Hi guys, Just thought I would ask for clarification and verification on several things regarding cleaning the carbon on the engine.

So Mazda tells people who have issues with starting (in the TSB) to add engine oil, attempt to start and then decarb. The oil is purely to gain compression. Right? And the decarb procedure that follows isn't due to the oil added, but rather to remove carbon build up that prevented the apex seals from sealing in the first place. Right?


The TSB procedure struck me as odd though. Once I'm done decarbing, the rotor housing is super dry, so why would I be warming the engine up dry, and then set the OMP to 60? Shouldn't steps 19-21 be performed before 15-18? Wouldn't doing 15-18 on a dry combustion chamber cause damage?

 

Anyone? Also, using seafood as an alternative to Mazda's Zoom Zoom cleaner.. SeaFoam contains it's cleaning solvents, AND pale oil. Would one still need to premix or have the engine draw in oil through the vacuum intake ports after seafoam?

 

I don't think anyone has a clear answer to your original question, and thus the lack of replies.

A guess might be that starting it up dry lets the seals re-lap themselves slightly. I don't think there has been any case of 'engine damage' from starting up dry after a decarb.

There are plenty of questions around Mazda's decarb though. It appears to work, but trying to replicate it in your driveway with seafoam has been proven to not work (https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...r-pics-241867/). Perhaps Mazda's cleaner DOES work with it just sitting in the engine?

I don't know the answer to this.

Seafoam DOES clean carbon in the engine, but not when it's just sitting there. The engine needs to be running when it is ingested. And if you are going to do it that way, distilled water is just as effective as seafoam, but $1 for a gallon rather than $16 for 12oz. See the thread I linked.

 

Seems like seafoam (or distilled water) while the engine is running is the way to go. Does anyone know why Mazda says to only service one nipple port at a time? I know most people seem to ignore that and do both, but does anyone know Mazda's reasoning or logic behind it?

Also, as far as 2 cycle engine oil goes. Can I use the 2 cycle engine oil I put in a chainsaw? I was thinking of trying the seafoam using the Mazda method (although I guess I shouldn't expect much) and then adding a small amount of 2 cycle engine oil (fresh container, but for use in 2 cycle power equipment). Although I think that the pale oil in seafoam would be fine in terms of lubrication.