Cleaning piston heads

[ciscoguy01]

How do you do that? I see a bit of dark brown/black kind of clumpy hard buildup on one of my saws. How do you clean that crap off to get it shiny and new looking like the rest of the cylinder walls???:greenchainsaw:

 

[sawinredneck]

Either you take the cylinder off and wirebrush it, or you start running a better brand of oil and switch to higher octane fuel. Anything else will probably kill the motor!
Andy

 

[ciscoguy01]

Oil

Either you take the cylinder off and wirebrush it, or you start running a better brand of oil and switch to higher octane fuel. Anything else will probably kill the motor!
Andy

I just started using Quicksilver. Anybody know anything about it? Couple of mechanics told me it's the best thing since sliced bread. I also dumped my gas can out after that dude told me about the 87octane, and went and got 93. Plan on dumping my saws and starting fresh tomorrow. I mixed it 40:1. That's a little lean for Stihls and a little rich for huskys. Thoughts on that Brother Neck???

 

[sawinredneck]

Not sure, but isn't quicksilver an outboard motor oil? I would make sure it is suitable for aircooled engines!!!!! Not sure about quicksilver, maybe someone else knows?
Andy


Also been a lot of threads about oil ratios lately, have a gander at some of those threads and pay special close attention to posts by Lakeside and BenWalker!!

 

[ciscoguy01]

Not sure, but isn't quicksilver an outboard motor oil? I would make sure it is suitable for aircooled engines!!!!! Not sure about quicksilver, maybe someone else knows?
Andy


Also been a lot of threads about oil ratios lately, have a gander at some of those threads and pay special close attention to posts by Lakeside and BenWalker!!

I looked at those threads already. They pretty much said 40:1 is good for all saws. Yea, quicksilver is outboard oil. It's also for chainsaws, blowers, snowmobiles etc... The mechanic told me that it'd clean the deposits out of my engine if used and that since it was a fully synthetic it would give my saws better performance...

 

[Canyon Angler]

I'm not a mechanic but I would stick with AIR-COOLED 2-STROKE oil in the saws and save the TCW-3 for the outboard WATER-COOLED (that's what the "W" in "TCW-3" stands for) motors.

As far as I know, "Quicksilver" is just the overpriced Mercury brand of TCW-3 ... kind of like buying overpriced "Motorcraft" branded oil for your 1976 Pinto, IMHO... :monkey:

 

[CUCV]

Back to the original question, what do you guys use to clean up excessive carbon build up? I recently picked up a piston/ cylinder on ebay and it had an unbelieveable amount carbon buildup on the piston top, dome and exhaust port. The exhaust port and piston can be cleaned up with the normal tools but what about the dome? Any chemicals you could recommend? I have heard of using gasket remover but haven't tried it yet. Carb cleaner wouldn't touch it.

 

[ciscoguy01]

Brother Neck

Not sure, but isn't quicksilver an outboard motor oil? I would make sure it is suitable for aircooled engines!!!!! Not sure about quicksilver, maybe someone else knows?
Andy


Also been a lot of threads about oil ratios lately, have a gander at some of those threads and pay special close attention to posts by Lakeside and BenWalker!!

So buddy, I'd say you were right. I called 2 Stihl Dealers today and they said the quicksilver is very good for older saws that don't turn such high rpms. You should NOT use it on any saws that turn over 12,000 rpms. Sooooo, I went and got a case of Stihl Super HP 2-cycle. I got the 2.5gallon mix size. It should work well... Good catch on your part though buddy. You prolly just saved me about $1000 in repairs. Would ya settle for a Klondike bar??? :greenchainsaw: Thanks man

 

[scottr]

Method

A few years ago I read on another forum where a guy was saying that he used MX2T and he would put the piston at bdc put the exhaust port up and fill the cylinder with MX2T . The next day he would dump out all kinds of black goo . I told Lewis Brander of the thread and he read it but don't know if he ever tried that method .

 

[RaisedByWolves]

I like to use Wd-40 (sorry Brit Im stuck,LOL) and a brass wire brush.



