I have a 289 with some mild mods nothing super special and I heard somewhere that with an old engine like mine ('66) that it'll build up with carbon or something and stall on me if i don't give it a few good revs to clear it out periodically

is this true? does it clear on its own by me just driving or do i really need to rev to clear? or does it not even build up?

anyone who can educate me on this, THANKS!

 

I've had a little experience with carbon build up, on rotary engines, and my experience with them, you would have to get higher rpm's than your casual cruise rpm's. If you still have the toploader behind it, just wind it up, on the highway in 3rd gear. Get it up to 4500-5000 rpm's for a bit or so.

Carbon will build up in any internal combustion engine, but it will also come out, with some high rpm usage. Just don't get a speeding ticket .

 

Hmmm sounds good..

any idea on how often the carbon will build up enough to cause me to stall?

i'll forget to get my rpm's up occasionally i'm sure...once i fire and warm her up will a few good revs clear me for a while?

 

I heard an ole wives-tail, that puttingwater into the carb, couple tablespoons at a time, while the car is running, making sure not to stall it, actually acts as an internal steam cleaner, and get's rid of carbon build up.

 

Sounds...somewhat legit

wonder if it works

 

To blow out the carbon, I'd take it out on the freeway, find a good long upgrade and put my foot to the floor. Probably best to first get up to a speed where it won't downshift when you do this. (No point over-stressing an old tranny...) This way you can get it putting out max power for 20 - 30 seconds without breaking the speed limit TOO much... (heh,heh...)....

Do this once in awhile and you should blow out all the carbon. Of course, if the engine is well-worn, there's always the risk of breaking something if you're pushing it to the max... Take your cell phone along in case you wind up needing a tow-truck.....!

 

Doesn't sound too bad

i can handle that