Hello,
I have a 2016 A4 with the 2T engine and ~100K miles. The engine about .5Q every 1500 miles and the cylinder compression is consistently low on all 4 cylinders. I bought the car used so I’m not confident about car having regular oil changes or the type of oil used. I’m contemplating a piston soak using your product to address any coked carbon deposits on the rings along with adding the product to the oil sump to clean from both sides. Do you believe this plan could improve compression and reduce oil consumption? Which product do you recommend and is there a manufacturer procedure that I should follow?
Thank you, Tony L
1 Answers
Thanks for your interest in Berryman. Yes, that plan of attack is great. We recommend doing the piston soak first, so that if you have any leakdown into the crankcase, you can run the vehicle for a bit to drive off the solvents.
The best product to use as a piston soak is Berryman B-12 Chemtool Fuel Injector Cleaner (part #s 0116 and 0121). Once you’ve removed the spark plugs, be sure to add enough cleaner to cover the entire piston crown with cleaner. With inline motors with vertical strokes (like most 4 cylinders and straight/inline 6s), this may only be 2-3 fl oz of B-12 Chemtool per cylinder
To perform the soak, remove the spark plugs, add to the COLD combustion chambers enough B-12 Chemtool to cover the entire piston crown and rings, and put the spark plugs back in a couple threads in order to prevent evaporation of the solvents. The process will benefit from a little agitation, too, so if you can safely rock the vehicle from side to side occasionally, that will improve your results. You can also carefully bubble in a little air either from a compressor or an aerosol duster.
Regarding duration, we recommend soaking the pistons for at least 1-2 hours apiece. However, if leak-down is minimal, you can soak for much longer. Some users prefer to soak overnight, that’s completely acceptable.
Once you’ve decided to end the soak, the cylinder will need to be evacuated of the cleaner/carbon mixture. You can do this any number of ways including with a vacuum pump or even a turkey baster (which should not be used again in the kitchen). Note that B-12 Chemtool will damage most automotive paint and clear coats, so be cautious around such finishes.
To tackle oil control rings, put 1½-2 fl oz per quart of oil capacity of Berryman B-12 Chemtool Fuel Injector Cleaner (part #0116) into the crankcase when the engine cold. If your oil capacity with filter is 5 quarts, then you could put up to 10 fl oz of B-12 Chemtool in the crankcase. Then, run the engine at idle until it is at operating temperature and check the condition of the oil to see if you need to change the oil and filter.
Hope that helps. Let us know if you have any additional questions.
To perform the soak, remove the spark plugs, add to the COLD combustion chambers enough B-12 Chemtool to cover the entire piston crown and rings, and put the spark plugs back in a couple threads in order to prevent evaporation of the solvents. The process will benefit from a little agitation, too, so if you can safely rock the vehicle from side to side occasionally, that will improve your results. You can also carefully bubble in a little air either from a compressor or an aerosol duster.
Regarding duration, we recommend soaking the pistons for at least 1-2 hours apiece. However, if leak-down is minimal, you can soak for much longer. Some users prefer to soak overnight, that’s completely acceptable.
Once you’ve decided to end the soak, the cylinder will need to be evacuated of the cleaner/carbon mixture. You can do this any number of ways including with a vacuum pump or even a turkey baster (which should not be used again in the kitchen). Note that B-12 Chemtool will damage most automotive paint and clear coats, so be cautious around such finishes.
To tackle oil control rings, put 1½-2 fl oz per quart of oil capacity of Berryman B-12 Chemtool Fuel Injector Cleaner (part #0116) into the crankcase when the engine cold. If your oil capacity with filter is 5 quarts, then you could put up to 10 fl oz of B-12 Chemtool in the crankcase. Then, run the engine at idle until it is at operating temperature and check the condition of the oil to see if you need to change the oil and filter.
Hope that helps. Let us know if you have any additional questions.
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