Piston Soak as Preventative Maintenence

I was advised that a piston soak is a last resort because many of the recipes use aggressive chemicals that can shorten the lifespan of the rings and seals. Maybe someone would argue against that on here, but that was the advice I got to make me reluctant to do it too soon.

Instead, clean your EGR system often, get an oil catch can, replace coolant often... All these have been shown to hold off the usual Gen3 engine problems for a while. But finding a Gen4 engine to swap it out with and you never have to worry about it anymore is the best fix.

 

Especially first time around, you might want to break that up. Maybe do the intake manifold and Oil Catch Can one weekend, and the EGR cooler (and valve) another. The latter will need wipers/cowl removed. I'd even just leave the OCC to a third weekend: appreciate it might be opportune to do with the intake manifold off, but OCC install can be a real time sinkhole...

One thing you can do ahead of time is remove the nut from the stud at the lower bracket on the EGR cooler. It can be done any time, without removing anything else for access, and can be left off. You might also want to remove the stud* at that location, same time. You'll need an E8 (Torx) socket for that, and a lot of patience: it's steel in an aluminum head, and very tough to back out, really buried too.

See first two links in my signature. Viewing on a phone, turn it landscape to see signature.

* With the stud off, it's possible to pull out the EGR cooler without removing the two rearmost studs. You do need to loosen a bracket hold-down bolt and shift an aluminum tube (gas tank vapour return?) passing above the EGR components; the cooler will otherwise bump into that tube and bracket on the way out.

 

Why is that?

Isn't it as simple as cutting a vent tube and connecting both ends to the OCC?

 

Not for me. Just like real estate: location, location, location. I ended up fashioning a bracket, mounted atop lower front cross beam. Then I decided two cans is better, made another bracket. Then I slotted all the holes to facilitate temoval. Then I tried revising everything from 3/8” ID hose, to 1/2”. Then I went back to 3/8”. This went on for some time.

 

Most all of my problems in life would be solved if the entire notion of individual or corporate ownership of real estate wasn't a thing... People who think their property rights are more important than the survival of the planet are gonna get us all killed if they keep up with all their greedy insanity!

 

For me multiple hour long soaks in Oxi-Clean Versatile Stain Remover, a powdered laundry additive, mixed in concentrated solution with hot tap water, got it clean. More detail in second link in my signature.

For any and all torque values see Repair Manual excerpts attached to first link in my signature (on a phone turn it landscape to see signature).

Doubt it’ll help, won’t be cheap, just clean what you’ve got.

Don’t rush this; do one bit at a time, keep everything you pull off organized. Go through the top two links in my signature.

 

Don't they make engine oil with a higher percentage of detergent that can be used in lieu of the piston soak routine (e.g., Valvoline High Milage full synthetic).

 

I'd ask the "$1500 in a day" Gen4 mobile installer based out of Oklahoma those questions: https://www.instagram.com/skimmilkhybrid/

 

Use oven cleaner first. Spray it in both ends. It will foam. Give it 2-3 minutes to settle
in then spray again. Do this 3 or 4 times and let it sit for about 30 minutes.
Then use the pressure washer to blast it out. The pressure washer will clear it out, but
the oven cleaner will clean the soot away. You can be done in less than an hour.

Use gunk on the rest of it. Do NOT use the oven cleaner on the aluminum parts, it might
damage it. And you can use carb/brake cleaner on the egr valve.
You can also use the Gunk(flamable version) on the intake manifold.
If you get a .22 bore brush (for a gun) you can put it in a drive and put gunk on it and use it
to clear out the 4 passages for the egr flow. Only take a few second for each one!

If this is your first time, it will probably take most of the day for everything, Just make sure you
get all the gaskets first!

Also get some MAF/MAP sensor cleaner and clean them while you have everything apart.

Some say sea foam works for the piston rings. You can put about 4 ounces in the oil about 300
miles before you change the oil. It might help keep them from getting gummed up. Don't think
it will hurt to do it and it doesn't cost much for a can that you can use for 4-5 oil changes.

 

How much oil is it consuming? If it isn't guzzling much, what would be the point of a piston soak routine?
The first steps should be to clean out the manifold passages, and check whether the EGR cooler is restricted the easy way, via the OBD port.