In this video I make final conclusions on Gumout "All in One" fuel system engine cleaner. I think these last two video will give you an idea of what to expect when using this fuel cleaner. Now onto testing Seafoam, Lucas Fuel Treatment, Techron, and Water. What do we all think?
Gumout seems like a product you want to use continuously, more for preventative engine rinsing than real deep carbon cleaning. I feel it would still work well if you aren't having carbon buildup issues already just to keep carbon deposits from forming.
PEA (polyetheramine) is the safest and most effective gasoline detergent to keep your cylinders and injectors clean. It is found in Top-Tier gas. You can also buy it as an additive - only a few brands have it, including: Gumout Regane Fuel System Cleaner and Red Line Complete SI-1 Fuel System Cleaner. It slowly cleans - which is safer. Harsher treatments work faster, but can cause problems if chunks of carbon are freed instead of slowly dissolved. PEA (polyetheramine) is the only treatment approved by car manufactures.
Every time you use it there is less carbon afterwards. I call that a success. Considering gas already has detergents in it, this seems pretty effective. Do it about 10 times over 30k miles+ and see if they are worse or better. Pretty easy method to clean something that would take hardcore scrubbing or walnut blasting otherwise. I guess what you consider significant is person to person. Thanks as always for the great video though.
I've tried gumout a couple of times and while I didn't have a borescope, the performance and I derived was unchanged and plugs had to be changed. I won't use gumout. As far as I am concerned, its just snakeoil. Informative. Thanks for sharing!
I'm just throwing out a speculation but I think these additives are meant to be more of a preventitive/minor corrective action. It seems to clean the soft carbon quite well, but not much of the hard carbon.
@@joebucci2743 thanks for ypur comnent. I believe if you have high carbon build-up you need to use the gumout more then 2 bottles. It cleans mild build-up quite well
The second test could be a result of carbon deposits on the lower part of the cylinder being cleaned up and settling on top of the piston. I'm sure after a two or more uses, it will come out clean.
Chris Fix, One thing to consider, is ask Gum Out to start sponsoring from bottle #3 onwards, and use one entire case of it. Inspection interval can be cut to every 5 bottles. Reason I suggest that: your video 1 and 2 actually showed gradual carbon removal. Even some of the hard baked stuff, tiny portions came off. So that leaves open the possibility (as you suggested in your video) maybe repeated 10~15 applications would seem more meaningful difference. I agree w you, one bottle would not remove everything. Many viewers also left comments, this is meant to be preventive and is being used on an engine for the first time in 120k+ miles.
Chris, one product I have used is BG 44k. It’s $25 a can, but to me, I went from 260 miles on one tank of gas on my car to 360 miles on same amount of fuel. It’s pretty potent stuff, and would LOVE to see the internal results of 44K if you get a chance! Love you’re vids!
I routinely use Lucas fuel injector cleaner and also their oil additive. I use each with every other fill up, or at least once per 1,000 miles and the oil additive with every other oil change. I also use an oil flush with every 3rd oil change, so ~10,000 miles. I think developing a habit for regular use is what is needed. You can't expect to use this stuff 2 or 3 times in a row and expect great results. You need to be very consistent, keyword consistent over at least 10,000 miles or more. And if for example you had never used it before and have 100k miles or more, then I would say start using it regularly over the next 10,000 miles and then recheck when you do a spark plug change. I have 175k miles on my old Toyota truck and it's clean and has great compression. Changing your oil regularly is the #1 thing you can do..along with all the other fluids including your differentials which I do every 33k miles along with brake and clutch fluid.
Hey Chris - Scott here, I have been using a sort of non-conventional additive to one of my beater cars to: 1) clean the internal combustion parts and 2) to improve gas mileage. Now I want to state first that this is at your own risk to all those out there reading this!!! I have also done extensive research on this so not to cause damage to my engine. CAUTION...Acetone is a chemical cleaner and drying agent so read the warnings before use! I add 4-5 ounces of pure Acetone to my fuel tank after fill up. Research says that to start out at 2oz. per 10gals of fuel adding 1oz. until you find the sweet spot. (This is per full tank of fuel) So you need to be very faithful on keeping track of your MPG or if you have one of those electronic ones that you plug into your service port that is the best method. -Okay First do a MPG test before the Acetone (a full tank of gas no halves or quarters oh and from the same gas station) -Next add the 2oz. of Acetone to a full tank of gas and run till next full tank. -Do an MPG test to see if it improved - it should slightly like 2-3mpg. -Now start increasing the Acetone by 1oz. per full tank of gas. -When the MPG stops increasing then you have met the maximum absorption of the fuel to Acetone ratio. ie, added 5oz. of Acetone range = 4 - 5oz. so 4oz. is best. Over the past 5 years I have been doing this sometimes consistently and not so consistent. When I use the Acetone my MPG increases up to 8mpg. Acetone is a drying agent and helps remove the water moisture from the fuel thereby improving combustion. It is also a cleaner to help breakdown deposits that clog the injectors and ports, Acetone does not harm the internal parts of the engine. It is not petroleum based and has a ph of 7 or neutral. It does not add to combustion or make the engine run hot - everything is the same other than the removal of moisture and other impurities of the fuel. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, there are many factors that affect this and is totally different from other additives like HEET. Anyway Chris do some research if you want and if you decide to try it maybe let us know what you think. Thanks - Scott
In the competitive shooting world, carbon buildup has proven to be THE hardest thing to remove from the bore of a firearm. Using dedicated solvents and physical, abrasive force is the only proven method to remove carbon in the area just ahead of the cartridge neck. Plus you have to be relentless in this task. I'd be leary of a chemical so powerful to remove carbon in chunks by dissolution, that these chunks might score cylinder walls. So, easy does it may be the best way. Great test ,Chris 👌
if you use gumout from the very beginning when you first buy a brand new car with a brand new engine, it keeps that shiny black new carbon buildup from..well..building up. if you use it in an old engine it slowly breaks that stuff down but VERY slowly like over the course of a year youll eventually break that hard chunky stuff up. ive been using this exact product in my 89 volvo with 320k miles for about a year now and the tops of the pistons do improve. you just have to put a bottle in every week and dont skip a week. yes its $4 or 6$ a bottle but it does eventually get the job done. my opinion is to use a bottle every month when you buy a brand new car so you dont give the carbon a chance to build up at all.
How about getting an actual carbon cleaning job done at a specialist so they walnut blast or something to clean it out instead of using bottle after bottle of this crap
I think your advice is a bit overkill. Many guys sell their cars before it gets very high mileage. So every 5,000 km like the bottle says in Canada is cool.
Not a big fan of Gumout, but you got 210 miles on a tank before you used the stuff so if you burned sixteen gallons, you got roughly thirteen miles to a gallon. By the way, that thing should do better than that. For this video, you appear to have gotten about 310 more miles. That's over seventeen miles per gallon, which is closer to what I would expect from that truck. It looks like something got better. Keep the great videos coming, I've been a fan for several years now. Many thanks!
@@johnnyclean8233 lots of water equals hydrolock. You are fine if you let it sip a bit at a time. Steam is a great cleaner actually and many have used water.
I don't believe the fuel additives will take carbon off Piston or valves. Even when taking apart an engine it is tough to wire brush carbon off internal engine parts. Even soaking the parts in cleaner doesn't do much. I do think it can help with the ethanol damage or helping injectors or carburetor internals stay clean. I love these videos.
I mainly use gumout as a 1 step cleaner for everything before the combustion chamber, once it gets in there its burned and is pretty much useless past that point, yes its worth it for the fuel injection system but thinking its gonna do anything past that is crazy..if anyone decides they have bad carbon buildup and decides to go crazy using 2 bottles then they should just pull the head and rebuild it if you have issues with carbon.
