Carbon cleaning from intake (walnut blasting etc.)

[svvg]

I've seen a couple of interesting, albeit slightly older threads on the benefits of intake cleaning on the FSI engines, including a really detailed guide on this forum. Is this something worth doing on a 113,000 mile AXX GTI engine? If I do decide to do it, is it worth spending the extra on walnut blasting - or is it not worth the cost over DIYing with carb cleaner and plastic/wooden scrapers (which wouldn't be as thorough as walnut blasting)?

There seems to be some doubt over whether performance is affected on turbo engines, whereas the N/A direct injection engines really seem to benefit (like the RS4s etc.).

Any thoughts?

[titchy]

I have read good things about Terraclean

[svvg]

Terraclean seems attractive as there’s no need to disassemble much - but folk tend to complain that after an initial quick fix, the car returns to the way it was pre-clean. I think for baked-on, coked-up intakes, manual cleaning/blasting media is probably required. I have a new intake gasket and injector seals - so will probably have a go at DIY cleaning with plastic scrapers and carb cleaner. Won’t be as super-clean as walnut blasting - but not sure the difference will be worth the £300-400 cost...

[ljc19630]

Take it to R-Tech and get it done properly


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[bobby_fodge]

Take it to R-Tech and get it done properly


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What measurable benefit is seen after having this done?

[svvg]

It can help with emissions if this is an issue - and with a lumpy idle. Depending on how gummed up the inlet is (especially if valves aren’t closing properly) it can also restore lost power - but it depends on the engine/mileage etc - hence was asking whether there’s much of a need on the mkv gti with my sort of mileage (113k) as I’m pretty new to these cars.

On the N/A cars with direct port injection they can lose over 20bhp after 60,000-80,000 miles which can be recovered by cleaning the inlet ports (Audi RS4s etc), but I’m not quite sure what folk reckon on turbo cars. I guess it’ll depend on how restricted/gunked up any given car is - but was interested to see if anyone had any strong views.

On terraclean - I think the jury's still out. Tends to get panned as a very short term/possible placebo on BMW forums for N/A cars - but then they don’t suffer with direct port injection issues in the same way (E46 cars in fairness. I’ve not read up much on the effects in the N52 and newer engines in the E90s...).

Manual scraping or walnut blasting seem to be more realistic in terms of cleaning the ports from baked on carbon and sludge on the fsi engines from what I’ve read - but I’d welcome feedback from those who’ve done one or other and can report their experiences??

[colesey]

SVVG, you ultimately won’t know what is in there until you get the intake manifold off however a bit of googling should confirm that it is likely that your car will have carbon build up.  I am sure you will be able to get most of that off by manual scraping however it does appear to be a laborious and mucky job. In addition to the walnut blasting, RTech also test and service the injectors and this might be where more of the benefits in responsiveness / cold starting / smooth idling / emissions are coming from.

In terms of quantifiable benefits, I am pretty sure that RTech did a before / after cleaning dyno test showing @10% gains in the midrange but clearly this will vary from car to car.

[ljc19630]

SVVG, you ultimately won’t know what is in there until you get the intake manifold off however a bit of googling should confirm that it is likely that your car will have carbon build up.  I am sure you will be able to get most of that off by manual scraping however it does appear to be a laborious and mucky job. In addition to the walnut blasting, RTech also test and service the injectors and this might be where more of the benefits in responsiveness / cold starting / smooth idling / emissions are coming from.

In terms of quantifiable benefits, I am pretty sure that RTech did a before / after cleaning dyno test showing @10% gains in the midrange but clearly this will vary from car to car.

What he said - 

[svvg]

Thanks both - the more I’m reading and hearing from forum members, the more this sounds like the way forward. For me, I think I’ll clean the inlets myself, but send the injectors away for ultrasonic cleaning and flow matching.

[colesey]

When you do the maths - is @£150 for injector service plus xxx for gaskets etc - then £350 for Rtech service doesn’t seem much more. They even do a package complete with custom remap for £650.

[ljc19630]

When you do the maths - is @£150 for injector service plus xxx for gaskets etc - then £350 for Rtech service doesn’t seem much more. They even do a package complete with custom remap for £650.

What he said


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[neilw]

When you do the maths - is @£150 for injector service plus xxx for gaskets etc - then £350 for Rtech service doesn’t seem much more. They even do a package complete with custom remap for £650.

Not long until I get the full works! I'll be on here to let everyone know what it's like!

[ljc19630]

Mines been done, minus the injectors, as I provided new ones for the K04 conversion. Just waiting for milly zorst to be delivered and hopefully go up to collect on Saturday


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[muff1991]

Mines been done, minus the injectors, as I provided new ones for the K04 conversion. Just waiting for milly zorst to be delivered and hopefully go up to collect on Saturday


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@ljc19630 how's your conversion going? Taking a while isn't it 

[ljc19630]

Ha Ha, yeah its been a while, but I'm in no rush!!! Had an issue with the exhaust as the backbox was restricting flow and not able to maximise power, hence just bought an R32 style non-res Milly system from eBay that a chap had on his GTi which is arriving Thursday to be fitted. Also, Pip called me today to say that my VIS HPFP had failed and they are getting a new one sent out. He's fitted hundreds and its the first to fail so VIS sending via next day delivery - I may get it back Sat, if not early next week