Intake valve cleaning

[Mike12086]

For those of you who are running some kind of intake valve cleaner (such as the CRC GDI intake cleaner), are you spraying directly into the throttle body or using a vacuum hose somewhere? Did this on my other DI vehicles in the past and just wondering the easiest way on the Maverick.
Yes I know I can install a catch can ( I haven't), yes I know to use top tier fuel. Just looking for a little extra piece of mind and hopefully no walnut blasting in the future.

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[Chops]

I have used CRC intake cleaner with noticeable improvement on my previous DI engines. That giant plume of dirty white smoke exiting the exhaust pipe after the engine soak is satisfying but can alarm the neighbors!

But I would never use it on a Turbocharged engine. That giant plume of dirty white smoke gets sucked into the turbo before exiting the exhaust pipe.

However, as your mechanic is replacing your turbo at 3 times the cost of walnut cleaning - he may notice how relatively clean your intake looks

I you must do it - spray directly into the throttle body. Yes, it is a pain to get down there. Also, CRC recommends for turbo engines that you do early & often to avoid any crud from building up in the first place (and ending up in your turbo).

 

[tiktokbrainrot]

Carbon buildup is just a fact of life on DI engines. Top tier fuels wont help much....the detergents in the fuel dont touch the valves because DI. Some say it burns cleaner and this makes a difference, I say its astrology signs for car bros.

If you are spraying a cleaner, make sure you do it PAST the MAF sensor, cleaners will happily destroy those sensors.

That being said the gen II 2.0 doesnt seem to have major issues. I havent heard of one needing cleaning before 100k miles. Compared to VW's EA888 2.0 turbo the Ecoboost burns very clean. Part of this is because mavericks have an oil separator built in, no need to add one. Most early DI engines did not have one of these and the buildup on those was quite bad. I'd just save your money towards a walnut blast, on y VW its $1200 and at the rate I put miles on it I would spend that much on cleaners in that time and have to pay for the walnut eventually anyway.

 

[Tbone289]

Oil separators have been around a lot longer than GDI. Ford has been using them for over 35 years, 20 years prior to their first GDI engine. Clearly they don't do their job with 100% efficiency.

So, what you're saying is that there's no need to further clean the oil from the crankcase vapors even though oil in the those vapors coating the intake valves is a "fact of life" for GDI, even with a factory oil separator? You're contradicting yourself.

 

[tiktokbrainrot]

Oil separators have been around a lot longer than GDI. Ford has been using them for over 35 years, 20 years prior to their first GDI engine. Clearly they don't do their job with 100% efficiency.

So, what you're saying is that there's no need to further clean the oil from the crankcase vapors even though oil in the those vapors coating the intake valves is a "fact of life" for GDI, even with a factory oil separator? You're contradicting yourself.

You'll notice, if you read my comment again, slowly, that I never said oil separators were new. Only that many earlier DI engine designs did not include them by default. This includes Ford designs. Once carbon buildup became a more noticeable issue, manufacturers began including them to cut down on the frequency of cleaning, because that frequent cleaning was beginning to annoy customers.

I also never stated that the oil separator was 100%. I stated that the gen II ecoboost with its oil separator doesnt seem to have issues before 100k; compared to earlier EA888 VW 2.0 engines which saw issues as early as 40k miles, and that in general issues are rare on mavericks, so its better to just budget for walnut blasting when the issue eventually creeps up rather then chasing cleaning, implying that since the ecoboost builds up carbon very slowly it isnt cost effective to fight the carbon VS cleaning it with walnut. You can never 100% stop carbon buildup on a DI engine, so buying expensive add ons and boatloads of cleaner cans is getting deep into the realm of diminishing returns.

All you have shown with your remark is that you utterly lack reading comprehension and thought you caught me in an "ah ha!" moment, only to fall on your face in the process. Please put more effort into your next attempt to debunk me.

 

[MaverickDragon]

Perhaps worthy of note and something not yet seen on the thread is that the intake valve crud accumulation is limited to the pre-MY25 EcoBoost DI only engines, while the 25+ EBs have both DI and port injection which greatly minimizes/eliminates the issue and allows for other means of effectively cleaning the top end.
Hybrids of all years have port injection.

 

[Tbone289]

All you have shown with your remark is that you utterly lack reading comprehension and thought you caught me in an "ah ha!" moment, only to fall on your face in the process. Please put more effort into your next attempt to debunk me.

I'm not try to "debunk" you. I read your first comments with clarity. I never said that you stated that oil separators are 100% efficient, and I don't know how you interpreted my comments that way. I also never stated that you said they were new. It appears that you are the one with the reading comprehension issue. Fell on my face...that's cute, and very mature. Are you always this defensive, thinking people are out to catch you off guard?

You stated that:

Part of this is because mavericks have an oil separator built in, no need to add one.

Why is it that you feel there's no need to add an oil separator when it is a fact that adding one will catch oil vapor that the factory oil separator missed? (As I stated, they're not 100% efficient, and you haven't contradicted that) This is what is contradictory: on the one hand, you state that carbon build up is a "fact of life" for GDI, even for engines with an oil separator. but on the other, you say that there's no need to add any additional product to separate the oil from the crankcase vapors because there's a factory oil separator. If the factory oil separator was 100% efficient that would be true, but it isn't, thus my statement.

