Worth a read -

https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... &t=1393066
.

 

Worth a read -

https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... &t=1393066
.

Probably not worth it then, Thanks for the info

 

I had a carbon clean recently,made no difference in terms of anything noticable. Was expecting a load of crap blown out the exhaust, but after 40 minutes of high reving at idle, nothing came out. Car has 80k on the clock and 10 years old. Every car is different with a different history however

 

I think it boils down to doing the research and finding a shop that provides de-carbonizing service and stands behind their work. There's just no way around it, it's going to require the removal of the Intake Manifold and the use of either walnut shells, soda or dry-ice to effectively clean the intake valves. Due to the time and labor required, this would run anywhere from $600 - $1000 depending on the engine.

Unfortunately, the design of the DI engine makes carbon build-up inevitable. And there seems to be enough evidence that a can of off-the-shelf cleaner squirted into the air intake isn't going to do much, especially on a heavy carbon build-up.

Carbon buildup images courtesy of Deutsche Auto Parts.

 

@ Solarblaze_uk - What type of cleaning did they perform; mechanical or chemical? Did you get "before" and "after" pictures of your valves to verify they cleaned the valves properly? Would be interesting to see the results of their work.

 

It was chemical, hydrogen fed into the intake after the maf sensor. I was expecting a load of crap blown out but wasn't the case. Either my valves are perfect or it didn't work, there's no way for me to draw a conclusion.

I agree with you swissjetpilot, a walnut blast is the way to go. I would have had that done but the nearest garage to me doing that was 35 miles away and £400 as apposed to £90 with the hydrogen clean that came to me. End result, I don't think it made any difference in all honesty. I didn't enjoy hearing my car reving to 5k+ in neutral, even if it was for bursts at a time for 40 mins with nothing coming out the back to show for it.

 

Further research on this topic reveals soda blasting is only good when the head is off for cleaning the valve surfaces and cylinder head surfaces. However it's not abrasive enough to remove baked-on, heavy carbon deposits found inside the intake and on the back of the valve and valve stem. So it looks like walnut shells are the only way to go.

I did find a company in the UK advertising the following. Price range is from £250 (4 cylinder) to £600 (V10) plus VAT.

PMP Cars (BMW Specialist)
Unit 2 Holman Way
Nuneaton, CV11 4PN
tel. 07843 716 975
email: pmpcars@hotmail.com

 

And for the north of England..

http://blackpoolmotorworks.co.uk/servic ... g-de-coke/

It would seem garages are quite few and far between offering these walnut blast services.

 

Further research on this topic reveals soda blasting is only good when the head is off for cleaning the valve surfaces and cylinder head surfaces. However it's not abrasive enough to remove baked-on, heavy carbon deposits found inside the intake and on the back of the valve and valve stem. So it looks like walnut shells are the only way to go.

I did find a company in the UK advertising the following. Price range is from £250 (4 cylinder) to £600 (V10) plus VAT.

PMP Cars (BMW Specialist)
Unit 2 Holman Way
Nuneaton, CV11 4PN
tel. 07843 716 975

email: pmpcars@hotmail.com

Just been quoted £500 for my 2006 3.2 V6

 

I had mine walnut blasted and injectors cleaned, a few weeks ago, it cost £360 at r tech but I wouldn't recommend them.

 

And for the north of England..

http://blackpoolmotorworks.co.uk/servic ... g-de-coke/

It would seem garages are quite few and far between offering these walnut blast services.

£390 from Blackpoolmotorworks

 

Walnut shell blasting will certainly remove carbon and other deposits; I've done this on industrial gas turbines, it works really well.

As for the hydrogen-based "technologies" - I read this on EngineCarbonClean's website: "The Engine Carbon Clean system works by using tap water to create hydrogen and oxygen which pass through the air intake of an engine and out through the exhaust system as a gas, helping to remove the excess carbon that leads to poor running issues."