Interesting to see your follow-up. For what it's worth, my suggestion is to switch to 91 octane -- not for the octane (your Mazda doesn't need it), but for two other reasons. 1.) Most fuel suppliers put in more fuel system cleaning additives in 91 (that's why they call it premium, I guess), so you don't need to spend money on those bottles of clearner after the fact; and 2.) In Canada at least, most 91 octane fuel doesn't contain any ethanol, which is corrosive and harmful to your fuel system, and as far as I'm concerned just waters down the fuel (ethanol has less energy per volume than gasoline). For the slightly higher price, you get better fuel mileage, and save money on not having to buy aftermarket fuel cleaners. Try a few tankfuls and I think you'll notice a difference. I think the best solution is to prevent the cylinder deposits and gummed-up injectors in the first place. I switched a few years ago in all my vehicles, and haven't had a problem since.
Thanks for the visual / video follow-up. Since there's a "difference" although not visually significant, have you thought to try putting it on a diagnostic machine to see the before "horsepower" and after? I'd assume if there's a better or higher performance result after cleaner was used, then hypothetically- all else being equal, you won't need to step on the gas pedal as much? And doesn't our gas we buy at the pump, already have detergents? Just a thought. Great video though!
it seems to me that if used "as directed" every so many miles from when the vehicle was purchased, it would "maintain" a clean system. Watching both of your videos on this I can see that although it wasn't a huge change, it WAS slowly removing it. So after years of not being cleaned it seems reasonable to me that it might take a while of continued cleanings to return to that clean state. I think Gumout should work on their wording and maybe state that it may take multiple cleanings to get significant results but hey, that's "advertising" for you. . . Great videos either way. Love to see actual results with follow up!
I've been told that when using a carbon cleaner such as this product or Seafoam, it's best to take a trip on the interstate or drive with the overdrive off. (The constant higher rpms help dissolve the build-up). I haven't seen your 1st video, so you may have done this.
Best thing I found 15+~ years ago was Slick 50 fuel treatment, used it on an old Vauxhall Carlton 2.0l with over 120,000 miles on it. Stripped the head of one weekend to fix it so I could get back and forth to work and then the following weekend had strip it again and do the job properly using new parts ;) during that week I used the slick 50 fuel treatment and boy what a difference from the week before when I took the head off piston crowns that were coked black and oily, suddenly back to only slightly tarnished; intake valve that was heavily fouled with deposits, now clean. The exhaust valves were the worst but there was still a reduction of about 50% of the fouling on them. In all, as a product, I have found that it does what it says on the tin and try to treat all my vehicle at least every major service.
Mr Chris, having a 98 ranger you have helped me save some good $, thanks for the effort you put in moving the camera at the right places, all while trying to work on cars, that's double the work and requires a lot of patience, because of that and following thru til the job is done makes you one of the best UA-camrs, I would immensely appreciate a valve cover gasket replacement on your Mazda, mine is leaking and I'd love a guide. Thanks again
elopez228 Thanks a lot bud! It does take a lot of extra time to film and fix, but it is worth it because I get to help and teach so many people! If I need to replace a valve cover gasket, I promise I will make a video for you!
Hey Chris I had a 99 swift and had a mechanic repair the engine and he soaked the pistons with H7 degreaser they were covered with plenty of carbon deposits because I saw when he removed the cylinder head, he left them soaked overnight and the next day they looked brand new!
Use a clean air filter, semi or full synthetic oil and good filter, and every now and then put [two] bottles of fuel injector cleaner or total fuel cleaner in. Various brands work, but don't rely on them to a fault. If your a city driver, get your ride out on the highway for a longer cruise now and then and kick it down.
hey Chris. nice video. i gotta say, the place i used to work at sold all kinds of chemicals to garages and dealerships. what i learned in the 4 yrs of working there is that 90% of all injector cleaners are worthless. they key point is that 90% of all injector cleaners are KEROSENE based. you can find the proof by checking out the MSDS (material safety data sheet) of each injector cleaner to find the composition of the formula. kerosene is only good for cleaning off the top layer of deposits, which is why you must use them at each gas fillup for any difference in performance. these bottles usually cost between $2 - 5 per bottle. waste of money in my opinion. however... the other 10% of cleaners (and it's probably less than 10% in the market) are formulated from their own proprietary formula. 2 examples are Valvoline fuel injector cleaner & Redline fuel injector cleaner. both of those use harsher chemicals to get rid of carbon deposits, but not so harsh as to harm hoses/seals. these bottles cost about $15 - 20 per bottle, but since they do the job PROPERLY you only need to use them every 15,000 miles or so. very much worth the money. just note that the engine might run a little rough for the first set of miles since all the gunk is being loosened up the way it should. in my experience, Redline worked the best for me.
ChrisFix I saw in another comment you made that you were going to try Seafoam. Kerosene-based yet again ;) It all comes down to viewing the MSDS sheets of each cleaner. These sheets are tough to read, but you get the hang of it once you skim a few.
tmac9938 The seafoam you use though the intake though which is different then putting it in the gas. I have been reading the MSDS sheets lately. It isnt hard to do, just need to know what you are looking for. The first page lists the ingredients. Thanks man!
I think with an additive like this I would be most concerned about my injectors being cleaned. The baked on old stuff would take many many bottles to break down.
I've used several different brands of fuel cleaner and almost always noticed a slight improvement in fuel economy, but sometime any improvement could be because of a number of different factors. After reading some independent research on Techron I switched to using only Chevron/Texaco gas (which has Techron "built-in"). I also read a study that says nearly all the major brands of fuel system cleaners do indeed work, but because of the different chemicals they use, long-term use could eventually damage seals and whatnot. For example, Seafoam contains a high amount of isopropyl alcohol (as high as 20% by volume according to their MSDS), and isopropyl alcohol and rubber gaskets don't like each other. While Seafoam does work, as with anything, moderation is key. During my days as an auto parts store manager I would tell my customers to stick with using a good, high quality brand of gas and not worry about adding fuel system cleaners at all. Most big brand-name gas stations (i.e. Chevron, Exxon, Shell, etc.) all have additives already in their fuel that perform the same job as fuel system cleaners such as Gumout and STP, so what spend the extra money.
Jeremy Durrenberger Thanks for the info Jeremy. I would say all fuel cleaners "work" but they dont work the way they say they do and the perfect example is this video.
basically, you have to start when the engine is new or almost new.. do this every oil change and it will remove the cyclinder carbon buildup that builds up in that short stretch of time.
Excellent video. I noticed you are missing two cylinders. Just kidding :-) I'd like to see you do this after doing a Seafoam treatment. The kind that you suck it into a vacuum line that goes directly into the intake. That, and/or straight up raising hell, hot rodding, high revving, wide open throttle time will burn some carbon out.
Your test was scientific and fair. Generally speaking the additives are "snake oil" at best. The question is whether or not a clean piston top contributes to anything at all. Though I must admit that I am a sucker like others and occasionally I use these cleaners. I have a Ford 500 3 liter V6 with 182,000 miles. I get 32 mpg at a steady cruise of 70 mph. Would a perfectly clean engine do any better? I don't think so. Thanks so much for this video. I will keep my money in my wallet from now on.
I like how you are actually evaluating the product, not just hawking it LOL I am really looking forward to the water, techron, and seafoam videos. I have used Seafoam in the past, and am thinking of doing the water one on the 91 Jeep I bought this year. Techron, I have heard very good things from them too. I don't know if you have an order that you'll do these in, but I would suggest do the Tehron first and the water last as we pretty much know that steam will clean it up really well.
dainternetguru Thanks man! I am probably going to do techron next, then water, then seafoam. I do not think the water will work as good as many think, but we will find out!
I worked for a ferry corp at one time and diesels had a water wash on the turbo. you filled a little cup, screwed the lid on and pressed a button under full load and steamed her out.
