N54 valves caked with carbon

[Timberwolf]

No one seems to have mentioned water/methanol injection. The cooling effect of water will in essence steam clean the combustion chamber and pistons and will richen the fuel mixture with the methanol. Might be something to look into.

I have the Coolingmist setup in conjunction with my JB4, and the car made 381whp and 405 wt with just intake software and meth!

Look into it!

[Acetech]

We have a new tool to deal with this issue, it's a media blaster using walnut shells, it does a much better job than solvents and is much faster, ports look new when done.

[Dackelone]

Using walnut shells is what VoA (Volkswagen of America, who also was responsible for Audi) used to use too. It works really well. In the 1980's a lot of German made cars had issues with carbon buildup on the valves do to leaking fuel injectors. After shutting off the engine, some of the injectors would leak fuel and drip teh fuel onto the hot intake valves. Over time this caused some carbon buildup.

I did not think anyone made a walnut shell particle blasters today. I guess it's true what hey say about everything old becoming new again. lol Acetech - I would love to see some photos of your meadia balster in action.


Dackel

[NYC6]

Originally Posted by Timberwolf

No one seems to have mentioned water/methanol injection. The cooling effect of water will in essence steam clean the combustion chamber and pistons and will richen the fuel mixture with the methanol. Might be something to look into.

I have the Coolingmist setup in conjunction with my JB4, and the car made 381whp and 405 wt with just intake software and meth!

Look into it!

Originally Posted by NYC6

That gunk is reducing a fair share of power. This DI has some plusses but this certainly seems to be a huge negative. I plan on using techron fuel additive more often and thinking about adding a meth kit to help keep deposits down.

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[Yes2m3cs]

Carbon buildup issues were the reason we dumped our 09 Cooper S...

-Brian

[Lambobimmer]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Using walnut shells is what VoA (Volkswagen of America, who also was responsible for Audi) used to use too. It works really well. In the 1980's a lot of German made cars had issues with carbon buildup on the valves do to leaking fuel injectors. After shutting off the engine, some of the injectors would leak fuel and drip teh fuel onto the hot intake valves. Over time this caused some carbon buildup.

I did not think anyone made a walnut shell particle blasters today. I guess it's true what hey say about everything old becoming new again. lol Acetech - I would love to see some photos of your meadia balster in action.


Dackel

Here you go
http://www.harborfreight.com/portabl...kit-37025.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/25-lbs-...dia-92155.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/25-lbs-...dia-92150.html

[uberschnell]

Originally Posted by lamboworld

Here you go
http://www.harborfreight.com/portabl...kit-37025.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/25-lbs-...dia-92155.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/25-lbs-...dia-92150.html

Awesome

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by lamboworld

Here you go
http://www.harborfreight.com/portabl...kit-37025.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/25-lbs-...dia-92155.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/25-lbs-...dia-92150.html

Cool! Thanks. Its funny that the walnut abrasive costs more than the gun/blaster. lol

So... have you used this on your 135i? Did you just put each cylinder to TDC and then blast away. Then use a vacum cleaner or compressed air to blow/suck away the old shells? I would really like to see some photos of this "tool" in action.

Dackel

[InlineSix]

What a pain in the ass this would be...

[Lambobimmer]

I have never used it. I was curious, so I looked at Harborfreight and saw that they made one.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by lamboworld

I have never used it. I was curious, so I looked at Harborfreight and saw that they made one.

Crushed walnut shells should work just fine. It has in the past. As long as you don't load up the cats with the stuff. I think setting each cylinder to TDC would solve that problem. Anything that gets past the valves will just burn up in the cylinder or exhaust.

I think many people would be amazed on what works to fix cars. I knew a tech who would use plain old water in a cup and a vacum line and straw to suck water into the intake manifold with the engine running. You just want a sipp and not a gulp of water. As we all know water doesn't compress well in a internal cumbustion engine. The cold water would "shock" built up carbon off the intake valves.

[Turbolader]

I seriously think this is going to be the bane of these di engines.

I think that meth/water injection is the only way to combat this. I wish that some of these guys would have been smart enough to throw atleast one port fuel injector somewhere in the intake tract to offset this. My other car, an IS350 has 6 port injectors and 6 direct injectors, so the engine is effectively as "immune" to this as conventionally port-injected engines.

For those of you running water/meth injection systems, is there a general consensus on one system being the best for the n54?

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Turbolader

For those of you running water/meth injection systems, is there a general consensus on one system being the best for the n54?

Forum members who run meth have also had this carbon problem. That won't prevent the buildup.

[Impervious]

So how much does it cost to have the valves cleaned?

[Turbolader]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Forum members who run meth have also had this carbon problem. That won't prevent the buildup.

yikes, thanks for the fyi.

