3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
a mechanic told me that if I get my engine decarbonized, i will notice a difference in performance and it will make my engine run better... is that true?? they charge $160 to do that is that a lot? can I do this my self?
Sounds like seafoam in the crankcase to me because it is apart of the engine. Its a product sold in stores maybe 10USD. Basically, it gets rid of sludge and deposits. They tell you to put it in the gas tank to clean your injectors, ect, also the crankcase (where you put your oil), and your vacuum lines.
On an older camry or at least one that isn't maintained rigourously, I wouldn't recommend it in the crankcase because the sludge might actually be whats holding the oil in so it doesn't leak (old gaskets and seals). For gas, its not really that necessary if you put good gas in there to begin with.
I would do a search on "Seafoam" and read up on it. The fact that it helps or hurts your car is debatable as some here would recommend it and others wouldn't recommend it. I did it once last month, but didn't notice too much of a difference, though I didn't put it my crankcase (its relatively clean). So its up to you.
my car has 126miles on it so around 200km , we go the car at 90miles/145km and change the oil every 3500-4000km, so would you guys suggest I do seafoam?
With modern fuels and lubricants "decarbonizing" an engine in good condition, is just not needed! If your engine needed to be de-carbonized then there is something else wrong with it, such as overly rich running condition. There's nothing wrong with seafoaming it through the brake hose as many people do for their camrys, and this will improve performance in a lot of engines. However most of what is being removed is simply gunk from the blow by gases of the PCV system - not carbon.
Modern engines run much hotter than engines in the past, moreover fuels are formulated to minimize the carbon problem too. I have torn engines apart that had over 250,000 miles on them and saw very little carbon on the piston tops, combustion chamber and in the top ring land (the problem areas where carbon could form and effect performance).
Don't waste your money on this. Also i think i'd find another mechanic besides this one.
The only area that needs to be cleaned on the camry engine, is inside the throttle body, butterfly, and IAc if so equipped, about every 30,000 miles. You can do this yourself for $10 for a can of seafoam, a screwdriver and some rags and there are lots of posts here how to do that.
Last edited by AlmightyCamry777; 03-04-2010 at 01:45 PM.
Do you know the condition of the crankcase? I didn't do it cause when I replaced my valve cover gasket, my crankcase was clean. You change the oil at a good interval, but I am assuming you dont know how it was before you got the car (ie how the previous owner treated the car). Also, you probably don't know when the gaskets and seals were replaced and the car is old. Time, heat, ozone, a whole list of other things kill the rubber gaskets, so even though 126k miles isnt too bad, your gaskets may have deteriorated. I wouldn't dare doing it on my 95 I4 which has 167k miles cause I know there is a seal that I need to replace.
Again, it is your call. I mean, why fix something that's not broken? Try researching more on people's experiences and a more detailed DIY.
Just a note about putting seafoam in your crankcase: Don't leave it in there for too long cause it changes the viscosity of the oil. Drive/Rev your engine for a few miles and change your oil.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sssgood
my car has 126miles on it so around 200km , we go the car at 90miles/145km and change the oil every 3500-4000km, so would you guys suggest I do seafoam?
Call me old school, but I prefer good ol' water decarbonization -- s-l-o-w-l-y introduce about a pint of water into one of the throttle vacuum lines (the line for the throttle opener is my usual) in a warmed up engine. Emphasis on slowly -- you don't want to hydrolock the engine! Sucking it through a air pump needle is pretty foolproof, although I usually just do a fast dip into the water with the hose, and instantly pull it out and wait for idle to go back to normal. Just don't leave the hose in the water -- asking for trouble! Water decarbonization has been used for years to clean out the top end of engines -- I trust it a lot more than Seafoam.
As someone else pointed out -- decarbonization isn't really needed if the engine has been taken care of and had good gas it's whole life, but not all of our engines have been treated that well.
Cleaning the throttle body and IAC yields much more noticeable results in these Gen3 / Gen4 Camrys -- a decade or more of blowby building up on the throttle plate and in the IAC tends to result in poor throttle response and sometimes poor idle. A cheap can of throttle body cleaner and a old toothbrush can work wonders in that area.
Do you know the condition of the crankcase? I didn't do it cause when I replaced my valve cover gasket, my crankcase was clean. You change the oil at a good interval, but I am assuming you dont know how it was before you got the car (ie how the previous owner treated the car). Also, you probably don't know when the gaskets and seals were replaced and the car is old. Time, heat, ozone, a whole list of other things kill the rubber gaskets, so even though 126k miles isnt too bad, your gaskets may have deteriorated. I wouldn't dare doing it on my 95 I4 which has 167k miles cause I know there is a seal that I need to replace.
Again, it is your call. I mean, why fix something that's not broken? Try researching more on people's experiences and a more detailed DIY.