ChrisFix 2 things. 1. I love your videos and what you are trying to do with them. Keep it up - but expect some criticism(regardless), and for my part, I hope to be fair! If I am not, please make sure to criticize my criticism - after all, I am criticizing your review, that's all. 2. But you can still agree that ~50% difference in the fuel tank's range, without being given any explanation whatsoever, does seem a little suspicious?
I don't understand why cleaning these physically isn't an option ? It seems it would be easy enough to put some sort of skinny spinning tool in there to brush off all the carbon, then blast it out with pressurized air or use suction to suck it out.
Lol you realize this is almost all the way inside your engine? You'd have to take off A LOT of parts just to get to the pistons and cylinders. That's a shit ton of work and you can easily break any of them while taking them off and putting them on. Not to mention the parts you can't really put down due to debris. Overall that's too much work just to clean some carbon.
Chris you need to drive the car really hard through the Rev range in order to dislodge the sludgy carbon. You didn’t mention how you drove the 500 miles. Use she’ll v power drive it hard few tanks. Change the oil. And see the difference. I opened an engine with 220k miles. 150k of those was on shell v power. No a sign of any sludge or carbon deposit. Keep up the good work
These products most likely do a better job of cleaning fuel lines and injectors than major mechanical components. I think it still might be worth it to use them for cleaning injectors but not for removing large amounts of buildup. It would be interesting to do an injector spray pattern before and after, but that's a tricky test to set up haha!
***** I definitely agree, but according to what they say on the bottle, it should clean the cylinder top. I wish I had a way to do a fuel injector test!
in ref to the carbon deposit around the outer edge of the piston that shoulf be left in place as it helps stop the enging burning oil the center or crown of the piston can be cleaned, when a mechanic does a decoke on a cylinder head they leave a circle of carbon on the piston hope this helps. from a retired motor mechanic
Just tried gumout multi-system cleaner on my 2013 ford fusion and it already helped on its performance. I was having issues with a delay shifting from 1st to 2nd and/or 2nd to 3rd randomly for a while(which had me worried it could be the transmission going bad). Now the car runs smoothly with no issues and have not had the delay happen again.
He needs to do alot of WOT pulls and fill his tank up to only half then use it. You get more of the cleaner working and more pressure breaking up the carbon deposits.
I don't know if you can get them in the US but there are foam cleaners that you spray into the cylinders through the spark plug holes and leave there for half an hour, then reinsert spark plugs and run.
are you up for the real challenge chris get you a 8 ounce glass of plain of tap water remove the intake hose at the throttle body rev the engine up since water is not flammable slowly pour in the water the higher the rev the better the water will not only pound the carbon off the piston tops but the valves also walla
I think the combination chamber is going to be the toughest to clean. The injectors if you checked them I'm sure are much better. Also, you may have seen better combustion chamber results with GDI, especially if at WOT because they flood the cylinder for cooling.
Hi Chris, I follow you all the time you have great informative videos. The Gumout All In One you checked did not have PEA additive to it which has the most affect in cleaning deposits in the engine. I didn’t know that the have a non PEA treatment also. You should check the performance of an additive with PEA. Thanks, keep up the good work.
Chris, you make a good point that the product is a bit too oversold on its packaging. To be fair I'd interpret the language to mean that in the general case you'll notice an improvement in one tankful. It's not saying that it'll remove 100% of your carbon after one tankful. That is a very, very high standard of pass/fail here sir.
heymisterderp I wasnt expecting all of the carbon to be removed, but I was expecting there to be a noticeable difference. Like if I didnt show a before and after, side buy side, you wouldnt notice a difference. But I totally agree with what you are saying.
Is this the formulation that has the Polyetheramine in it? Also, I think it helps to drive the shit out of your car when you add the cleaner, drive it like you stole it, etc. Wide open throttle up to redline now and again helps to remove a lot of that buildup and bullshit.
Have you ever tried your own test of putting a bottle in on a 1/8 tank of gas and run to empty and then check results?...more concentrated cleaning.....Might want to try that Chris!
You need to take all spark plugs out and literally fill the cylinders to make that stuff work. But what does a better job? Straight kerosene plain and simple. Pour it In and let it sit overnight then take a tube and suck it out. After that crank a few times without plugs then put plugs back in.
Peter Carlson The problem is that this can be very risky. Some of the liquid will seep down past the piston rings and contaminate the oil. It isnt that important to get the carbon deposits out that I would try that, ya know?
ChrisFix very simple procedure to change the oil, and in fact you can run most cars for short times with straight kerosene in the crank case (except variable valve engines) If you have enough carbon buildup to cause detonation by increased compression you are in fact doing damage with every piston stroke. In your case you don't really need to do that because that is extremely minor carbon buildup.
Peter Carlson Interesting. Yea, if you are getting detonation, then that is very bad. That is tempting to try. Maybe if all the cleaners fail I will give that a shot! Thanks Peter!
ChrisFix kerosene won't harm your engine. However it can make your rubber seals more flexible and prone to rips and tears. It is almost indistinguishable from diesel fuel sans a few contaminants found in the stuff. It has lubricity all on its own right because it is made of longer chain hydrocarbons that will fill the gaps in the journal bearings. You just don't want to run it all day like that but I have driven about 20 miles with a crankcase full of kerosene only before getting the oil changed. The only major problems arise when that carbanaceous crud is the only thing holding your engine together and keeping in the oil pressure in your main journal bearings.
I think you should hook up one of those smog/emission after run the engine through those fuel cleaner. before HC/O2/Nox/etc before and after should show some clean up? we can't really tell if the cleaner actually clean anything with those visual
The result here was... underwhelming. As you point out, there is very little difference between bottle 1 and bottle 2. It's not the brand to use on an old car, but it seem it would work if used regularely from when the car is new.
I have one for you to test because I know it works! Gently ingest seafoam through your air intake as fast as it will suck it in. Have a friend in the car Rev it to keep it running. It will want to choke and die. About 2500 rpm before you try and pour, adjust flow as needed to keep it from stalling. When you get to about half a can, let off the gas and pour faster till it stalls out. If you are nearing the end of the can and it won't stall, have your friend kill it. Key is to shut down while still ingesting a lot. Let it sit untouched for at least half an hour preferably an hour. Then go start the vehicle. It will hesitate at first to start till it clears. Then it'll smoke like a banshee for a while. Best to do this in a private area, little to no wind, and once it starts, drop into gear and beat the pants off it. I've done this to many vehicles and the results speak for themselves. Noticeable difference in idle, acceleration and mpg. I'd absolutely love to see the scope after that. I promise you'll be psyched.
sorry, but you're Test Is wrong. On the Label the show the Valves of the engine... So you're test Is wrong. you have to repeat it. You have to show the Valves next Time. At the valve you will have the best result. Greetings from Germany.
Suggestion ; put 2 bottles of 104 octane in your fuel tank - run a little harder (heavy passing gear) then usual. Post a video before & after. I believe it should appear cleaner then any " so-called cleaners " do. ** Example; wood stove stack with creosote & stack that was burned toward high range of burn zone according to meter.
Chrisfix You're suppose to use the Gumout every 3000 miles or every oil change and you didn't do that cause on the first video your mileage was 122759 when you first put it in then you put more when it was 123283 so you didn't follow the directions thats why it didn't clear it up. I have to keep it REAL you messed up this video but, I do support you on the rest of your videos.
I would say this stuff is better suited for cleaning out fuel injectors and resolving rough idle, but carbon deposits on the pistons is a not a strong point but some marginal improvement here.
I usually use a plastic syringe and squirt 10mL into each cylinder. I use Essentialube which is a little different. I let it soak and drain into the rings. I have not used a bore scope and really need to get one after watching your video.
