The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop carbon build up - newbie mistake

So as a newbie (non-mechanic)straight 6 owner - I did a dumb thing. Ran the truck with the choke 1/2 out for the last year (not a lot of miles mind you). Anyhow, she started running like a tractor and turns out - of course - I built a bunch of carbon up in the engine. Had a friend come over, clean the plugs, adjust the idle (which is perfect now, choke all the way in which would stall if before) and I replaced the cracked distributor cap. It still runs like a tractor in 2nd & third.
1) will have him come back & adjust the timing which hopefully does the trick to get her running good. I need to drive her to winter storage soon.
2) any other suggestions to tune her up / check before she goes into storage and clean up my rookie mistake?
I may not know but am eager to learn just need the Sesame Street version of explanations due to my lack of experience.......thanks

Run at a high idle and spray water into the carb. Just keep it running and keep spraying. Oh....And do this outside with the exhaust pointing away from any objects.

Beat me to it! I used to use a Coke bottle full of HOT water dribbled into the carb at about 2,000 RPM- - - -2 or 3 times if necessary. It does a good job of steam cleaning the combustion chambers and puts some nasty gray/black smoke out of the tailpipe.
Jerry

Can carbon buildup badly enough to affect valve sealing and compression in these motors?

Yes, definitely! The combustion chamber design lets carbon accumulate pretty easily with just a slightly over rich mixture.
Jerry

Thanks for the water spray tip, will do on the weekend. Now I'm worried tho - is there an easy way for me to tell if it's sealing/compression vs timing? Running in 1st is now perfect - tho won't help me get anywhere 😕

The easiest way to answer your question is to verify your timing.
DO the water spray thing to remove the carbon. Then take it for a 5 mile drive. When you get home, take a compression check. Let us know the results,
A Leak Down test would be a way to check sealing of the rings and valves.
Let's do carbon removal, then timing, then compression test. Then tell us what you have.

Thanks again - don't know what I would do without this site. Have someone coming over to help me with the timing in the next couple of weeks so will post an update as soon as that's done.