Just a note about putting seafoam in your crankcase: Don't leave it in there for too long cause it changes the viscosity of the oil. Drive/Rev your engine for a few miles and change your oil.
ya not sure about the gasket/ or any seals (don't think they have ever been changed!!), also my dad told me that 2 yrs ago he saw oil burning/leaking? and he put one of those stop leaks/burns and its worked eversince!?
ya not sure about the gasket/ or any seals (don't think they have ever been changed!!), also my dad told me that 2 yrs ago he saw oil burning/leaking? and he put one of those stop leaks/burns and its worked eversince!?
Huge reason to not dump anything other oil in the crankcase. Heck, there's pretty much never a good reason to dump cleaners, solvents, or motor flushes in an old motor. Changing the oil more often than necessary is about the closest I'd come to recommending an "oil treatment".
I've posted this before, just take it with a grain a salt.
Even a healthy engine will contaminate the intake plenum and t/b! Engines with leaky valve guides and blowby past the rings will be worse tho. Also add grocery getters and day care cars to the list. . .
Picture this: each time you turn the engine off some of the intake valves will be open to the intake plenum. The burned, unburned, blowby, oils, fumes, and combustion gases will go somewhere. Right back into the intake a great place! Its wide open and cooler than the combustion chamber. Thus forming deposits in the intake over time. Cars that do lots of short trips will look worse than a cars driven 50miles round trip.
These same deposits also settle on your injectors!
Neat'O!
I like Techron my self. Add 3 bottles a year at random times before winter sets in and water freezes stuff.
As soon as I saw "engine decarbonization??" I knew Seafoam would save the thread. . .
__________________
95 Cam, V6 1MZ, Auto A541E, LE >245,000 miles!
I've posted this before, just take it with a grain a salt.
Even a healthy engine will contaminate the intake plenum and t/b! Engines with leaky valve guides and blowby past the rings will be worse tho. Also add grocery getters and day care cars to the list. . .
Picture this: each time you turn the engine off some of the intake valves will be open to the intake plenum. The burned, unburned, blowby, oils, fumes, and combustion gases will go somewhere. Right back into the intake a great place! Its wide open and cooler than the combustion chamber. Thus forming deposits in the intake over time. Cars that do lots of short trips will look worse than a cars driven 50miles round trip.
These same deposits also settle on your injectors!
Neat'O!
I like Techron my self. Add 3 bottles a year at random times before winter sets in and water freezes stuff.
As soon as I saw "engine decarbonization??" I knew Seafoam would save the thread. . .
lol, I just went and bought a can today at autovalue ($13) gonna either do it tommorw or on saturday , thanks for the tips guys
Decarbonizing has not been needed since they took the lead out of fuel in the early 80s.
Lead in fuel could result in massive carbon buildup on the piston crown and in the ring grooves. Some earlier long stroke motors actually benefited from this a bit since a ring of carbon around the edge of the piston crown helped reduce oil consumption. Decarbonizing was sometimes referred to as an "Italian tune up" since one way to do it was to run the engine close to redline to blow the carbon out.
The carbon buildup in a modern engine is negligible. The mechanic is trying to sell you a "service" that makes money for the shop, but the only thing it does for you is lighten your wallet.
Last edited by Michael503; 03-16-2010 at 08:13 AM.
Call me old school, but I prefer good ol' water decarbonization -- s-l-o-w-l-y introduce about a pint of water into one of the throttle vacuum lines (the line for the throttle opener is my usual) in a warmed up engine. Emphasis on slowly -- you don't want to hydrolock the engine! Sucking it through a air pump needle is pretty foolproof, although I usually just do a fast dip into the water with the hose, and instantly pull it out and wait for idle to go back to normal. Just don't leave the hose in the water -- asking for trouble! Water decarbonization has been used for years to clean out the top end of engines -- I trust it a lot more than Seafoam.
As someone else pointed out -- decarbonization isn't really needed if the engine has been taken care of and had good gas it's whole life, but not all of our engines have been treated that well.
Cleaning the throttle body and IAC yields much more noticeable results in these Gen3 / Gen4 Camrys -- a decade or more of blowby building up on the throttle plate and in the IAC tends to result in poor throttle response and sometimes poor idle. A cheap can of throttle body cleaner and a old toothbrush can work wonders in that area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pgmomni
I saw quite a bit of rough, crap on my pistons thru the spark plug hole recently when fixing my leaking spark plug tubes. As my Camry suffers from the P0420, Bad front Cat, I can assume its prior owner either drove lots of city and or didnt maintain it to well.
So, you let it suck a pint of water at idle or do you bring the rpms up to say around 2K and hold it while it sucks up the water?
Tks
Pete
I usually just do it at idle, but that's simply because I'm usually holding onto the water jug (I use distilled water, just to be on the safe side) with one hand and hold my "sucker" hose with the other hand. No harm in revving the engine to 2K if you can free up a hand or have a helper.
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, thanks for the tips guys
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