I've been craving this video for days! I was driving down the road today just jonesing (how do you spell that? lol Google confirmed my spelling) for the knowledge if my 2 on sale impulse buy Gumout All in One products were going to get returned or used...now I can't find where I put the product or the receipt, lol. That said, it just cleans the soft deposits that aren't baked on? And yes, it effects deposits but not much? In fact, one spot had more carbon!? Engineering Explained says he read some scholarly journals about PEA. That on new engines it will dirty them FASTER. On used engines, PEA will clean and clean up to a point, but then it'll only maintain and won't clean any deeper in effect even if continually used. That said, it may make a point about the spot where new deposits were spotted. PEA DOES make engines dirtier....but should do more good than harm so long as your engine isn't clean. Remember one of Chris's earlier vidoes leading up to this? He put his bore camera in everybody's engines that came around and all of them had clean pistons. Per that scholarly journal, every single one of them SHOULDN"T use PEA. Perhaps you should know you have carbon build up before you use PEA to clean your engine.
DE Nichols What I found is that gumout all in one did a good job cleaning the gummy, soft deposits but a poor job of cleaning the hard carbon deposits. Interesting points. I did not think about that, and that answers some questions I had for myself when I did the tests. Cylinder 3 threw me off but now that you mention Engineering Explained's video where he says PEA can cause a buildup of carbon on "clean" cylinders, that might be the proof!
Do people mostly buy this stuff for carbon deposits? I've always only bought this stuff for 90's vehicles to help deal with the damage ethanol does to the injectors.
Chris, is the purpose of gumout to prevent carbon build up as opposed to cleaning deposits that large.I mean it seems to be more effective if you use it before deposits get that large.
John Strong Thanks for sharing John. I was just testing what the bottle was claiming (removal of carbon deposits in the combustion chamber). I am sure it helps prevent carbon buildup, and it probably works well for injectors too but I cannot test that.
I have tried several of those cleaners, they seem to be all gimicks, the only one seems to work was Berryman b-12 chemtool, i used spray on throttle body, and dissolved everything. They has have fuel treatment/cleaner, worth a try.
By the time the these are cleaned the buyer would be nearly broke? Back in 1976 I had a car come in that was banging when it was running at that time General Motors was having some kind of trouble and they had a cleaner that you fed through the carburetor then shut it down and let it soak? When I started it up the top of the pistons had to be clean as the engine was as quiet as a new engine? What did GM use?
SeaFoam is another excellent product that can bring old motors back to life when used in the gasoline. Its effects were blatantly obvious just a few seconds after turning the key. My motor started making a horrifying sound after using the SeaFoam, after poking around for the noise I realized it was the brand new fan belt now sliding on the pulleys due to the more powerful motor. It was a real pleasure tightening my belt after that. It was amazing what putting Seafoam into the gas tank of a properly warmed up motor can do. I'm absolutely convinced by my own anecdote. I also should admit that I mixed a full bottle of this All in One with only about 6-7 gallons of fuel, Chevron or QuikTrip 93 Octane.
heymisterderp I will be testing seafoam in a car motor soon but in the meantime, here is a test I did in a lawnmower: ua-cam.com/video/WdT4DPFXIkM/v-deo.html
ChrisFix Yep I saw that video; worth watching and glad I found it. It was that video which brought me to this one most likely. I appreciate how you don't start out with your conclusion and then work backwards from there but simply test and then draw your conclusions.
Good experiment. Not in one or two uses. You were very fair. Thanks again Chris for your time. I need one of your bore scopes. Cool. Can you squirt a decarbonizer in the cylinder from the spark plug hole and not ruin the engine?
John Santa Cruz Thanks John. You take a lot of risk if you spray it directly into the cylinder. Check out this video which I try what you just explained: ua-cam.com/video/WdT4DPFXIkM/v-deo.html
I think I speak for everyone here, but we appreciate these videos man. your channel is king when it comes to car repairs, etc.
yazid sakran yes I agree he is the real deal he does everything the right way
I agree with yazid sakran
Yes I agree with Bob Queik
Totally agree.. thanks for spending money to save ours bro!
Well stated and DEFINITELY agree, thanks a million for all of your hard work, money, time, and data compilation Chris!
In this video I make final conclusions on Gumout "All in One" fuel system engine cleaner. I think these last two video will give you an idea of what to expect when using this fuel cleaner. Now onto testing Seafoam, Lucas Fuel Treatment, Techron, and Water. What do we all think?
Could you try a test on BG-44K which is one of the most expensive cleaner's around.
kkovler1 I will add that to the list but no promises I have a lot of cleaners already suggested that are on the list, but I will do my best!
Interested in the next tests, Seafoam, Lucas ,and Techron would be the big 3 in my eyes.
#3 may have a bad burn.
rathf150 I cant wait either!
Gumout seems like a product you want to use continuously, more for preventative engine rinsing than real deep carbon cleaning. I feel it would still work well if you aren't having carbon buildup issues already just to keep carbon deposits from forming.
Thinking same
Carbon build up come from egr. You can't clean it out.
PEA (polyetheramine) is the safest and most effective gasoline detergent
to keep your cylinders and injectors clean. It is found in Top-Tier
gas. You can also buy it as an additive - only a few brands have it,
including: Gumout Regane Fuel System Cleaner and Red Line Complete SI-1
Fuel System Cleaner. It slowly cleans - which is safer. Harsher
treatments work faster, but can cause problems if chunks of carbon are
freed instead of slowly dissolved. PEA (polyetheramine) is the only
treatment approved by car manufactures.
Every time you use it there is less carbon afterwards. I call that a success. Considering gas already has detergents in it, this seems pretty effective. Do it about 10 times over 30k miles+ and see if they are worse or better. Pretty easy method to clean something that would take hardcore scrubbing or walnut blasting otherwise. I guess what you consider significant is person to person. Thanks as always for the great video though.
I would say if u bought a brand new car and used this regularly then u would maybe never have any carbon build up
based on Fuel injector flow tests, these additives improve flow about 3% while a full cleaning fully restores the factory flow rate[15%+]
I've tried gumout a couple of times and while I didn't have a borescope, the performance and I derived was unchanged and plugs had to be changed. I won't use gumout. As far as I am concerned, its just snakeoil.
Informative. Thanks for sharing!
where can I get this snakeoil?
Gumout works and it’s not a cure all
I like gumout. The additives that have it in shell gas station which I can see my engine running smoothly with shell than arco or chervon.
@@Eirocinaough idle on all gasoline except premiums, unless shell gasoline. Cheapest and mid tier shell run smooth too. 25 year old ford escort.
I'm just throwing out a speculation but I think these additives are meant to be more of a preventitive/minor corrective action. It seems to clean the soft carbon quite well, but not much of the hard carbon.
Yeah definitely made to use regularly in a brand new car
then they should say gum prevent.clean but not 'out'
@@tusharp1577 true, they should but most ppl would have no reason to buy it then
It works extremely well if you use it continuously After 6 months the top of my pistons looked like they were brand new
@@joebucci2743 thanks for ypur comnent. I believe if you have high carbon build-up you need to use the gumout more then 2 bottles. It cleans mild build-up quite well
The second test could be a result of carbon deposits on the lower part of the cylinder being cleaned up and settling on top of the piston. I'm sure after a two or more uses, it will come out clean.
Chris Fix,
One thing to consider, is ask Gum Out to start sponsoring from bottle #3 onwards, and use one entire case of it.
Inspection interval can be cut to every 5 bottles.
Reason I suggest that: your video 1 and 2 actually showed gradual carbon removal. Even some of the hard baked stuff, tiny portions came off. So that leaves open the possibility (as you suggested in your video) maybe repeated 10~15 applications would seem more meaningful difference.
I agree w you, one bottle would not remove everything.