Soak the offending part in WD to loosen the carbon and wipe clean, then start scrubbing with the brush and WD.

 

[ciscoguy01]

Mystery Oil

Anybody ever use Marvel Mystery Oil? Seems that it might work. Just a thought. I'm trying to find something to use that will keep me from having to pull everything apart on the saw...

 

[Wes]

Here's what I do:

Pull the spark plug. Get the piston as low as possible while keeping the ports closed. Pour in seafoam (get at auto parts store, marine store, etc) through the spark plug hole. Pour out the seafoam the next morning and dispose of it properly. The piston will be squeaky clean. Crank the motor a few times with no spark plug to get most of the seafoam out. Put in the plug, fire it up, and drive away mosquitos until the smoke clears.

W

 

[Mike mandry]

I use paint/gasket stripper in the spray can. works great & literally melts the carbon to goo.

It is made out of methelene chloride (nasty stuff, It is a big time carcinogin)

Just make sure you wear thick rubber gloves & do it outside (fresh air)

oven cleaner works well also, but be careful as it will corrode the alluminum if used for very long.

I prefer the paint stripper. It really does work great.

 

[DOLMARatOs]

Here's what I do:

Pull the spark plug. Get the piston as low as possible while keeping the ports closed. Pour in seafoam (get at auto parts store, marine store, etc) through the spark plug hole. Pour out the seafoam the next morning and dispose of it properly. The piston will be squeaky clean. Crank the motor a few times with no spark plug to get most of the seafoam out. Put in the plug, fire it up, and drive away mosquitos until the smoke clears.

W

I agree with Wes. I have had great luck with sea-foam. If you don't want to pour it in, you can run it 4 oz per gallon of fuel. It is also a lubricant so it'll help the saw out. I've seen this stuff clean .250" of carbon off a piston.

 

[ciscoguy01]

Thanks

Many thanks guys. I'll pick up some tomorrow and letcha know how it works eh?

 

[Mr.]

As far as I know, "Quicksilver" is just the overpriced Mercury brand of TCW-3 ... kind of like buying overpriced "Motorcraft" branded oil for your 1976 Pinto, IMHO... :monkey:

Motorcraft oil is a premium oil. I believe in it. Seen too many engines apart that were ran both with it and with others.

Castrol is a pretty close second.

Fred

 

[ciscoguy01]

Castrol

Motorcraft oil is a premium oil. I believe in it. Seen too many engines apart that were ran both with it and with others.

Castrol is a pretty close second.

Fred

Castrol and Motorcraft make 2 cycle oils???

 

[Mr.]

Don't try to take this back ON topic.

Dang newbies. LOL

Fred

 

[DOLMARatOs]

I dunno fellas. 2-cycle oil is just like religion and politics. Everyone has their own opinion. Most people are actually right. In fact, everyone is usually right. No one uses oil that burns up their saw. Most people stick with an oil and only change if it is either 1 too expensive, or 2 burns up a saw.

The real problem is that when a saw burns up, it is rarely if ever the fault of the oil itself. Lack of lubrication is usually an affect, not a cause.

Some saws and cylinder designs are more prone to the build-up of carbon. If a saw was tuned to run a little closer to the perfect lean / rich condition maybe the cylinder temperatures would run just hot enough to burn off this carbon. Just rambling at this point I guess.

 

[sawinredneck]

So buddy, I'd say you were right. I called 2 Stihl Dealers today and they said the quicksilver is very good for older saws that don't turn such high rpms. You should NOT use it on any saws that turn over 12,000 rpms. Sooooo, I went and got a case of Stihl Super HP 2-cycle. I got the 2.5gallon mix size. It should work well... Good catch on your part though buddy. You prolly just saved me about $1000 in repairs. Would ya settle for a Klondike bar??? :greenchainsaw: Thanks man

That wasn't meant in jest, and I wasn't meaning to come off like an azz, just didn't want to see you do the "BLOWSH!TUP" thing!!!
Andy