Something for LNF Owners to Look Out For
07-18-2011, 09:08 PM
#28
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 06-21-05
Location: London, Ontario
Posts: 5,060
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wow..
here we have the most definitive result of intake valve deposits in a DI set up!
I think colder weather (Canada) may have exaggerated the problem...but it still lurks in our DI motor! I'm putting on a catch can this week (@25K mi now), but I live in So Cal and don't see COLD. I wonder what kind of gas you guys were using? They say *top tier* gas helps...who knows? I also use a very good fuel system treatment (Redline SI-1) which has the same ingredient as Techron..only more cocentrated. It goes in EVERY tank of gas (3 oz). Yeah..the intakes don't see gas, but this stuff could still linger in the blow by gases and still keep the combustion chamber and injectors clean. Also, I switched to Pennzoil ULTRA at 12K mi..it's supposed to keep the motor very clean (factory clean) and is very good at reducing sludge as well. I don't want to use Seafoam at the point.
here we have the most definitive result of intake valve deposits in a DI set up!
I think colder weather (Canada) may have exaggerated the problem...but it still lurks in our DI motor! I'm putting on a catch can this week (@25K mi now), but I live in So Cal and don't see COLD. I wonder what kind of gas you guys were using? They say *top tier* gas helps...who knows? I also use a very good fuel system treatment (Redline SI-1) which has the same ingredient as Techron..only more cocentrated. It goes in EVERY tank of gas (3 oz). Yeah..the intakes don't see gas, but this stuff could still linger in the blow by gases and still keep the combustion chamber and injectors clean. Also, I switched to Pennzoil ULTRA at 12K mi..it's supposed to keep the motor very clean (factory clean) and is very good at reducing sludge as well. I don't want to use Seafoam at the point.
.As for gas I use Sunoco 94 (Petro Canada bought Sunoco out here, joint deal, same gas, different name) exclusively, even in winter (hasn't seen 91 for more than a year), and Mobil 1 oil as well.
I'm completely on the same page that the cold isn't helping because you simply can't blow the carbon out in 3' feet of snow, motor takes longer to warm up, etc. I have to baby it for 6 months which pisses me off but if I hit full boost on ice, that gets insanely dangerous even with my snow tires, but not sure what else to do.
Seafoam may be a posibility, if it helps it helps, even if I'm freezing my can off in the snow, sure, but if I'm wasting my time, I seriously don't know what else to do. I can't do this every 40,000km just because I drive in snow/ice
.
07-18-2011, 09:08 PM
#29
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in here about the whole seamfoam treatment topic.
I've been seafoaming my car on an every other oil change interval since.... well.... my second oil change
, and when I took my intake mani off last week to specifically check for carbon build up on my valves I was pleasantly surprised to see that the seafoam has been doing a great job thus far at keeping the build up in check.
Now granted I have only 18,800 miles on the odo, and maybe I've been going a little overboard with doing this every other oil change (2nd seafoam treatment was done around 16k miles), but it seems to have worked quite well for me so far.
I've been working with engines since I was a kid and now professionally for almost 10 years now, so I'm just personally a firmly believer in preventative maintenance, and seamfoam just seemed like a no-brainer for a DI engine.
I've been seafoaming my car on an every other oil change interval since.... well.... my second oil change
, and when I took my intake mani off last week to specifically check for carbon build up on my valves I was pleasantly surprised to see that the seafoam has been doing a great job thus far at keeping the build up in check. Now granted I have only 18,800 miles on the odo, and maybe I've been going a little overboard with doing this every other oil change (2nd seafoam treatment was done around 16k miles), but it seems to have worked quite well for me so far.
I've been working with engines since I was a kid and now professionally for almost 10 years now, so I'm just personally a firmly believer in preventative maintenance, and seamfoam just seemed like a no-brainer for a DI engine.