Many viewers also left comments, this is meant to be preventive and is being used on an engine for the first time in 120k+ miles.
Chris, one product I have used is BG 44k. It’s $25 a can, but to me, I went from 260 miles on one tank of gas on my car to 360 miles on same amount of fuel. It’s pretty potent stuff, and would LOVE to see the internal results of 44K if you get a chance! Love you’re vids!
Any problems with it since?
I routinely use Lucas fuel injector cleaner and also their oil additive. I use each with every other fill up, or at least once per 1,000 miles and the oil additive with every other oil change. I also use an oil flush with every 3rd oil change, so ~10,000 miles. I think developing a habit for regular use is what is needed. You can't expect to use this stuff 2 or 3 times in a row and expect great results. You need to be very consistent, keyword consistent over at least 10,000 miles or more. And if for example you had never used it before and have 100k miles or more, then I would say start using it regularly over the next 10,000 miles and then recheck when you do a spark plug change. I have 175k miles on my old Toyota truck and it's clean and has great compression. Changing your oil regularly is the #1 thing you can do..along with all the other fluids including your differentials which I do every 33k miles along with brake and clutch fluid.
My hands are itchy to sand that piston
Sam Dru
I bet you stroke your piston on a daily basis
Billy Bob don’t you?
Tell me more daddy
Billy Bob my piston is so shiny since I polish it daily and I’d be surprised if other men didn’t do the same.
....
Hey Chris - Scott here, I have been using a sort of non-conventional additive to one of my beater cars to: 1) clean the internal combustion parts and 2) to improve gas mileage. Now I want to state first that this is at your own risk to all those out there reading this!!! I have also done extensive research on this so not to cause damage to my engine.
CAUTION...Acetone is a chemical cleaner and drying agent so read the warnings before use!
I add 4-5 ounces of pure Acetone to my fuel tank after fill up. Research says that to start out at 2oz. per 10gals of fuel adding 1oz. until you find the sweet spot. (This is per full tank of fuel) So you need to be very faithful on keeping track of your MPG or if you have one of those electronic ones that you plug into your service port that is the best method.
-Okay First do a MPG test before the Acetone (a full tank of gas no halves or quarters oh and from the same gas station)
-Next add the 2oz. of Acetone to a full tank of gas and run till next full tank.
-Do an MPG test to see if it improved - it should slightly like 2-3mpg.
-Now start increasing the Acetone by 1oz. per full tank of gas.
-When the MPG stops increasing then you have met the maximum absorption of the fuel to Acetone ratio. ie, added 5oz. of Acetone range = 4 - 5oz. so 4oz. is best.
Over the past 5 years I have been doing this sometimes consistently and not so consistent. When I use the Acetone my MPG increases up to 8mpg. Acetone is a drying agent and helps remove the water moisture from the fuel thereby improving combustion. It is also a cleaner to help breakdown deposits that clog the injectors and ports, Acetone does not harm the internal parts of the engine. It is not petroleum based and has a ph of 7 or neutral. It does not add to combustion or make the engine run hot - everything is the same other than the removal of moisture and other impurities of the fuel. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, there are many factors that affect this and is totally different from other additives like HEET.
Anyway Chris do some research if you want and if you decide to try it maybe let us know what you think.
Thanks - Scott
Scott B Hey Scott! Thanks for sharing! I personally wouldnt use acetone in my fuel but your results are definitely interesting!
I use it for fuel system, but I doubt it does much when used in the air intake and engine.
correct. combustion chamber is not fuel system
In the competitive shooting world, carbon buildup has proven to be THE hardest thing to remove from the bore of a firearm. Using dedicated solvents and physical, abrasive force is the only proven method to remove carbon in the area just ahead of the cartridge neck. Plus you have to be relentless in this task. I'd be leary of a chemical so powerful to remove carbon in chunks by dissolution, that these chunks might score cylinder walls. So, easy does it may be the best way. Great test ,Chris 👌
Thanks for the info!
gun barrels arent made of cast iron, they are made of purposefully corroded steel or chromium
Hey Chris -
Thanks for showing this video of Gumout - can't wait to see your up coming videos of other engine cleaners .
Pete Moss Thanks Pete! I am glad you liked the video! I am excited to see how the other cleaners work!
I use Marvels Mystery Oil to keep the injectors clean and reduce the valve deposits.
if you use gumout from the very beginning when you first buy a brand new car with a brand new engine, it keeps that shiny black new carbon buildup from..well..building up.
if you use it in an old engine it slowly breaks that stuff down but VERY slowly like over the course of a year youll eventually break that hard chunky stuff up.
ive been using this exact product in my 89 volvo with 320k miles for about a year now and the tops of the pistons do improve. you just have to put a bottle in every week and dont skip a week.
yes its $4 or 6$ a bottle but it does eventually get the job done.
my opinion is to use a bottle every month when you buy a brand new car so you dont give the carbon a chance to build up at all.
Thanks for sharing!
@@chrisfix thank you for making awesome videos, youve inspired me so much and your videos have helped me do everything i needed to fix up my car
How about getting an actual carbon cleaning job done at a specialist so they walnut blast or something to clean it out instead of using bottle after bottle of this crap
I think your advice is a bit overkill. Many guys sell their cars before it gets very high mileage. So every 5,000 km like the bottle says in Canada is cool.
@@galactic904 i have a 2005 toyota corolla with 270,000 that I plan on keeping for another 100,000 miles so I appreciate his advice.
Not a big fan of Gumout, but you got 210 miles on a tank before you used the stuff so if you burned sixteen gallons, you got roughly thirteen miles to a gallon. By the way, that thing should do better than that. For this video, you appear to have gotten about 310 more miles. That's over seventeen miles per gallon, which is closer to what I would expect from that truck. It looks like something got better. Keep the great videos coming, I've been a fan for several years now. Many thanks!
Next test: water to clean out carbon deposits
apachelives Yep! I cant wait to see if it works!
Water doesnt compress. Good luck with that.
@@johnnyclean8233 lots of water equals hydrolock. You are fine if you let it sip a bit at a time. Steam is a great cleaner actually and many have used water.
@@johnnyclean8233 You don't cram a garden hose into the intake. You spray water in slowly. It's been done for decades.
ChrisFix have you made this video yet? I’d like to see this please sir
I don't believe the fuel additives will take carbon off Piston or valves. Even when taking apart an engine it is tough to wire brush carbon off internal engine parts. Even soaking the parts in cleaner doesn't do much. I do think it can help with the ethanol damage or helping injectors or carburetor internals stay clean. I love these videos.
I mainly use gumout as a 1 step cleaner for everything before the combustion chamber, once it gets in there its burned and is pretty much useless past that point, yes its worth it for the fuel injection system but thinking its gonna do anything past that is crazy..if anyone decides they have bad carbon buildup and decides to go crazy using 2 bottles then they should just pull the head and rebuild it if you have issues with carbon.
Thanks for sharing!
Interesting to see your follow-up. For what it's worth, my suggestion is to switch to 91 octane -- not for the octane (your Mazda doesn't need it), but for two other reasons. 1.) Most fuel suppliers put in more fuel system cleaning additives in 91 (that's why they call it premium, I guess), so you don't need to spend money on those bottles of clearner after the fact; and 2.) In Canada at least, most 91 octane fuel doesn't contain any ethanol, which is corrosive and harmful to your fuel system, and as far as I'm concerned just waters down the fuel (ethanol has less energy per volume than gasoline). For the slightly higher price, you get better fuel mileage, and save money on not having to buy aftermarket fuel cleaners. Try a few tankfuls and I think you'll notice a difference. I think the best solution is to prevent the cylinder deposits and gummed-up injectors in the first place. I switched a few years ago in all my vehicles, and haven't had a problem since.
