Intake valve cleaning

[HenryFord]

If you have a 2025 then you are in luck, you have both port injection and direct injection. It should cycle between the two injectors and help keep the valves clean. The recommendation for Top Tier fuel is good advise and will keep those injectors clean and help control some of the blowby and PCV recirculation of junk issues. If you have the previous engine with direct injection only there isn't a lot you can do other than run Top Tier fuel, occasionally run a bottle of fuel system cleaner with PEA through it, and keep your oil changed. Catch cans have only a modest impact, but every little bit could help I suppose. The end result will be the need to get it cleaned which isn't an inexpensive thing.

Now they tell us that direct injection does not burn cleanly and has too much particulate matter in the exhaust. So all those reasons to go to DI for more power and economy are about to be negated with the roll out of "gasoline particulate filters"(GPF) or if you are from Europe Petrol Particulate Filters(PPF). They will work a lot like a diesel particulate filter and will require periodic burning off of the soot and deposits in the GPF thereby erasing any fuel economy advantages. So be glad you own a pre-GPF truck.

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[Escapologist]

I got it allllllll figured.... need some of the thinnest vacuum hose you can find, about 4ft should do it, and a 2.5" hole saw, glue gun, can of intake cleaner.... so you drill a hole through the floor right under the gas pedal, rig the can in the hole so it sprays when your foot goes right down, glue it in, stick the vacuum hose in the nozzle, route it into the engine compartment, stick it thru the engine side of the filter intake tube somewhere, more glue to hold everything....

Now you are sorted, every time you mash the gas your valves get a shot of cleaner replace can at every service.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

I got it allllllll figured.... need some of the thinnest vacuum hose you can find, about 4ft should do it, and a 2.5" hole saw, glue gun, can of intake cleaner.... so you drill a hole through the floor right under the gas pedal, rig the can in the hole so it sprays when your foot goes right down, glue it in, stick the vacuum hose in the nozzle, route it into the engine compartment, stick it thru the engine side of the filter intake tube somewhere, more glue to hold everything....

Now you are sorted, every time you mash the gas your valves get a shot of cleaner replace can at every service.

NAH! Just use computer and have relay controlled "squirter" do it's thing every time the ice in the Hybrid is started.

 

[Lone Ridr]

There are plenty of directions and videos showing application at the throttle body. It works. I don't recommend fuel tank treatments.

The delivery system is air, not fuel. When the intake valve opens the fluid gets on it. In the 60s engines, the 'stuff' hits the back of the intake for a split second, long enough to do it's job. The stuff is not combustible. You would get the vehicle to operating temperature, rev the engine to 2000 RPM and pour it in slowly so as not to kill the engine, until you had approximately 1/4 of a can left, then you would dump it in quickly, killing the engine. Wait ten minutes, then drive it like you stole it for a few minutes. The new stuff is formulated for DI engines - buy the right stuff. The process is quite similar today. The gasoline in the 60s had lead additives. The valves on a 60s era engine were heavily encrusted with lead. Most of the engine performance loss was due to reduced and disrupted air flow

BTW, what did it cost at the Chevrolet dealership where I worked? I would tell the customer that they could bring the vehicle in and leave it and a repair order would be written. The going labor rate was $13.00/hour + the top engine cleaner. Or if they were a regular customer, they could bring the vehicle in at 12:00 with a can of top engine cleaner in hand (available at the parts department) and I would take the vehicle to nearby Southlane drive on my lunch hour and blow it out, no charge. I liked happy customers.

 

[todd92]

The back of the intake valves won't get dirty enough to effect drivability. Walnut blasting is not routine maintenance and isn't needed.

Since the back of the intake valves is never touched by fuel, Top Tier fuel isn't going to keep them clean. There is no such thing as Tier 1 fuel. An Italian tune up won't clean the back of the intake valves either. Changing oil more often won't limit intake valve deposits.

 

[Cherokee]

Also the italian tune up! The concept actually makes some sense.

I thought everybody did this. I do it at the very least monthly. Most times I remember to do it.
I have no clue how effective it is but been doing that all my life.
This is only my second DI engine. My first never had a problem.

 

[Lone Ridr]

The back of the intake valves won't get dirty enough to effect drivability. Walnut blasting is not routine maintenance and isn't needed.

