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Piston Soak

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by ReadyToRoll, Apr 14, 2022.

  1. ReadyToRoll

    ReadyToRoll Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    Gen 3 205k miles.
    Decided to do a piston soak and wondered if I am expecting too much. How long should a piston hold the fluid to be considered a success?
    Several hours, overnight?

    Thanks
     
    #1 ReadyToRoll, Apr 14, 2022
  2. Kaptainkid1

    Kaptainkid1 Active Member

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    2009 Prius
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    III
    I just did a Berryman B-12 16oz piston soak. I left 4 oz fluid in each of the 4 cylinder. Let it soak for couple hours. Berryman Fluid is very thin and tends to evaporate very fast or leak into the oil pan quickly. I would say it drained out the Piston chamber in 30 mins.
    The most important aspect of the soak, is you need to rotate the main engine block so the fluid can soak and free up the carbon soot in the Piston rings. I suggest using two cans of Berryman b-12. Crank the engine block back and forth with a wrench.
    Once the Berryman fluid has soaked for 5 hours. I took off the spark plugs and put a towel over the valve cover to soak up any fluid which might remain in Piston chamber cranked the engine over for quick 2-4 seconds and shut the engine down or off. I ran a pump to suck out any remaining fluids in the chamber.
    After I felt all of Berryman fluid was out of the Piston chamber I put back together all spark plugs and coils.
    I tried Marvel Mystery Oil and Seafoam and they do not works as good as Berryman B-12.
    Do an oil change and change oil filter too.
    I noticed the Berryman fluid in my oil mix once I drained and did an oil change after the Piston soak.
    After the oil change and engine back together. You run the engine for 5-10 mins before you decide to drive it on the streets. It will Blow white smoke for 30 mins or less. That's the Berryman chemicals burning off.

    After doing the soak I felt my Prius run smoother and felt more power. My Prius was hitting 200k and only got tune up and oil changes up until this point. So the soak was needed at this point and the car felt different after the soak. I was burning 1 qt for 1000 miles. I think if you soak it correctly you will feel a difference. 20220513_174141.jpg 20220513_170557.jpg

    SM-A526U ?
     
    #2 Kaptainkid1, May 17, 2022
    xliderider likes this.
  3. CR94

    CR94 Senior Member

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    After you've added a few thousand miles post-soak, please let us know how much its oil consumption has changed.
     
    #3 CR94, May 17, 2022
    Kaptainkid1 likes this.
  4. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    Any other effects of the volatile chemicals in the combustion chambers other than the copious amounts of white smoke? Like heavy knocking/pre-ignition, which would be concerning?

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #4 xliderider, May 17, 2022
  5. ReadyToRoll

    ReadyToRoll Junior Member

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    2010 Prius
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    V
    Next time I will try the Berrymans. I did somewhat of a cocktail and thought it made a difference but it may have just been hopeful expectations and my imagination. I also worked the crank back and forth over about 3 days and adding fluid each day. Still burning oil at about your rate. I would really like to break those rings free it that's what everyone thinks causes so much oil consumption.

    In response to xliderider, I did have a tense initial startup with brief knocking and the red triangle, but I shut down and restarted once or twice and the warnings went away and left me with just the dense white smoke. I thought I had all the cleaning fluid off the pistons but it must have made its way into valve chambers or somewhere, maybe pushed out the exhaust.
     
    #5 ReadyToRoll, May 17, 2022
  6. Kaptainkid1

    Kaptainkid1 Active Member

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    Vehicle:
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    For me a check engine and I cleared the code after a misfire because of the chemicals in the Piston. Been fine after that.

    SM-A526U ?
     
    #6 Kaptainkid1, May 18, 2022
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