Thanks for the visual / video follow-up. Since there's a "difference" although not visually significant, have you thought to try putting it on a diagnostic machine to see the before "horsepower" and after? I'd assume if there's a better or higher performance result after cleaner was used, then hypothetically- all else being equal, you won't need to step on the gas pedal as much? And doesn't our gas we buy at the pump, already have detergents? Just a thought. Great video though!
it seems to me that if used "as directed" every so many miles from when the vehicle was purchased, it would "maintain" a clean system. Watching both of your videos on this I can see that although it wasn't a huge change, it WAS slowly removing it. So after years of not being cleaned it seems reasonable to me that it might take a while of continued cleanings to return to that clean state. I think Gumout should work on their wording and maybe state that it may take multiple cleanings to get significant results but hey, that's "advertising" for you. . . Great videos either way. Love to see actual results with follow up!
I've been told that when using a carbon cleaner such as this product or Seafoam, it's best to take a trip on the interstate or drive with the overdrive off. (The constant higher rpms help dissolve the build-up). I haven't seen your 1st video, so you may have done this.
Best thing I found 15+~ years ago was Slick 50 fuel treatment, used it on an old Vauxhall Carlton 2.0l with over 120,000 miles on it. Stripped the head of one weekend to fix it so I could get back and forth to work and then the following weekend had strip it again and do the job properly using new parts ;) during that week I used the slick 50 fuel treatment and boy what a difference from the week before when I took the head off piston crowns that were coked black and oily, suddenly back to only slightly tarnished; intake valve that was heavily fouled with deposits, now clean. The exhaust valves were the worst but there was still a reduction of about 50% of the fouling on them. In all, as a product, I have found that it does what it says on the tin and try to treat all my vehicle at least every major service.
i think if you use this stuff on regular on a new engine it might prevent carbon buildup from occurring at all
true
Then even run your car with premium gasoline with cleaning additives is cheaper...
@@FeelFree3 i tried it its effective
@@FeelFree3 premium gas does not have more cleaning additives all gases have the same amout of cleaning additives
Mr Chris, having a 98 ranger you have helped me save some good $, thanks for the effort you put in moving the camera at the right places, all while trying to work on cars, that's double the work and requires a lot of patience, because of that and following thru til the job is done makes you one of the best UA-camrs, I would immensely appreciate a valve cover gasket replacement on your Mazda, mine is leaking and I'd love a guide.
Thanks again
elopez228 Thanks a lot bud! It does take a lot of extra time to film and fix, but it is worth it because I get to help and teach so many people! If I need to replace a valve cover gasket, I promise I will make a video for you!
can you do a video about techron fuel injector cleaner?
Hey Chris I had a 99 swift and had a mechanic repair the engine and he soaked the pistons with H7 degreaser they were covered with plenty of carbon deposits because I saw when he removed the cylinder head, he left them soaked overnight and the next day they looked brand new!
Use a clean air filter, semi or full synthetic oil and good filter, and every now and then put [two] bottles of fuel injector cleaner or total fuel cleaner in. Various brands work, but don't rely on them to a fault. If your a city driver, get your ride out on the highway for a longer cruise now and then and kick it down.
Thanks for the tips!
Right on buddy...good video!!
how does this stuff affect the catalytic converter or the o2 sensors?
hey Chris. nice video. i gotta say, the place i used to work at sold all kinds of chemicals to garages and dealerships. what i learned in the 4 yrs of working there is that 90% of all injector cleaners are worthless. they key point is that 90% of all injector cleaners are KEROSENE based. you can find the proof by checking out the MSDS (material safety data sheet) of each injector cleaner to find the composition of the formula. kerosene is only good for cleaning off the top layer of deposits, which is why you must use them at each gas fillup for any difference in performance. these bottles usually cost between $2 - 5 per bottle. waste of money in my opinion. however...
the other 10% of cleaners (and it's probably less than 10% in the market) are formulated from their own proprietary formula. 2 examples are Valvoline fuel injector cleaner & Redline fuel injector cleaner. both of those use harsher chemicals to get rid of carbon deposits, but not so harsh as to harm hoses/seals. these bottles cost about $15 - 20 per bottle, but since they do the job PROPERLY you only need to use them every 15,000 miles or so. very much worth the money. just note that the engine might run a little rough for the first set of miles since all the gunk is being loosened up the way it should. in my experience, Redline worked the best for me.
tmac9938 Thanks man! I will have to look into Redline. It wasnt on my list but if nothing works, I will have to give it a shot!
ChrisFix
I saw in another comment you made that you were going to try Seafoam. Kerosene-based yet again ;) It all comes down to viewing the MSDS sheets of each cleaner. These sheets are tough to read, but you get the hang of it once you skim a few.
tmac9938 The seafoam you use though the intake though which is different then putting it in the gas. I have been reading the MSDS sheets lately. It isnt hard to do, just need to know what you are looking for. The first page lists the ingredients. Thanks man!
I think with an additive like this I would be most concerned about my injectors being cleaned. The baked on old stuff would take many many bottles to break down.
Joe S. Yes well the carbon is an issue I’d be more concerned about getting the injectors clean.
I've used several different brands of fuel cleaner and almost always noticed a slight improvement in fuel economy, but sometime any improvement could be because of a number of different factors. After reading some independent research on Techron I switched to using only Chevron/Texaco gas (which has Techron "built-in").
I also read a study that says nearly all the major brands of fuel system cleaners do indeed work, but because of the different chemicals they use, long-term use could eventually damage seals and whatnot. For example, Seafoam contains a high amount of isopropyl alcohol (as high as 20% by volume according to their MSDS), and isopropyl alcohol and rubber gaskets don't like each other. While Seafoam does work, as with anything, moderation is key.
During my days as an auto parts store manager I would tell my customers to stick with using a good, high quality brand of gas and not worry about adding fuel system cleaners at all. Most big brand-name gas stations (i.e. Chevron, Exxon, Shell, etc.) all have additives already in their fuel that perform the same job as fuel system cleaners such as Gumout and STP, so what spend the extra money.
Jeremy Durrenberger Thanks for the info Jeremy. I would say all fuel cleaners "work" but they dont work the way they say they do and the perfect example is this video.
***** It says on the bottle you will notice results with just one use.
The older the carbon the harder it gets.
+Skyler Bond My carbon sat for 3 years. I had the opportunity to get very dry. This makes more sense why my 70k mile engine is so carboned.
The deeper the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'.
I will keep old carbon on my pistons until it turns into diamonds.
Skyler Bond yep true, old carbon harder
basically, you have to start when the engine is new or almost new.. do this every oil change and it will remove the cyclinder carbon buildup that builds up in that short stretch of time.
i think it was a fair test and i hope all in one take note
Thanks
Excellent video. I noticed you are missing two cylinders. Just kidding :-)
I'd like to see you do this after doing a Seafoam treatment. The kind that you suck it into a vacuum line that goes directly into the intake. That, and/or straight up raising hell, hot rodding, high revving, wide open throttle time will burn some carbon out.
Oh you did the Seafoam test. Gonna go watch it.
Your test was scientific and fair. Generally speaking the additives are "snake oil" at best. The question is whether or not a clean piston top contributes to anything at all.
Though I must admit that I am a sucker like others and occasionally I use these cleaners.
I have a Ford 500 3 liter V6 with 182,000 miles. I get 32 mpg at a steady cruise of
70 mph. Would a perfectly clean engine do any better? I don't think so. Thanks so much for this video. I will keep my money in my wallet from now on.
+abz124816
if everything inside your engine is clogged up it might help get you an extra 6 horsepower wich is lost by running the engine for so long.
So which fuel cleaner if any do you recommend?
I use stp and it works well
Lucas has done amazing for my car
I like how you are actually evaluating the product, not just hawking it LOL
I am really looking forward to the water, techron, and seafoam videos. I have used Seafoam in the past, and am thinking of doing the water one on the 91 Jeep I bought this year. Techron, I have heard very good things from them too.