07-18-2011, 09:15 PM
#31
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 06-21-05
Location: London, Ontario
Posts: 5,060
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
07-18-2011, 09:18 PM
#33
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 06-21-05
Location: London, Ontario
Posts: 5,060
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
? They come from Tenessee (sp woops) and tend to take 5-7 days total to get here. I was lucky my valves got here in 4, hope they clear that **** up for ya.
Last edited by Permafried-; 07-18-2011 at 10:10 PM.
07-18-2011, 09:32 PM
#34
Senior Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: 09-29-05
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,083
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
To the OP: Thanks for answering this for me. I've seen alot of cases of carbon build up on the intake valves of GMs DI 3.6L. I know some of it is poor PCV system design and the other is that fuel is not cleaning the intake valves on the engine.
To everyone: It won't matter what fuel grade you run unless you're spraying it into the intake manifold. It also doesn't really matter on the climate because we're seeing this issue pretty consistantly in Texas. My theory is that some oil has to get past the valve stem seals to lubricate the valve stems or they'd bind up. This small amount of oil is slowly leaving deposits on the intake valves and causing the boost leak the OP described.
I'm going to try some BG throttle body cleaner with the engine running. We'll see how this works. I'll probably pull the manifold off in a few more months.
To everyone: It won't matter what fuel grade you run unless you're spraying it into the intake manifold. It also doesn't really matter on the climate because we're seeing this issue pretty consistantly in Texas. My theory is that some oil has to get past the valve stem seals to lubricate the valve stems or they'd bind up. This small amount of oil is slowly leaving deposits on the intake valves and causing the boost leak the OP described.
I'm going to try some BG throttle body cleaner with the engine running. We'll see how this works. I'll probably pull the manifold off in a few more months.
07-18-2011, 09:53 PM
#35
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 06-21-05
Location: London, Ontario
Posts: 5,060
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
To the OP: Thanks for answering this for me. I've seen alot of cases of carbon build up on the intake valves of GMs DI 3.6L. I know some of it is poor PCV system design and the other is that fuel is not cleaning the intake valves on the engine.
To everyone: It won't matter what fuel grade you run unless you're spraying it into the intake manifold. It also doesn't really matter on the climate because we're seeing this issue pretty consistantly in Texas. My theory is that some oil has to get past the valve stem seals to lubricate the valve stems or they'd bind up. This small amount of oil is slowly leaving deposits on the intake valves and causing the boost leak the OP described.
I'm going to try some BG throttle body cleaner with the engine running. We'll see how this works. I'll probably pull the manifold off in a few more months.
To everyone: It won't matter what fuel grade you run unless you're spraying it into the intake manifold. It also doesn't really matter on the climate because we're seeing this issue pretty consistantly in Texas. My theory is that some oil has to get past the valve stem seals to lubricate the valve stems or they'd bind up. This small amount of oil is slowly leaving deposits on the intake valves and causing the boost leak the OP described.
I'm going to try some BG throttle body cleaner with the engine running. We'll see how this works. I'll probably pull the manifold off in a few more months.
! Also good to hear it's not just nuking the northern US/Canada.
Last edited by Permafried-; 07-18-2011 at 10:03 PM.
07-18-2011, 10:06 PM
#36
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 06-21-05
Location: London, Ontario
Posts: 5,060
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Well, it's flud passing the intake valves, and as long as it is known to breakdown the sludge, it probably can't hurt. I just have a hard time saying "sure I'll run meth year round including in the winter when my IATs are so low it's retarded and that's just one more thing to have to put in the car. Btw, is there a vacuum line that's guaranteed to pass all the intake valves? I'd assume the one where someone put up a how-to on seafoaming but just curious.
I bought some tonight, it's in my garage and I warned the neighbour if he sees a **** tonne of smoke coming out of my garage in November, it's not a fire, I'm just cleaning out the motor. I'll give it a shot what's the worst that can happen? I foul my plugs, that's easy. However, taking the manifold off and replacing the valves, I'm a software developer not a mechanic, bit excessive for me .