So molecular oxygen and hydrogen pass through a running engine without burning? Oh, I believe that

RP

 

The hydrogen "cleans" are a con. I did before and after dyno runs, and inspection of the intake. See my thread on RS246.

https://forum.rs246.com/viewtopic.php?t=117463

Vid here:

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

One of the points that's often over looked with chemical cleans is "where does all that carbon build up go?" The answer is into the cylinders, out the exhaust manifold and into the CAT and exhaust system.

Plus I'm still not convinced a chemical clean will do the job on heavy deposits (anything past say 50,000 miles). Most shops that do any serious chemical cleaning during an engine rebuild have removed the valves and soaked them for hours or days to get the carbon off. Obviously a 15-20 minute exposure to a chemical cocktail mist isn't going to do anything for significant carbon buildups.

The real sticking point is since they don't remove the intake manifold, they have no way to know how much carbon build up is in there to start with or how much is still there after they've finished. So how can they possibly say they've cleaned the valves without seeing them?

Since walnut blasting requires the removal of the intake manifold, you and the service tech will be able to see exactly how much carbon has built up on your valves. And when they're done, how well they did removing it. Nothing up for debate or argument - it's either clean or it's not.

Personally, I'd prefer a dry-ice blasting since it doesn't leave a mess all over the place and has some additional mechanical benefits (oblation) which walnut blasting can't do. But trying to find a shop that offers dry-ice blasting is even harder than finding a shop that does walnut blasting.

 

I had mine walnut blasted and injectors cleaned, a few weeks ago, it cost £360 at r tech but I wouldn't recommend them.

Hi, can I ask why you wouldn't recommend them. I'm planning on going to them for a map soon as was considering the walnut blasting

 

My 8J RS coupe has just over 80K on it and I am contemplating this. The car has been regularly serviced and it isn't driven hard very often. It has an APR remap and a Milltek exhaust but I have a feeling it isn't quite making the horses it once was.

I am in the East Midlands so ideally somewhere local. Any recommendations, likely costs? I am up for alternatives also - I am guessing that would be a 'proper' clean though with taking the head off and soaking etc?

Andy

 

I had mine walnut blasted and injectors cleaned, a few weeks ago, it cost £360 at r tech but I wouldn't recommend them.

Hi, can I ask why you wouldn't recommend them. I'm planning on going to them for a map soon as was considering the walnut blasting

Found them to be a bunch of miserable sods and felt ignored most of the day. I asked for a full engine check up whilst they had it in bits and not one thing I asked for was done. Was made to feel it was too much trouble for them and they were only intrested in what it came in for.
Someone else was having his car mapped at the same time. We were both left in a freezing cold waiting room for 8hrs with no update on my cars progress. I asked to be shown how bad it was before they actually started cleaning the valves. They totally ignored me. I told the mechanic who was carrying out the work on my car I wanted to see how bad it was, when i asked again, i was lucky they hadn't started to do it otherwise they'd of just gone ahead regardless. Asked if they were going to clean the carbon off the runner flaps inside the inlet manifold and clean the throttle body, no was the reply. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, paying £360 for inlet clean as they advertise it yet they only do the valves. It wouldn't have taken 15mins to do this I even offered to do it myself but wasn't allowed.

I asked their advice on correct engine oil and to purchase some from them but was told they don't have any!!! They said they'd get some from suppliers whilst I was there, never happened.
By now i was getting pissed off, it was 3.30pm, 11/2hrs longer than when i was told that I'd be back on my way home. All this time I never got any update on the progress or answers to the other items I asked them to look at.
I started to get the impression that they just wanted me in and out. The only time I got to find out anything was when I managed to collar someone and then I got the feeling they didn't want to find the time to explain things.
The final straw was when I was given the keys back and told to test drive the car for at least 20 minutes By now the traffic was heaving and was impossible to find anywhere to test it properly.
Luckily I managed to put my foot down at about 25mph for a split second and noticed that the car had no power. Surely the mechanic should have accompanied me on this test drive and it should have been him not me checking out everything was OK. Can you imagine if I hadn't been able to discover the fault until I was on my way home and they'd finished for the night.
I turned out they'd left the turbo pipe disconnected, fucking unbelievable. So yet another hour wait and test drive again. When paying the bill I was given some paperwork which so I was told includedthe injector report.
Another hour and a quater and I was finally on my way home.
When I got home yeah you guessed it no fucking injector report. Phoned following day to be told, oh yeah I'll get him to write it up and post it straight away, a week later still no report. Finally got hold of them after leaving messages to ring me which nobody did only to be told he knew why I was ringing, injector report right? that's right mate what's going on about it, have you got the wrong address I asked?
No came the reply I haven't sent it, it's still sat here on my desk waiting to be posted, I've not had time!!!
Finally got it 3wk after the event, needless to say that I'm still awaiting the quote I asked for when I was their for a turbo conversion.
I went to these after reading all the glowing reviews about them and that their the best in the country. All I can say is I won't be returning soon.