I don't know if you have an order that you'll do these in, but I would suggest do the Tehron first and the water last as we pretty much know that steam will clean it up really well.
dainternetguru Thanks man! I am probably going to do techron next, then water, then seafoam. I do not think the water will work as good as many think, but we will find out!
...how about the injectors ?
If it is oil based, it will be good for injector life and function.
I watched both videos and I think your opinion is very fair. Thanks for making videos that actually show the proof of what your saying!!!
What is the best additive for cleaning your fuel injectors specifically?
I worked for a ferry corp at one time and diesels had a water wash on the turbo. you filled a little cup, screwed the lid on and pressed a button under full load and steamed her out.
Wait a sec.
1st run was 210 miles (7/8th of a tank).
2ns run was 314 miles (31/32 of a tank).
Did the fuel consumption not go down, and BY A LOT?
I film a lot with my truck which requires a lot of idling which affects MPG which is why I didnt test the MPG.
ChrisFix
2 things.
1. I love your videos and what you are trying to do with them. Keep it up - but expect some criticism(regardless), and for my part, I hope to be fair! If I am not, please make sure to criticize my criticism - after all, I am criticizing your review, that's all.
2. But you can still agree that ~50% difference in the fuel tank's range, without being given any explanation whatsoever, does seem a little suspicious?
Lucas seems to have the best reviews
I don't understand why cleaning these physically isn't an option ? It seems it would be easy enough to put some sort of skinny spinning tool in there to brush off all the carbon, then blast it out with pressurized air or use suction to suck it out.
Because removing the pistons is really really hard dude.
I get what he's saying. You could put it through the ports. But, then it has to go through ports.
James Joe but then you run the risk of daminging the cylinders and it the pistons
Those parts are really sensitive it wouldn't be worth the risk.
Lol you realize this is almost all the way inside your engine? You'd have to take off A LOT of parts just to get to the pistons and cylinders. That's a shit ton of work and you can easily break any of them while taking them off and putting them on. Not to mention the parts you can't really put down due to debris. Overall that's too much work just to clean some carbon.
Chris you need to drive the car really hard through the Rev range in order to dislodge the sludgy carbon.
You didn’t mention how you drove the 500 miles.
Use she’ll v power drive it hard few tanks. Change the oil. And see the difference.
I opened an engine with 220k miles. 150k of those was on shell v power. No a sign of any sludge or carbon deposit.
Keep up the good work
Check out engineering explained, running a hard rev range doesn't clean the engine, carbon burns way hotter than your engines combustion gets to.
These products most likely do a better job of cleaning fuel lines and injectors than major mechanical components. I think it still might be worth it to use them for cleaning injectors but not for removing large amounts of buildup. It would be interesting to do an injector spray pattern before and after, but that's a tricky test to set up haha!
***** I definitely agree, but according to what they say on the bottle, it should clean the cylinder top. I wish I had a way to do a fuel injector test!
in ref to the carbon deposit around the outer edge of the piston that shoulf be left in place as it helps stop the enging burning oil the center or crown of the piston can be cleaned, when a mechanic does a decoke on a cylinder head they leave a circle of carbon on the piston hope this helps. from a retired motor mechanic
can you do a test on bg44k?
this
Just tried gumout multi-system cleaner on my 2013 ford fusion and it already helped on its performance. I was having issues with a delay shifting from 1st to 2nd and/or 2nd to 3rd randomly for a while(which had me worried it could be the transmission going bad). Now the car runs smoothly with no issues and have not had the delay happen again.
I had same story I drive caddy srx 2010 . I thought it'd the gear. I put gumout twice in a raw . My car runs smooth 😎
He needs to do alot of WOT pulls and fill his tank up to only half then use it. You get more of the cleaner working and more pressure breaking up the carbon deposits.
Purple Heart I do multiple WOT pulls, 70% highway and 30% city driving for these tests.
I don't know if you can get them in the US but there are foam cleaners that you spray into the cylinders through the spark plug holes and leave there for half an hour, then reinsert spark plugs and run.
are you up for the real challenge chris get you a 8 ounce glass of plain of tap water remove the intake hose at the throttle body rev the engine up since water is not flammable slowly pour in the water the higher the rev the better the water will not only pound the carbon off the piston tops but the valves also walla
michael haiden I will be testing that! I think it is going to take a lot more than 8oz though!
well it might but it is like sand blasting without the abrasion
@@chrisfix Did you make a video on this?
@ChrisFix test this please... its been almost a year since asked...
I think the combination chamber is going to be the toughest to clean. The injectors if you checked them I'm sure are much better. Also, you may have seen better combustion chamber results with GDI, especially if at WOT because they flood the cylinder for cooling.
Hi Chris,
What is the brand of the bore scope? It works very well.
:)
froggy The scope is in the description below.
ChrisFix Thanks Chris!
My buddy & I bought 2 on Amazon today!
:)
froggy Niceeeee!
Hi Chris, I follow you all the time you have great informative videos. The Gumout All In One you checked did not have PEA additive to it which has the most affect in cleaning deposits in the engine. I didn’t know that the have a non PEA treatment also. You should check the performance of an additive with PEA. Thanks, keep up the good work.
Please do a review of BG44k fuel system cleaner. Thanks.
Chris, you make a good point that the product is a bit too oversold on its packaging. To be fair I'd interpret the language to mean that in the general case you'll notice an improvement in one tankful. It's not saying that it'll remove 100% of your carbon after one tankful. That is a very, very high standard of pass/fail here sir.
heymisterderp I wasnt expecting all of the carbon to be removed, but I was expecting there to be a noticeable difference. Like if I didnt show a before and after, side buy side, you wouldnt notice a difference. But I totally agree with what you are saying.
Please do a review on 3M.
Thanks.
trump is evil
Is this the formulation that has the Polyetheramine in it?
Also, I think it helps to drive the shit out of your car when you add the cleaner, drive it like you stole it, etc. Wide open throttle up to redline now and again helps to remove a lot of that buildup and bullshit.
sad but expected. Lets see sea foam and would like to see valves, but do not know how with there bore scope which look down. thank you.
Have you ever tried your own test of putting a bottle in on a 1/8 tank of gas and run to empty and then check results?...more concentrated cleaning.....Might want to try that Chris!
You need to take all spark plugs out and literally fill the cylinders to make that stuff work. But what does a better job? Straight kerosene plain and simple. Pour it In and let it sit overnight then take a tube and suck it out. After that crank a few times without plugs then put plugs back in.
Peter Carlson The problem is that this can be very risky. Some of the liquid will seep down past the piston rings and contaminate the oil. It isnt that important to get the carbon deposits out that I would try that, ya know?
ChrisFix very simple procedure to change the oil, and in fact you can run most cars for short times with straight kerosene in the crank case (except variable valve engines) If you have enough carbon buildup to cause detonation by increased compression you are in fact doing damage with every piston stroke. In your case you don't really need to do that because that is extremely minor carbon buildup.
Peter Carlson Interesting. Yea, if you are getting detonation, then that is very bad. That is tempting to try. Maybe if all the cleaners fail I will give that a shot! Thanks Peter!
ChrisFix kerosene won't harm your engine. However it can make your rubber seals more flexible and prone to rips and tears. It is almost indistinguishable from diesel fuel sans a few contaminants found in the stuff. It has lubricity all on its own right because it is made of longer chain hydrocarbons that will fill the gaps in the journal bearings. You just don't want to run it all day like that but I have driven about 20 miles with a crankcase full of kerosene only before getting the oil changed. The only major problems arise when that carbanaceous crud is the only thing holding your engine together and keeping in the oil pressure in your main journal bearings.