You'll notice, if you read my comment again, slowly, that I never said oil separators were new. Only that many earlier DI engine designs did not include them by default. This includes Ford designs.

Again, I didn't say that you said that they were new. I understand that the 2.0L Ecoboost and it's GDI predecessor the 2.0 Ti-VCT is not as prone to carbon build-up as other designs because it has an oil separator, as I've owned a several of them since 2012, and I've personally walnut blasted every one of them after 100,000 miles. However, I have also had catch cans on two of those Ecoboosts I've owned (with factory oil separators!!), and there was a very noticeable reduction in buildup at the same mileage. So, again, if carbon buildup is a fact of life with GDI, why do you state that adding an oil separator isn't necessary? Is that because you would just plan to do walnut blasting around 100K miles regardless?

 

[Tbone289]

Perhaps worthy of note and something not yet seen on the thread is that the intake valve crud accumulation is limited to the pre-MY25 EcoBoost DI only engines, while the 25+ EBs have both DI and port injection which greatly minimizes/eliminates the issue and allows for other means of effectively cleaning the top end.
Hybrids of all years have port injection.

Minimizes, but does not eliminate...

 

[Chops]

If the OP has the new design EB, top tier fuel detergents streaming through the port injectors will clean magnitudes better than a CRC intake cleaning would.

Also, the more robust oil separator system on the refresh is magnitudes better than any aftermarket oil can for this EB. Sorry aftermarket dudes.

If the OP has the original Maverick EB, he probably has too many miles on it to safely use CRC cleaner at this point. Could blow tiny chunks of carbon debris into the turbo. Like tossing some carbon based pigeons in a jet engine!

 

[Tbone289]

If the OP has the new design EB, top tier fuel detergents streaming through the port injectors will clean magnitudes better than a CRC intake cleaning would.

He owns a '24 Lariat. I also would not use a chemical intake cleaner, as they haven't been proven very effective at reducing GDI intake deposits.

Also, the more robust oil separator system on the refresh is magnitudes better than any aftermarket oil can for this EB. Sorry aftermarket dudes.

Two years in and you can already show the improvement (and magnitude of improvement) with the new separator vs old separator with additional catch can?

That's amazing--I haven't even seen a Maverick that has needed an intake cleaning service yet.

Please share!

 

[Chops]

He owns a '24 Lariat. I also would not use a chemical intake cleaner, as they haven't been proven very effective at reducing GDI intake deposits.



Two years in and you can already show the improvement (and magnitude of improvement) with the new separator vs old separator with additional catch can?

That's amazing--I haven't even seen a Maverick that has needed an intake cleaning service yet.

Please share!

You said “please” so here goes.

Plenty of evidence that intake cleaners such as CDC help reduce carbon buildup on normally aspirated DI engines.
Even carbureted engines like the Ford 289 benefit.

Both the OP and myself can vouch personally for the effectiveness with a normally aspirated engine.

Turbo engines are a different data set. Examples of damage to the turbo are documented. One must be careful to use intake cleaners on turbo engines because of loosened debris being sucked into turbo.

As far as the off topic issue of catch can usage - there are plenty of threads on this topic.

However, if you have the new EB engine you would be wise to go down the rabbit hole of the new oil separator system before purchasing an aftermarket catch can. Understand how the new aluminum valve covers were required for the new separator system because the older plastic covers would not suffice. Understand how port injection was also introduced to keep the intake cleaner.

Thank you & you’re welcome

 

[Tbone289]

You said “please” so here goes.

Plenty of evidence that intake cleaners such as CDC help reduce carbon buildup on normally aspirated DI engines.
Even carbureted engines like the Ford 289 benefit.

Upper cylinder, yes. Intake on a carbed 289? Not so much... If you have evidence of intake cleaners such as CRC effectively cleaning carbon deposits from the intake ports and valves of GDI engines, please provide it. I've seen plenty of claims from manufacturers of these products, but no real evidence of their effectiveness.

As far as the off topic issue of catch can usage - there are plenty of threads on this topic.

Yes, and you'll note that I participated in nearly every one of those discussions, so I'm fully aware of their existence, but thanks.

You seem to have low tolerance for off-topic discussion, yet you've posted plenty of it in this thread including this quoted paragraph:

However, if you have the new EB engine you would be wise to go down the rabbit hole of the new oil separator system before purchasing an aftermarket catch can. Understand how the new aluminum valve covers were required for the new separator system because the older plastic covers would not suffice. Understand how port injection was also introduced to keep the intake cleaner.

You're calling out catch can discussion as off-topic, and yet you've dedicated another off-topic paragraph about the new generation Ecoboost, when the OP has a 2024. I'm very aware of how multi-port injection sprays fuel additives such as PEA upstream of the intake valves, and that the 2025+ Ecoboost has GDI and multi-port injection, but thanks for that off-topic lesson anyway.

What I was asking for you to please share is the data you have to back up your claim that the new oil separator is "magnitudes better" than the 2022-2024 oil separator + catch can. I understand differences in design between the two systems, but please show us your evidence of the magnitude.

By all means, keep going down the off-topic rabbit hole of the new generation Ecoboost for us 2024 Ecoboost owners and "aftermarket guys". I'm sure the OP is very interested in hearing all about the factors that don't apply to his engine.

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