Since the back of the intake valves is never touched by fuel, Top Tier fuel isn't going to keep them clean. There is no such thing as Tier 1 fuel. An Italian tune up won't clean the back of the intake valves either. Changing oil more often won't limit intake valve deposits.

The back of the intake valve is exposed when it leaves the seat (opens). Whatever is in the cylinder (non combustible top engine cleaner) hits it. My 2 cents. I'm done inputting to this post. Take care......

 

[Meeka]

I got it allllllll figured.... need some of the thinnest vacuum hose you can find, about 4ft should do it, and a 2.5" hole saw, glue gun, can of intake cleaner.... so you drill a hole through the floor right under the gas pedal, rig the can in the hole so it sprays when your foot goes right down, glue it in, stick the vacuum hose in the nozzle, route it into the engine compartment, stick it thru the engine side of the filter intake tube somewhere, more glue to hold everything....

Now you are sorted, every time you mash the gas your valves get a shot of cleaner replace can at every service.

Awesome! Show me a picture when you get it all set up!

 

[Meeka]

I thought everybody did this. I do it at the very least monthly. Most times I remember to do it.
I have no clue how effective it is but been doing that all my life.
This is only my second DI engine. My first never had a problem.

Just did it today, passing 2 logging trucks going uphill, love my EcoBoost! Goes to 5k rpm too quick tho.

 

[papawmark]

Honestly, if you run higher octane fuel and use full synthetic oil, very little comes through the catch can. Half as much as my 2.3 Ecoboost Ranger.....

 

[Escapologist]

The back of the intake valves won't get dirty enough to effect drivability. Walnut blasting is not routine maintenance and isn't needed.

Since the back of the intake valves is never touched by fuel, Top Tier fuel isn't going to keep them clean. There is no such thing as Tier 1 fuel. An Italian tune up won't clean the back of the intake valves either. Changing oil more often won't limit intake valve deposits.

Sorry, you are half wrong. The charge backflows slightly and burns on the back of a hot valve in some load/RPM ranges. It is dipping into fuel misted air on the regular, it's not even really backflow when it's still open into the cylinder but some swirls around on back of it. But you are right that the Italian tune up does nothing unless you've got fuel coming from the other side of the valve.

It is however, a snowballing problem in that once the carbon weight gets high enough on the valve the springs will not be strong enough to return it in time, such that you get float at higher RPM and it can then pick up greater amounts of carbon due to still being open when it shouldn't be. By then you gotta be aware of it though when it's got no pull over 4000 rpm or so.

 

[Tbone289]

I wouldn't necessarily expect it to ever need cleaning. I have a 2012 Focus with direct-injected Duratec 20, which is the Mazda/Ford engine the Ecoboost 2.0 design was based upon. It has 150,000 miles on it, runs like it did when it was new, and has not lost any fuel efficiency. It has always been fed Top Tier fuels (Phillips 66 mostly) and synthetic or synthetic blend oils at 8,000 mile intervals. I also run a bottle of PAO-based fuel cleaner before every oil change (Chevron Techron concentrate).

It doesn't consume oil, and has remained very clean. To illustrate, this is what it looked like under the cam cover when I replaced the gasket a few weeks ago. Clearly there is not much of anything nasty accumulating from blow-by in the crankcase to get fed back through the PCV:

Keeping in mind that boosted engines are harder on oils than N/A engines, I recommend Top Tier fuel and 5,000 mile synthetic oil change intervals on the 2.0 Ecoboost. If someday it shows signs of intake valve deposits (rough idle and/or reduced efficiency and/or loss of power), do a walnut blasting. Until then, just keep feeding it the good stuff.

 

[wb5oxq]

Curious why a fuel injection system would be designed as to not clean the intake valves.seems like a poor design.

All direct injection engines do not spray fuel on the intake valves. Only directly into the cylinders similar to a Diesel. Port injection engines spray fuel on the intake valves.

 

[Tim d]

I

All direct injection engines do not spray fuel on the intake valves. Only directly into the cylinders similar to a Diesel. Port injection engines spray fuel on the intake valves.

I realize that, seems like a poor design then.

 

[wb5oxq]

I

I realize that, seems like a poor design then.

A direct injection technology improves the fuel economy by 10-20 percent. That may be the main reason for it. I hear it increases power a bit over port injection. Many cars now used direct injection solely. Some have dual port and that might be the best but would be more complex and costly.

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