Steam cleaning your 4.0
07-01-2016, 02:02 PM
#32
Senior Member
did this last night...ran about 40 oz through the system. warmed up the jeep, reved to about 2000-2500 rpms, then poured in the water until the rpms dropped. at one point I added enough water that the jeep spit out the 0300 (misfire) code. I was able to clear it of course. but, the engine did not seem to run any smother than before so either it is already is as clean as it could be or I have other issues like the cap and rotor.
07-01-2016, 10:20 PM
#33
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ATF doesn't have much for detergent and it's expelled so quickly that it can't dissolve anything anyway.
07-06-2016, 08:57 PM
#34
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Year: 2000
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
so I decided to give this a shot. And now I think I may have caused something to go fubar. Now the engine seem to idle good, but when I rev it up and release gas peddle the RPM's will drop really low and almost want to turn off. If I rev it really high and let go of peddle RPM's will drop and it will actually turn off. Now I also kinda noticed some smoke or something come out of oil filler cap when I have it off. I had the engine REV'ed up to around 2000-2500 RPMS when I did this.
07-06-2016, 09:53 PM
#35
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Year: 1999
Engine: 4.0
so I decided to give this a shot. And now I think I may have caused something to go fubar. Now the engine seem to idle good, but when I rev it up and release gas peddle the RPM's will drop really low and almost want to turn off. If I rev it really high and let go of peddle RPM's will drop and it will actually turn off. Now I also kinda noticed some smoke or something come out of oil filler cap when I have it off. I had the engine REV'ed up to around 2000-2500 RPMS when I did this.
09-02-2016, 07:00 AM
#37
CF Veteran
I'm sure from time to time y'all see somebody mention steam cleaning your engine. You may wonder what that mean exactly or be skeptical of doing that, thinking it must be a joke.
Rest assured, it is not a joke at all.
Let's start with my jeep, it's a 99 XJ with 4.0 that has 150,000 miles on the clock. The engine has never been cleaned internally. To add to the description, I replaced the intake manifold at approximately 125,000 miles and I saw really thick gunk that was coated inside the intake and exhaust ports of the head.
I used my borescope to look inside the cylinders and the intake manifold & took pictures so you get the idea of what it look like before the steam cleaning.
(The scratches on the piston was caused by my camera when I put it in too far)
Attachment 290050
Attachment 290048
Attachment 290052
This is the internal wall of the intake manifold runners where it's about to enter the intake port of the head
Attachment 290049
This is the intake valve chamber, you can clearly see the intake valve stem here
Attachment 290051
Attachment 290053
Rest assured, it is not a joke at all.
Let's start with my jeep, it's a 99 XJ with 4.0 that has 150,000 miles on the clock. The engine has never been cleaned internally. To add to the description, I replaced the intake manifold at approximately 125,000 miles and I saw really thick gunk that was coated inside the intake and exhaust ports of the head.
I used my borescope to look inside the cylinders and the intake manifold & took pictures so you get the idea of what it look like before the steam cleaning.
(The scratches on the piston was caused by my camera when I put it in too far)
Attachment 290050
Attachment 290048
Attachment 290052
This is the internal wall of the intake manifold runners where it's about to enter the intake port of the head
Attachment 290049
This is the intake valve chamber, you can clearly see the intake valve stem here
Attachment 290051
Attachment 290053
09-06-2016, 01:20 PM
#38
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Year: 1998
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0
Just did this to my '98. I ran about two quarts of distilled water through it.
It's hard to tell if it's any different, but I just got back from a 1,300 mile road trip which certainly helped to clean things out. Most of it was spent at 70+ mph.
It's hard to tell if it's any different, but I just got back from a 1,300 mile road trip which certainly helped to clean things out. Most of it was spent at 70+ mph.
09-21-2016, 03:18 PM
#40
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Engine: 4.0
edit: I did in fact use a garden hose. I am capable of controlling the output of water. I did not wfo the hose into the throttle body.
10-24-2016, 08:03 AM
#42
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Year: 1997
Model: Grand Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
'97 Grand 4.0. Had a random engine knock at idle. Figured it was either a collapsed piston skirt or combustion chamber deposits. Ran about a half gallon of water through it and now the motor is quiet as a mouse at idle. The fan and belt make more noise than the motor. Happy, happy! Joy, joy!
10-25-2016, 07:51 AM
#43
CF Veteran
Half gallon? That's quite a bit. I don't think you hurt anything but you may want to change the oil to be on the safe side.
10-27-2016, 01:42 PM
#44
No, I don't lick fish.
That's not any different than Cruiser's mondo 64oz cup that he uses every time he does this (64oz=.5 gal). I don't think he changes his oil every time he does it. If you do it correctly, you shouldn't get a lot of water blow-by contaminating the oil.
10-27-2016, 02:02 PM
#45
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Year: 1999
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Originally Posted by Basslicks
That's not any different than Cruiser's mondo 64oz cup that he uses every time he does this (64oz=.5 gal). I don't think he changes his oil every time he does it. If you do it correctly, you shouldn't get a lot of water blow-by contaminating the oil.