Chevy HHR Network - How to Shell Blast Intake Valves

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Awesome write up RJ! All 3 how to's are very informative and will certainly help someone in the future

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Originally Posted by RJ_RS_SS_350 (Post 796543)

22. I performed another leak down test here. My prior readings - cylinders 1-3 had 2-4% leakage, and cylinder 4 had 23% leakage(crankcase and intake). Now cylinders 1-3 have 2% leakage and cylinder 4 has 5-6% leakage (crankcase). These results are better than I expected. I forgot to take pictures of the clean ports and valves. They are not as clean as the BMW machines get them, but they were pretty good.

I was going through my pics on my phone, turns out I did take some pics, but I didn't get one of Cylinder #1. I have added pics of Cylinders 2-4 side-by-side next to the dirty pics.

Now RJ, no dirty pictures please this is a family site!! Nice to see you cleaned them up.

Ooooh, good one! Mike was right, you are very punny!!

Subscribed good information here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RJ_RS_SS_350 (Post 796533)

H. A spray can of Berryman's B-12.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RJ_RS_SS_350 (Post 796541)

12. Again, keep alternating between scraping, vacuuming, and blasting. Once you get those 3 cylinders, 6 ports and valves, as clean as you think you can, spray some Berryman's B-12 in the port, and you will see the spots you missed. A little more scraping and vacuuming. Spray a little more Berryman's and use those brushes I referenced above, with a drill or impact driver, or even by hand if you don't have these power tools. I used the nylon brushes, so as not to scratch anything.

THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST PIECE OF ADVICE ON THE PLANET FOR ANYONE DOING A WALNUT BLAST!!!!! Do NOT use Berryman's B12 (or any carb/throttle body cleaner for that matter) to assist removing gunk form the intake valves and ports! It just cost me an engine!!!!! (Grrrr!!!!) The can of Berryman's, nor this person, nor anyone else in this thread mentioned that carb cleaner melts plastic and rubber components. And I have only ever used carb cleaner for its intended purpose (i.e., metal carbs/throttle bodies), thus never had an issue with plastic/rubber degradation. Carb cleaner will leak past the valve seats, into the pistons, and then past the piston rings, to contaminate the oil and attack every bit of plastic and rubber in the engine. I finished blasting and everything looked great. I started the engine and it ran great for 10 minutes. Just as I was about to shut it down to change the oil, I noticed the rear main seal suddenly gushed oil all over the shop floor! Seal melted! I now have the engine torn down to the bare block in an engine stand to inspect and/or replace every seal and plastic component. Learn from this mistake and leave the carb cleaner locked away for your walnut blasting job!! (Grrrr!!!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by m_ridzon (Post 859157)

🤯 how much cleaner did you get in there??? Realy confused after your story. Just don't see it possible for cleaner to get through closed valves and than through piston rings???

Valve seals are not a true 100% seal. It's metal-to-metal (not rubber-to-metal, which would be a true seal). At the microscopic level, there are voids through which fluids can leak. Likewise for the piston rings on the cylinder walls. Not to mention, the walnut blast itself is intended to address gunk buildup, which could very possibly be on the valve seal faces, making the seal worse. Any amount of carb cleaner sprayed in the ports will puddle and slowly leak through, eventually making its way to the crankcase. The carb cleaner is toxic. It melted a plastic screwdriver handle that was lying in a damp rag. It melted the lens of my safety goggles from splatter. It melted the lens of my shop light. If you don't believe me, you can try it for yourself.

And no I'm not here to make false claims and degrade someone else. I'm here merely to share my expensive lesson with others, so they don't also do it. If you feel my claims are erroneous, that is fine. You may do as you see fit. But I assure you, you are playing with snakes and may get bit, like me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by m_ridzon (Post 859166)

I believe you on engine being f...d. and I understand those are not 100%% true seal. But for that to happen, you need a lot of cleaner to get into crankcase. Are you 100% sure that happened from using cleaner? I cleaned mine with shelf blast and also used cleaner(dont remember which one thought). And after I let the cleaner seat in there for about 30-40 min, it didn't go anywhere.