Looks like I definitely need to order my Maan Provent
http://www.mann-hummel.com.sg/EN/ind...ProVent-en.pdf

(Lingenfelter uses this for their rebranded catch can). I find most catch cans to be gimmick's but this one is built by by the fine people that make our filters, and, it actually has something inside to precipitate the oil vapor out of the intake manifold.

For those that are thinking about seafoam...If you want something that is easier to get in the engine, look into Mopar combustion chamber cleaner. It does the same thing, but it's in an aerosol can, which is easier to spray into vacuum lines (and much less likely to hydrolock the engine)

http://www.moparmagazine.com/2008/se..._to_do_it.html

If you still have your cats, you might want to be careful using it. Some people using this, or seafoam, have had it clog their cats, foul o2 sensors, and induce "gunk" in the spark gap.

I've run both in another car of mine, and not had problems, but wanted to forewarn everybody before they do it themselves.

I'm not sure how often I plan on cleaning it...maybe more often would be better since the deposits would be smaller? Just a thought.

[Dackelone]

Looks like I definitely need to order my Maan Provent
http://www.mann-hummel.com.sg/EN/ind...ProVent-en.pdf

(Lingenfelter uses this for their rebranded catch can). I find most catch cans to be gimmick's but this one is built by by the fine people that make our filters, and, it actually has something inside to precipitate the oil vapor out of the intake manifold.


Thanks for that link. I had not seen that before. I did not know the Germans made OCC for OE fitments. I wonder what car/truck has this?

Seems weird this OCC doesn't use any coper mesh inside it. My buddy with the RS4, who made his own OCC... he asked his staff of engineers (at his work) what is the best way to built a OCC... and what to use on the inside of the tank to seperate the oil vapors into a liquid. The answer was copper brillo/mesh. But when he went to go buy some brillo/copper-mesh... hardly no one in the USA sells this anymore. Know why>? Because crack cocaine has become epidemic(they use it in their crack pipes!)... most stores do not sell copper brillo anymore! Now it is alsways plastic or that green scotch-brite pad stuff. Well... he found some. I just thought THAT was interesting/funny.

Btw... do you know the price of this Mann OCC ?

[tanik310]

would a dealership do any of this stuff to fix the carbon buildup under the extended warranty?
I just got a call about my car that is at the service center (2008 135i w/ 34k & CPO extended warranty) they said that BMW found that there is likely carbon buildup in my engine and they would be cleaning it out.
Can I trust that they will do a thorough job?

[ragingpanda]

Originally Posted by tanik310

would a dealership do any of this stuff to fix the carbon buildup under the extended warranty?
I just got a call about my car that is at the service center (2008 135i w/ 34k & CPO extended warranty) they said that BMW found that there is likely carbon buildup in my engine and they would be cleaning it out.
Can I trust that they will do a thorough job?

Best call your dealership and ask. Mine would not do it under CPO warranty, so I had to do it elsewhere.

[hyphy1]

Originally Posted by tanik310

would a dealership do any of this stuff to fix the carbon buildup under the extended warranty?
I just got a call about my car that is at the service center (2008 135i w/ 34k & CPO extended warranty) they said that BMW found that there is likely carbon buildup in my engine and they would be cleaning it out.
Can I trust that they will do a thorough job?

When was your last oil change/major engine issue? i have a '10 NonCPO w/ 18K on it. With mild driving and no issues so far, im also wondering if it would be beneficial for my 135 to have a valve cleaning this early in its lifetime. def a good time for a photos for comparison.

I intend to call some service depts. around my way to see if its included in my warranty, how much they charge on the service, and what specific procedure and equipment they use for valve cleaning.

[lastMleft]

whats the cost to clean valves of this build up?

[tanik310]

Originally Posted by hyphy1

When was your last oil change/major engine issue? i have a '10 NonCPO w/ 18K on it. With mild driving and no issues so far, im also wondering if it would be beneficial for my 135 to have a valve cleaning this early in its lifetime. def a good time for a photos for comparison.

I intend to call some service depts. around my way to see if its included in my warranty, how much they charge on the service, and what specific procedure and equipment they use for valve cleaning.

I just had an oil change earlier this month and they also fixed a gasket that was leaking a tiny bit of oil. I bought the extended warranty in addition to the CPO coverage and I am glad that I did. About 3 months after I bought the car as I was on my way to Las Vegas the CEL went on and I had to bring it to the dealership there, they said that the VANOS valves needed to be replaced and also that they performed a full engine flush. Ever since then I've been a bit weary of this car to be honest. Depending how this carbon build-up issue goes I might just get out of it and in to something else.

[Colt]

Originally Posted by Rukuss

whats the cost to clean valves of this build up?

Varies...usually in the $600-900 range if BMW does it. Maybe cheaper if you can find a performance shop that can do it