Well I finally broke down and decided it is fine to attempt to clean my valves myself. I have everything I need. From a new intake mani gasket. To new oil for afterwards. A 50lbs bag if walnut blast. Media spray gun. Air compressor to the gm cleans chemical as well. I even have my case of beer in the fridge. As we speak I am about half way into removing everything off of the intake manifold. I will update with before and after pictures.

 

sweet

 

Post any tips you might encounter to make the job easier. In for pictures, I'll be doing this sometime next year also.

 

Will do... I just took a break to get another beer. And I already have my manifold off. I almost puked when I saw my valves. I only have 80,000km. ( 45,000 miles approx.) And they look pretty crudded.

 

don't forget the shop vac, it makes for less of a mess

 

I only have a small shop vac. But it should get the job done. Right now I have the three shut valves sitting in the gm chemical cleans. I'm going to let them soak in for a few hours while I mow our lawn. Then use my shop vac to take the flui out of the port and even walnut media blast what Is left behind.

 

Well Im starting to clean them up now. Here are the before pics.



Cylinder 1






Cylinder 2






Cylinder 3






Cylinder 4






Look at the big globes of build up on the valves !!!

I will post the after pics once im done

 

Best of luck. I just did mine yesterday. I wish I could have spent more time on mine (perfectionist) but I needed the car last night. It's all about patience.

 

Well I'm finally done cleaning and putting everything back together. All I can say is they look a lot better. ALOT !!










I only took pictures of two of them. But all four of them are this clean. They are way cleaner looking. I used a combo of cleraner and walnut blast. I wish I could just tip my car upside down to get it all out. It is everywhere !!!

 

Looks good!

 

Hows she run? Feel any different?

 

It actually feels a lot smoother. I can't describe it any other way. Its like before it was a bit rough and I could feel it in my seat at cold starts. Now, its as smooth as butter. It is a fair amount more responsive also. I'm hoping I gain back some fuel mileage . That was my main reason for doing this really.

 

I noticed the same things, my car was more responsive and ran better at idle. You can hear it running smoother and you will get a little better gas mileage. Did you get Powels PVC upgrade?

 

Unfournatly I don't have the funds for Powell's PVC yet. I hope to soon. I watched my gas milage on the way to work this morning. And I am definitely getting way better mileage. I was getting about 8.6L- 8.8L/100 km. Now I am getting 7.0L - 7.2L/100km. Thats a difference of almost 2L/100km. It is deffinatly way smoother at idle and more responsive. It does seem to have a tiny bit more pull also. It only took me about 6 or seven hours to clean my valves. But I knew what to expect and how to do it. I don't mind doing it again in another year and a half if I can't get the PVC before that. Next time I think I could be even faster at it.

 

Another added bonus that I have noticed the last two mornings. Is it does not puff any smoke at all anymore in the morning cold starts. It was diffenitly due to all the oil sitting in the intake manifold being sucked in on initial start up and puffing it for a split second. Almost just like bad valve seals. But after cleaning out the intake manifold and the valves. No more puffing at all...

 

Is there a way to check the valves without removing the mani.
I am getting my car in about a week it has only 7k miles and I am going to order the Powell separator but I would like to take a look...someone mentioned a scope? any suggestions on the scope to buy and is there a how to on how to check them?

 

boroscope through brake booster port on manifold. 7k miles wont have much of anything I don't think. I had 25k kms and my valves were just black, no gunk

 

Where'd you get a new IM gasket?

 

could you please tell more about the gm chemical cleaner? like what it is and where to buy it.

 

I got the IM gasket from my local gm dealer.

 

The chemical is a cleaner I got straight from the gm parts department. It is called GM Cleans. It is specifically designed to be used to clean carbon and deposits off of intake valves. It is pretty much a yellowish foam in an aerosol can. And the foam dissolves into a liquid. It worked amazing. But it was a bit pricey. But well worth it. It was $20 a can. The can did all 4 valves twice. With a bit left over.

 

thanks for the info. I have 78000 miles on mine. I shutter at the thought of what they look like.

 

Can someone post the part # please fort GM Clean?

 

I can try to grab the can from my garage when I get home after work and post the part # .

 

need a media blaster myself...