.(changing heads, etc)
Question just came up and I thought I'd ask the brain trust here at the OB.

 

[RLDSL]

BAsically you would just lower your compression a tad. Only thing I could see happening with old rings in there is maybe making it the slightest bit harder to start on a real cold morning. If you arent going to freshen up the rings, leave it alone.

 

[towcat]

here's a suggestion if you are doing ANY CLEANING on the block surface or even the carbon ring.
in order to keep crud out of the piston/ring/cyl wall crevice, have a good shop vac handy and a can of cheap shaving cream. fill the areas you don't want crud falling into with shaving cream, clean and scrape to your heart's content, vac up the mess with the shop vac. all clean, no crud where it isn't supposed to fall into, and nice smelling motor to boot.

 

[RLDSL]

here's a suggestion if you are doing ANY CLEANING on the block surface or even the carbon ring.
in order to keep crud out of the piston/ring/cyl wall crevice, have a good shop vac handy and a can of cheap shaving cream. fill the areas you don't want crud falling into with shaving cream, clean and scrape to your heart's content, vac up the mess with the shop vac. all clean, no crud where it isn't supposed to fall into, and nice smelling motor to boot.

Will ******** clad females suddenly find themselves unable to keep themselves from rubbing their most personal parts on your engine after doing this ??

 

[towcat]

Will ******** clad females suddenly find themselves unable to keep themselves from rubbing their most personal parts on your engine after doing this ??

Your results may vary
i have hotties coming through the shop frequently, so my odds may be better than yours