WhiteOut Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 Alright, so I pretty much religously clean my intake. Once every other oil change I go through the process of using a can of Gumout throttle body cleaner and add a third of a can of Seafoam to the gas. So I would expect that my intake is a fairly clean place since my car doesn't seem to lose that much oil through the PCV system. Seems like a logical conclusion right? Wrong... Upon removing the upper and lower intakes this weekend it appears that the only clean portion of my intake is the space in the heads immediately before the septum between the valves. Everything else is coated with a nice layer of carbon buildup. That find pretty much pissed me off since I've wasted so much money trying to "clean the intake". So while I had everything apart to fix the oil leak I cleaned the damn thing out. All it took was five minutes and a quick wipe down with a gasoline soaked rag on the lower intake and heads followed by pouring about a quart of gasoline into the intake and shaking it around several times. End result...I can actually tell that my intake is made of metal and I swear my car has better throttle response now. I'd highly recomend that anyone seeking to "clean" the intake do this as well after seeing how ineffective sprays and gasoline addatives are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyman87 Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 i cleaned mine... i used a dremal and sandpaper! granit i spent alot of time doing it. i was able to get a mirror finish on the internals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitzel Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 In VW TDI diesel engines (and presumably other diesel engines), the selection of motor oil makes a significant difference in the overall cleanliness of the intake. It seems that people using cheap dealer-installed 5W-30 dino oil experience the bulk of the problems on that particular engine with respect to intake build-ups, while users of synthetic diesel oils such as Delvac-1 experience substantially less build-up. Obviously soot loads are substantially higher in a diesel engine, but has anyone, even anecdotally, been able to link intake carbon deposits with their selection of motor oil on the petrol-fired 3.1L V6 engines? Much of the soot in a diesel comes through the EGR system I understand. I know, on my petrol-fired 3.1L V6 which had 65k on it when I removed the intake and throttle body to give both a cleaning, there was definitely oil in both the plenum and the throttle body which easily wiped away. I intend to stick with the synthetics since a full group IV synthetic oil only costs me $3 extra per oil change, but would definitely like to hear opinions on whether synthetic truly does keep the intake cleaner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyman87 Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 In VW TDI diesel engines (and presumably other diesel engines), the selection of motor oil makes a significant difference in the overall cleanliness of the intake. It seems that people using cheap dealer-installed 5W-30 dino oil experience the bulk of the problems on that particular engine with respect to intake build-ups, while users of synthetic diesel oils such as Delvac-1 experience substantially less build-up. Obviously soot loads are substantially higher in a diesel engine, but has anyone, even anecdotally, been able to link intake carbon deposits with their selection of motor oil on the petrol-fired 3.1L V6 engines? Much of the soot in a diesel comes through the EGR system I understand. I know, on my petrol-fired 3.1L V6 which had 65k on it when I removed the intake and throttle body to give both a cleaning, there was definitely oil in both the plenum and the throttle body which easily wiped away. I intend to stick with the synthetics since a full group IV synthetic oil only costs me $3 extra per oil change, but would definitely like to hear opinions on whether synthetic truly does keep the intake cleaner. There is alot of great info there about diesel motors but i dont believe its really worth the cost of syntheic if your worried about intake buildup.. its going to happen either way you look at it.. if anything synthetic will only prolong the problem 2 a later day which you will still have the same build up issiue.. which is really NOT an issure for everyday driving. The car will start and run with or without buildup. The only place it can effect drivability is if it makes the throttle valve stick or gunks up the IAC. Not to mention the carbon source of the EGR. I think that has more to do with intake buildup then anything and thats after the intake valve and IAC. Unless you deleat your EGR and want the 110% performance out of the motor and are that anal about it. intake cleaners are mostlikley worthless for our None carborated vehicles some cleaners are good for your motor like injector cleaners and valve cleaners.. nothing wrong with it. just dont expect it to clean your intake b/c your injectors inject in the lower lower intake manifold and directy into your heads. That would explain Upon removing the upper and lower intakes this weekend it appears that the only clean portion of my intake is the space in the heads immediately before the septum between the valves this is the only place gas and gas additives effect your intake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitzel Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 There is alot of great info there about diesel motors but i dont believe its really worth the cost of syntheic if your worried about intake buildup.. its going to happen either way you look at it.. if anything synthetic will only prolong the problem 2 a later day which you will still have the same build up issiue.. which is really NOT an issure for everyday driving. The car will start and run with or without buildup. The only place it can effect drivability is if it makes the throttle valve stick or gunks up the IAC. Not to mention the carbon source of the EGR. I think that has more to do with intake buildup then anything and thats after the intake valve and IAC. Just to clarify, I run the synthetic diesel oil solely for the reason that it makes starts at -40C a lot easier. Here in Western Canada, it gets bitterly cold, and this 0W30 Esso XD-3 Synthetic, at a $3 premium per oil change, has yet to fail me. When I got the vehicle it was filled with Pennzoil 10W30 and even at -20C, the poor starter seriously had to labour to get the engine going. Anecdotally, synthetic diesel oils are said to have stronger detergent packages, so perhaps they are able to react better with the deposits that already exist on the intake to dissolve them. If you don't have 'other' reasons (ie: extreme cold like I do), then I do agree 100% with you that synthetic is a complete waste of money on this engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteOut Posted October 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 I run a full synthetic oil, so again I would expect less deposits than I found. And I'm fully aware that gasoline addatives will do nothing to clean the intake since the fuel injectors are in the heads, I would however expect that all the Seafoam and TB cleaner that I've used on the intake would have done something besides waste my money. Perhaps all this cleaning did was waste a dollar or two on gasoline, but with any luck I've at least gone a little ways towards restoring laminar flow to the intake (not likely considering the rough casting surface, buy hey I can dream). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulo57509 Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 I run a full synthetic oil, so again I would expect less deposits than I found. And I'm fully aware that gasoline addatives will do nothing to clean the intake since the fuel injectors are in the heads, I would however expect that all the Seafoam and TB cleaner that I've used on the intake would have done something besides waste my money. Perhaps all this cleaning did was waste a dollar or two on gasoline, but with any luck I've at least gone a little ways towards restoring laminar flow to the intake (not likely considering the rough casting surface, buy hey I can dream). In my experience, getting the runners of an intake manifold clean by just spraying stuff inside of it is kind of like spray on and hose off wheel cleaner. It's not very effective. Those built up deposits and soot have to be mechanically (read: elbow grease) removed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteOut Posted October 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 In my experience, getting the runners of an intake manifold clean by just spraying stuff inside of it is kind of like spray on and hose off wheel cleaner. It's not very effective. Those built up deposits and soot have to be mechanically (read: elbow grease) removed. Sloshing around a quart of gasoline inside the intake a couple times seems to work well too judging by what I poured out the runners when I was done. But your absolutely right about the spray can remedy, it doesn't work very well at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manitcor Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 if it bothers you that much delete the EGR clean everything up and problem solved. Granted you still get some build up from the PCV but not near as much as what the EGR does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyman87 Posted October 7, 2004 Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 if it bothers you that much delete the EGR clean everything up and problem solved. Granted you still get some build up from the PCV but not near as much as what the EGR does. remove the PCV valve.. cap the intake and place an apc brether on pvc connection hose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteOut Posted October 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Sucks to all of that work, I'd rather just take the upper intake off and slosh some gasoline around in it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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