Carbon Buildup in the Engine

[HelterSkelter]

I have a Honda Civic and it seems to be suffering from major carbon buildup to the point it takes a couple cranks for it to start.

Any product or advice to remove this problem other than scaping it off by hand?

 

[BLESSMEHORNS]

try this site

It worked wonders on my honda civic. After they used the BG product in my engine I thought i had a new car.

 

[TTUStudent]

Sea Foam.

 

[txzen]

Who are "they"? I've used the BG44k FI cleaner, but it sounds like you had someone use their products for a carbon build-up cleaning.

 

[longhornjoe03]

This stuff is incredible: RxP. It can be a little tough to find, but it's worth it. I had a 91 Accord with almost 200k miles and a blow-by problem and this stuff worked a miracle in about 3 tank-fulls. I use it religiously now.

If you're in Austin, the only place I've found that stocks it is Auto Zone on S. Congress near St. Ed's.

 

[accuratehorn]

Our shop uses some of the BG products, and they are very good. Several dealerships use them also, I know Classis Toyota and the Saturn dealer does.
For a BG fuel injector cleaning, they have three products-a cleaner you put directly into the fuel rail with a tool shops buy for this purpose, a throttle body cleaner you spray into the throttle body after taking the rubber boot off of it, and the fuel tank additive.
They recommend this service every 30,000 miles, but I don't know how to tell if a car really needs it, honestly. You cannot see into the combustion chamber (there is a tool called a borescope that can look in there, but I don't have one).
If you have emission testing at the tailpipe, you can do before and after readings, and this cleaning will normally reduce the emissions, indicating the cleaning did some good.
Some engines you might clean are already pretty clean, and they might not improve noticeably, and some may be pretty carboned up, and it might make a dramatic, noticeable difference.
It would not be a bad idea to do this on Hondas every 60k, or if you putt around where the engine may be getting more carboned up than most, every 30k.
There are other good gas tank additives that might do the trick, and Chevron's Techron is a good one.