 

Wow, thank you for your detailed review... Im shocked and disappointed. Ive been researching the best company to take my TTS for stage 2+ and was 100% set on these guys. Really unsure now.

 

I received a quote from a German shop for my 3.2 V6 of €850. Seems they plan on pulling off the front end to get to the intakes so they'll need the car for 1-1/2 days. Here's the quote they sent me -

The following work is required for this:
- Bumper, radiator pack with carrier removal and installation
- Intake manifold (removal and and replacement)
- Air conditioning service
- Seals
- Inlet valve cleaning via walnut shell granules

Please note we do not purify these with chemistry known as chemical BeDi cleaning. This cleaning is never as thorough as a mechanical cleaning. In addition, deposits can dissolve at a later date and cause damage.

For anyone here on the Continent, they're located up in northern Germany near Bremen.
https://www.facebook.com/optimum.maps/p ... 5397509269

.

 

Wow, thank you for your detailed review... Im shocked and disappointed. Ive been researching the best company to take my TTS for stage 2+ and was 100% set on these guys. Really unsure now.

I wouldn't base your decision on one bad reveiw/experience to be honest.
I personally know a fair few and have been there myself, plus have loads of other people who have had a postivive experience.
My situation was completely different, granted, to the poster above.
Mine was a few day stay, I was given a lift to and from my hotel by a staff member (to be fair after mayb 30 miuntes to an hour, was over a year ago little hard to remember :lol: ) which was a 15-20 minute drive so staff used for 30-hour each time for no 'gain' on their part.
I was rung at the hotel and give updates on what was happening (even if it was bad news to start with and there was some stress around this) and also got collected in time to see around an hour or the final mapping sension so I could see exactly what was going on and the level of detail they were inputting.
Once there I was shown how the injector service actaully worked, before and after shots of my inlet after the clean, shown how the themostat in the TFSI breaks so commonly. The staff I dealt with were friendly and imformative.

I do have to agree with the above about the waiting room, it is just a boarded off little room in a warehouse and it is freezing in there even with tempory heaters and with the type of delays listed I can imagine that was very frustrating.
I doubt it was a time thing, that over time their service has reduced, it just sounds like the other poster has had a very unlucky point of service, where sounds most things went wrong.

 

Cheers Barr_end.. Seems like your opinion is like all the others I have read. Sadly Its seems repsol has had a one off terrible experience.
I'll keep a eye out. I am looking to go stage 2+ very soon tho 8)

 

Interesting TSB on this issue. Might want to print this out and take it in to Audi Service to see what they have to say -

View attachment ENGINE - Carbon Buildup Removal.pdf

 

I too have travelled to use rtech and yeah one or two of them can come across as being a bit miserable, but that's just a northern thing :wink:

Just make sure Nikki is there and you can guarantee that you will be happy with the work

 

I too have travelled to use rtech and yeah one or two of them can come across as being a bit miserable, but that's just a northern thing :wink:

Just make sure Nikki is there and you can guarantee that you will be happy with the work

Thanks for the info.. Created my own thread thanks

 

It's easy to dissolve carbon you just need an "Industrial Grade" Carbon Remover. Don't buy Automotive Grade Carbon Remover because they are all a joke. Watch how easily carbon dissolved.