srxman06
New member
Wondering what the best way is to clean the power valves on my 2002 viper? Have some carbon built up on them. Doing a top end rebuild so i want to clean those while its apart.
staggs65
Moderator
soak em in simple green overnight. stuff does wonders on the carbon
bluemonster1
LIFE MEMBER ONLY ONCE!!!
scrape..scrape..scrape..there is no magic solution ..I have tried everything..nothin really works.You still have to scrape and scrub pad them to death...
bluemonster1
LIFE MEMBER ONLY ONCE!!!
tried soaking in simple green,brake fluid,break cleaner,gas,oil,paint thinners..nothin really does much to them..just scrub with green pads the best you can.
YAMAJOHNNY
New member
Sea Foam seems to loosen the carbon up fairly well
staggs65
Moderator
YAMAJOHNNY said:
I heard that too but never tried it. surprised you had no luck with simple green blue. sure there's still some elbow grease involved but loosens up the bulk of it for me
bluemonster1
LIFE MEMBER ONLY ONCE!!!
daman has always told us he used airplane paint stripper and didn;t harm valves..hmmm!
rx1jim
New member
Whatever you choose to soak them in, DO NOT soak them in an alkaline cleaner such as Spray 9, Castroll super clean, Purple clean or oven cleaner. These cleaners do a nice job of dissolving the aluminum.
The power valves are aluminum which has them been anodized to produce a hard aluminim oxide layer on it. The aluminum oxide layer prevents the valve from galling/sticking to the aluminum cylinder. The aluminum oxide also acts as a hard base for removing the carbon build up. The aluminum oxide is not pinhole free, so the strong alkaline cleaners get through the pinholes and dissolve the aluminum. I had a few badly damaged power valves which I used for cleaning experiments.
I clean my valves pretty often and use a scotchbrite pad and some hand cleaner with the pumice in it. If you clean them often enough, the scotcbrite pad and hand cleaner method works fine. There is no "magic" solution to removing the carbon build up.
The power valves are aluminum which has them been anodized to produce a hard aluminim oxide layer on it. The aluminum oxide layer prevents the valve from galling/sticking to the aluminum cylinder. The aluminum oxide also acts as a hard base for removing the carbon build up. The aluminum oxide is not pinhole free, so the strong alkaline cleaners get through the pinholes and dissolve the aluminum. I had a few badly damaged power valves which I used for cleaning experiments.
I clean my valves pretty often and use a scotchbrite pad and some hand cleaner with the pumice in it. If you clean them often enough, the scotcbrite pad and hand cleaner method works fine. There is no "magic" solution to removing the carbon build up.
bluemonster1
LIFE MEMBER ONLY ONCE!!!
what about dropping them in a pot of boiling oil for a spell..think so....
I use brake cleaner and a razor blade. Look like new.
averagesleder
New member
Carb cleaner and a razor blade.
bluemonster1
LIFE MEMBER ONLY ONCE!!!
can I say tire cleaner and a razor blade..lol