Oldblue

m_ridzon

Not just Cobalts. Some guys on Facebook have put the Powell system on their HHR too.

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m_ridzon

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!!!)

donbrew

Throttle body cleaner is supposed to be plastic safe, the basic difference from carb cleaner.

Cat Man HHR

Let me get this straight. You used a carb/throttle cleaner and within 10 minutes the rear main seal let go ?
Sorry I find that hard to believe, unless the total crankcase was full of this product and no oil in the pan.
How do you know the seal melted ? Pictures ?

m_ridzon

The walnut blast job was done over Christmas break. Due to holiday events, the project spanned several days. Little bits that had seeped through the valves, had an opportunity to drip down to the crankcase and work their damage for days (the fumes alone will start the degradation; starting the engine finished it). After 10 minutes of running, the problem reared its head. Fact remains though, it's damaging to rubber and plastic. Pics attached.

(P.S. I'm not going to reply with folks who merely want to call me stupid or curb my claims. You are free to do as you see fit. I shared my lesson with the intent to help others be watchful, not to degrade or hurt people. It was too costly and I'd hate to see someone else have to live through it. I shared this in other online forums and found nasty, negative feedback. Frankly, I don't really care what people think. Folks may do as they see fit. Folks claim I'm nutty and carb cleaner is benign and harmless on plastic/rubber. Fine. Do as you see fit. Having stripped the engine down and seen all the evidence, I have zero doubt about the carb cleaner causing this. Some of my brand new rubber gaskets installed after blasting were ruined in the same manner. Using the carb cleaner in this project is playing with snakes, and sometimes that snake will bite, which is what happened to me. I merely want to help people and warn them that they really shouldn't be using such a toxic chemical in this manner because it can leak down to the crankcase. If one passerby comes here, reads this, and decides to lock away the carb cleaner for their blasting job, and successfully blasts the engine with no problems, then I've done a good deed.)

Cat Man HHR

Please you made a statement about using a product and yes people will question you. Don't get all nervous and jerky over it.
How many miles on the engine ?
You said "The walnut blast job was done over Christmas break. Due to holiday events, the project spanned several days. Little bits that had seeped through the valves, had an opportunity to drip down to the crankcase and work their damage for days"
Is there a possibility that the walnut media is the real cause and not the cleaner ?
Yes the seal is deformed. I guess research should be used to see if the cleaner has a negative reaction to the synthetic compound of the seal material.

m_ridzon

Fair enough. I'm willing to talk about it, but not face attacks. And it seems like you just want to inquire and find out more, which I'm okay with.

I posted that in the initial statements that started this thread. But we're probably too far down the thread to remember. Nevertheless, 145K miles now.
The carb cleaner did other damage that confirmed my hypothesis. Namely, it melted a plastic screwdriver handle that laid in a damp rag on the bench. It melted the lens of my shop light that got spray spatter. It melted spots on my plastic safety goggles that got spray splatter. Having seen this damage, it was very easy to believe what happened in the engine. And once I took the engine apart, I found countless pieces of evidence that confirmed this hypothesis. To your question about the walnut media...I found none of that in the oil/crankcase. I did however, strongly smell carb cleaner fumes. I also found little droplets/small puddles of carb cleaner here and there as I disassembled the engine. There was a thimble of it in my newly installed catch-can. It had made it's way through the entire engine and left residue everywhere.

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