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TR4/4A Tr 4a valve seats cleaner

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N

nicodiaz

Freshman Member
Offline
I have run the Tr w/o filters for awhile here in Southern Cal dusty environment. Does anyone know of an effective valve seat cleaner injected directly into the air intake.
At the auto parts store no one had credible advise. Car is still running undetectably fine. Thank you for any comments.

Robert
66' Tr4a
 
What makes you think the valve seats are dirty? The only "dirt" I've ever seen is where the seat is eroded away and nothing you pour down the intake is going to fix that!
 
Ok. So I have no problem. But, is it not common for at least carbon build up, although perhaps not on the in-take valve?.

Robert
Oceanside
 
Burnt exhaust valves are your worst enemy. Only after taking the head off can you get lapping compound to work a perfect surface. Most get the head reworked if there is a issue.
When getting reworked. adding hardened seats and valve guides. Triple cut grind is what I get on mine.

Wayne
 
Robert,
First I would buy a set of air filters! Dirty air ingested into any engine can cause premature wear of just about everything internally. If you are worried about carbon buildup and want something to help clean valves and rings you can give Seafoam a try. I've used it on a number of boat engines as well as cars and it does a pretty good job of cleaning out the 'gunk'. Just follow the directions on the can and add it to the gas when you fill up...very simple and one of the few snake oils that actually works.
Rut
 
Carbon can build up on the intake valves where the stem meets the head. But that usually is not caused by dirty air (at least not directly), but rather by oil being sucked past the valve guide. And the effect on performance is usually quite small.

All of those ads you see about "dirty valves" though, are talking about fuel deposits that can build up on some engines with early fuel injection (like Bosch Jetronic). They can spray liquid fuel directly onto the valve head, where it evaporates and leaves behind scale (kind of like hard water scale). Not normally an issue on a TR4A (and not really an issue with most cars made in the past 15 years IMO).
 
You guys are great, especially taking time to respond to an apparent naive /non existent suspicion of potential problem.
Thanks.

Robert
 
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