Peter Carlson Neat info! Thanks Peter!
Thank you Chris. I think you gave Gumout a pretty good try, 2 bottles and 500 miles, but as you have stated - minimal results.
seafoam was the best @ChrisFix
I think you should hook up one of those smog/emission after run the engine through those fuel cleaner. before HC/O2/Nox/etc before and after should show some clean up? we can't really tell if the cleaner actually clean anything with those visual
The result here was... underwhelming.
As you point out, there is very little difference between bottle 1 and bottle 2.
It's not the brand to use on an old car, but it seem it would work if used regularely from when the car is new.
I have one for you to test because I know it works!
Gently ingest seafoam through your air intake as fast as it will suck it in. Have a friend in the car Rev it to keep it running. It will want to choke and die. About 2500 rpm before you try and pour, adjust flow as needed to keep it from stalling. When you get to about half a can, let off the gas and pour faster till it stalls out. If you are nearing the end of the can and it won't stall, have your friend kill it. Key is to shut down while still ingesting a lot.
Let it sit untouched for at least half an hour preferably an hour.
Then go start the vehicle. It will hesitate at first to start till it clears. Then it'll smoke like a banshee for a while.
Best to do this in a private area, little to no wind, and once it starts, drop into gear and beat the pants off it.
I've done this to many vehicles and the results speak for themselves. Noticeable difference in idle, acceleration and mpg. I'd absolutely love to see the scope after that. I promise you'll be psyched.
Ps I believe water to be dangerous as you can hydro / vapor lock it.
My process works with techron as well.
Doug Pawl Thanks Doug. I will be testing seafoam soon!
Looks like you got about 100 miles more from the second tank of gas so it must have cleaned something.
Do 2 more man . Cylinder 3 had a massive reduction . It would be good if you used it with a New vehicle . Great video man
Thanks for sharing!
sorry, but you're Test Is wrong. On the Label the show the Valves of the engine... So you're test Is wrong. you have to repeat it. You have to show the Valves next Time. At the valve you will have the best result. Greetings from Germany.
Samir Dandalayru No
Did you get the same gas from the same station? Cheap gas keeps the carbon building up. But carbon is not the only reason to use it.
use it from the time you buy a new car not after 100 000 miles
Suggestion ; put 2 bottles of 104 octane in your fuel tank - run a little harder (heavy passing gear) then usual. Post a video before & after. I believe it should appear cleaner then any " so-called cleaners " do. ** Example; wood stove stack with creosote & stack that was burned toward high range of burn zone according to meter.
Chrisfix You're suppose to use the Gumout every 3000 miles or every oil change and you didn't do that cause on the first video your mileage was 122759 when you first put it in then you put more when it was 123283 so you didn't follow the directions thats why it didn't clear it up. I have to keep it REAL you messed up this video but, I do support you on the rest of your videos.
I would say this stuff is better suited for cleaning out fuel injectors and resolving rough idle, but carbon deposits on the pistons is a not a strong point but some marginal improvement here.
It's only a very superficial cleaning. Definitely not worth buying.
Always appreciate your honest and clever videos Chris. Keep up the good work.
shame on Gumout
Hi can you try the Lucas fuel injector cleaner please
oh wow first viewer
I usually use a plastic syringe and squirt 10mL into each cylinder. I use Essentialube which is a little different. I let it soak and drain into the rings. I have not used a bore scope and really need to get one after watching your video.
Thank you for taking the time into this experiment. Can't wait for the results!
Dige Eric No problem man! I cant wait to see the results either!
Would be cool if you did a QnA once a month or so Chris. Amazing work
My question is: Where does the gunk end up after it gets cleaned? Does it end up in the oil filter?
I've been craving this video for days! I was driving down the road today just jonesing (how do you spell that? lol Google confirmed my spelling) for the knowledge if my 2 on sale impulse buy Gumout All in One products were going to get returned or used...now I can't find where I put the product or the receipt, lol.
That said, it just cleans the soft deposits that aren't baked on? And yes, it effects deposits but not much? In fact, one spot had more carbon!?
Engineering Explained says he read some scholarly journals about PEA. That on new engines it will dirty them FASTER. On used engines, PEA will clean and clean up to a point, but then it'll only maintain and won't clean any deeper in effect even if continually used. That said, it may make a point about the spot where new deposits were spotted. PEA DOES make engines dirtier....but should do more good than harm so long as your engine isn't clean.
Remember one of Chris's earlier vidoes leading up to this? He put his bore camera in everybody's engines that came around and all of them had clean pistons. Per that scholarly journal, every single one of them SHOULDN"T use PEA. Perhaps you should know you have carbon build up before you use PEA to clean your engine.
DE Nichols What I found is that gumout all in one did a good job cleaning the gummy, soft deposits but a poor job of cleaning the hard carbon deposits.
Interesting points. I did not think about that, and that answers some questions I had for myself when I did the tests. Cylinder 3 threw me off but now that you mention Engineering Explained's video where he says PEA can cause a buildup of carbon on "clean" cylinders, that might be the proof!
Do people mostly buy this stuff for carbon deposits? I've always only bought this stuff for 90's vehicles to help deal with the damage ethanol does to the injectors.
Chris, this is great! I cannot wait to see how seafoam and the water works!
Chris Thanks man! I cannot wait either!
Chris, is the purpose of gumout to prevent carbon build up as opposed to cleaning deposits that large.I mean it seems to be more effective if you use it before deposits get that large.
John Strong Thanks for sharing John. I was just testing what the bottle was claiming (removal of carbon deposits in the combustion chamber). I am sure it helps prevent carbon buildup, and it probably works well for injectors too but I cannot test that.
I have tried several of those cleaners, they seem to be all gimicks, the only one seems to work was Berryman b-12 chemtool, i used spray on throttle body, and dissolved everything. They has have fuel treatment/cleaner, worth a try.
toy96 I might give that a try. Thanks for the suggestion!
By the time the these are cleaned the buyer would be nearly broke? Back in 1976 I had a car come in that was banging when it was running at that time General Motors was having some kind of trouble and they had a cleaner that you fed through the carburetor then shut it down and let it soak? When I started it up the top of the pistons had to be clean as the engine was as quiet as a new engine? What did GM use?
SeaFoam is another excellent product that can bring old motors back to life when used in the gasoline. Its effects were blatantly obvious just a few seconds after turning the key. My motor started making a horrifying sound after using the SeaFoam, after poking around for the noise I realized it was the brand new fan belt now sliding on the pulleys due to the more powerful motor. It was a real pleasure tightening my belt after that. It was amazing what putting Seafoam into the gas tank of a properly warmed up motor can do. I'm absolutely convinced by my own anecdote.
I also should admit that I mixed a full bottle of this All in One with only about 6-7 gallons of fuel, Chevron or QuikTrip 93 Octane.
heymisterderp I will be testing seafoam in a car motor soon but in the meantime, here is a test I did in a lawnmower: ua-cam.com/video/WdT4DPFXIkM/v-deo.html
ChrisFix
Yep I saw that video; worth watching and glad I found it. It was that video which brought me to this one most likely.
I appreciate how you don't start out with your conclusion and then work backwards from there but simply test and then draw your conclusions.
What about for cleaning the fuel injectors ? Thank you, John
Good experiment. Not in one or two uses. You were very fair. Thanks again Chris for your time. I need one of your bore scopes. Cool. Can you squirt a decarbonizer in the cylinder from the spark plug hole and not ruin the engine?
John Santa Cruz Thanks John. You take a lot of risk if you spray it directly into the cylinder. Check out this video which I try what you just explained: ua-cam.com/video/WdT4DPFXIkM/v-deo.html
I got a question. What happen with all that corrosion and dirty stuff of pistons after being removed for a fuel system cleaner?
It goes out the exhaust.
ChrisFix thanks