I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in here about the whole seamfoam treatment topic.
I've been seafoaming my car on an every other oil change interval since.... well.... my second oil change, and when I took my intake mani off last week to specifically check for carbon build up on my valves I was pleasantly surprised to see that the seafoam has been doing a great job thus far at keeping the build up in check.
Now granted I have only 18,800 miles on the odo, and maybe I've been going a little overboard with doing this every other oil change (2nd seafoam treatment was done around 16k miles), but it seems to have worked quite well for me so far.
I've been working with engines since I was a kid and now professionally for almost 10 years now, so I'm just personally a firmly believer in preventative maintenance, and seamfoam just seemed like a no-brainer for a DI engine.
I've been seafoaming my car on an every other oil change interval since.... well.... my second oil change
, and when I took my intake mani off last week to specifically check for carbon build up on my valves I was pleasantly surprised to see that the seafoam has been doing a great job thus far at keeping the build up in check. Now granted I have only 18,800 miles on the odo, and maybe I've been going a little overboard with doing this every other oil change (2nd seafoam treatment was done around 16k miles), but it seems to have worked quite well for me so far.
I've been working with engines since I was a kid and now professionally for almost 10 years now, so I'm just personally a firmly believer in preventative maintenance, and seamfoam just seemed like a no-brainer for a DI engine.
.
Last edited by Permafried-; 07-18-2011 at 10:20 PM.
07-18-2011, 10:21 PM
#37
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Yes. There's a small 1/4" vacuum line right on top of the intake mani that feeds down to the vacuum tank. Just get a 12" length of vacuum line from a car parts store (or if you have any kicking around the garage), attach the hose to the vacuum port and use that to slowly suck in the seafoam (about 1/3 - 1/2 the bottle) while the car is still running. Just be sure to due this when the engine is up to full opperating temp and do not let too much suck in at once because you will stall the engine.
07-18-2011, 10:25 PM
#38
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 06-21-05
Location: London, Ontario
Posts: 5,060
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yes. There's a small 1/4" vacuum line right on top of the intake mani that feeds down to the vacuum tank. Just get a 12" length of vacuum line from a car parts store (or if you have any kicking around the garage), attach the hose to the vacuum port and use that to slowly suck in the seafoam (about 1/3 - 1/2 the bottle) while the car is still running. Just be sure to due this when the engine is up to full opperating temp and do not let too much suck in at once because you will stall the engine.
.
07-18-2011, 10:30 PM
#39
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
07-18-2011, 11:09 PM
#42
Senior Member
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: 09-30-09
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 2,532
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Got this off Audi forum..they have DI and valve deposit problems:
-Try to minimize short driving cycles as much as possible, especially during the winter. Cold weather climates will increase the problem if you do not allow the engine to get up to full operating temperature and burn off excess fuel that has been deposited in the oil during cold start enrichment. (it takes about 20 minutes of driving to do this)
07-19-2011, 09:53 AM
#44
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 06-21-05
Location: London, Ontario
Posts: 5,060
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
.COLD weather matters....especially VERY COLD (Canada).
Got this off Audi forum..they have DI and valve deposit problems:
-Try to minimize short driving cycles as much as possible, especially during the winter. Cold weather climates will increase the problem if you do not allow the engine to get up to full operating temperature and burn off excess fuel that has been deposited in the oil during cold start enrichment. (it takes about 20 minutes of driving to do this)
Got this off Audi forum..they have DI and valve deposit problems:
-Try to minimize short driving cycles as much as possible, especially during the winter. Cold weather climates will increase the problem if you do not allow the engine to get up to full operating temperature and burn off excess fuel that has been deposited in the oil during cold start enrichment. (it takes about 20 minutes of driving to do this)
07-19-2011, 10:18 AM
#46
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 06-21-05
Location: London, Ontario
Posts: 5,060
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
07-19-2011, 12:18 PM
#47
Senior Member
