Intake Valve Cleaning: Before and After.

[clockwise33]

Prepping for a messy job...

Dirty valves...

Clean Valves...

All work was done by Ryan W. in Warwick NY. He's a certified Audi tech that now has his own shop. He works fast and is very professional. He finished my valves in one day (drop off in the morning, pick up in evening) and charges only 450.00 for the service. His email is ryan.auditech@gmail.com. :thumbsup:

 

[ssunnylee24]

Can you give us more details about the car?
Mods, Mileage, how long you been running EJ catch can, oil etc etc?
Thanks.

 

[nitroscope8]

Notice any difference in driveability?

 

[dustinwark]

Can you give us more details about the car?
Mods, Mileage, how long you been running EJ catch can, oil etc etc?
Thanks.

this would be nice

 

[clockwise33]

The car has 56,000 miles, most of which APR chipped, ran dealership oil for the first 25,000, Elf 5w40 for 15,000, and German Castrol for the past 15,000. The first couple OCI's were 10,000 miles as per the manual, then switched to 5,000. Oil consumption was about 1/2 liter each 5,000 miles though there was a period early on where my PCV was blown and oil consumption was about 1 liter per 5,000 miles. I have had the EJ Catch Can fitted for only 5,000 miles.

Drivability is improved, makes more power up top. Cold start misfires were happening pretty much every start when the ambient temp was above 50F, they have disappeared since the valve cleaning.

 

[josein06gli]

Damn, I wished u would have had the can for longer to compare your valves to ones I've seen on here.

 

[POLARBEAR666]

My breathers both go to atmosphere and I have run Subaru Upper Engine Cleaner through the motor a few times after fixing the breather setup. (PS: before the net nannies whine, I have run similar setups for years and my motors last longer, less buildup, less bs with catch cans which are dangerous because they store a large supply of COLD oil that can get pulled back into the motor in a big gulp under high G cornering or vacuum and damage it. Cans don't even save u from driving over oil if u have a problem as a can is going to overflow very fast if you have a serious issue thats pumping oil out the breathers and none of the ones for VW's are large enough to hold a couple of Litres)

The upper engine cleaner is available from any subaru dealership and is wickedly good. Your car will smoke white smoke for about 20 seconds to 2 minutes if its really built up gunk. Just spray half the can in ine intake manifold and start it up.. let it get warm then spray the other half of can into the intake but before the intercooler, that way u clear out the intercooler too, as they build up an oil film inside that reduces heat transfer.

It is the only time I love watching my car spew white smoke and sound like it has a lumpy broken idle.

 

[randy...ryan]

how much did it cost?

 

[DSMconvert]

Do you think upper engine cleaner is better than seafoam ?????????

 

[brekdown29]

The VW/Audi shop I go to for all my service and performance stuff also uses the Subaru engine cleaner stuff and he swears by it. He's been using it for years, even when he was a tech at a VW dealership here.

I like to have it done every 5-10k miles and the car always seem to run better afterward.

 

[JoeyDaBomb]

Looks great

 

[danman132x]

WOW!!! Talk about some major buildup. I'm going to assume mine looks the same, as my car has 63000 miles on it. I'm going to seafoam it soon, hopefully it will help some, but wow. Direct injection really must make a huge difference in the carbon buildup. My previous vehicle was fuel injected from the intake manifold and it was no where near as built up. Is it possible to clean some of this carbon buildup yourself if you pull the intake manifold off, or do you need special detergents and remove the valves etc..

 

[Zach L]

WOW!!! Talk about some major buildup. I'm going to assume mine looks the same, as my car has 63000 miles on it. I'm going to seafoam it soon, hopefully it will help some, but wow. Direct injection really must make a huge difference in the carbon buildup. My previous vehicle was fuel injected from the intake manifold and it was no where near as built up. Is it possible to clean some of this carbon buildup yourself if you pull the intake manifold off, or do you need special detergents and remove the valves etc..

Yeah, you need a super uber rare cleaning secret ...called carb cleaner and cost $1.50

BTW, people that've used SeaFoam and other similar cleaners on a regular basis have pulled there manifold to find the EXACT same buildup as non-SeaFoam'd cars. These people have admitted it was pointless.

 

[nitroscope8]

BTW, people that've used SeaFoam and other similar cleaners on a regular basis have pulled there manifold to find the EXACT same buildup as non-SeaFoam'd cars. These people have admitted it was pointless.

Proof please? Also, proof that these people used it PROPERLY?

When used properly seafoam works wonders. Our jeeps (and every straight 6 jeep engine) carbon up a lot. After it builds up on the intake valves the injectors keep spraying fuel into the carbon which acts as a sponge and causes a hard cold start. AFter seafoam it works great for another 50k miles.

 

[clockwise33]

how much did it cost?

He charges $450 for the service, which, considering how much time and effort is required to remove the intake manifold and properly soak and scrub the valves, is a very good deal.