valve cleaning

[Me2speed3]

So lately I've been reading about cleaning the valves, and how a little sea foam or similar product (run through the gas tank) won't work.

My question is, will something similar to the BG intake system cleaner work, since it's not being run through the normal intake path, you hook it up to a vacuum line leading into the intake and of sorts let the engine idle and suck it in. would this type of cleaning system work on these cars, or is the only way to do the ground walnut shells method?

thanks,

Ross

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[Mattyhawk1]

This has been discussed many many times, but bottom line, walnut blasting is the only way to get it cleaned properly.

[Me2speed3]

tried looking but got nowhere with the search box. didn't mean to bring up a dead subject. sorry

[MS3Shadow]

You can use my custom search in my SIG, since then search here is broken.

sent from my Nexus 6P

[robbspeed]

Walnut works best but you can also use denatured alcohol and a series of pics and brushes. This is per Cobbs instructions.

[WAMBUSHHHH!]

either way, bring lube because valve cleaning is such a pain in the ass and the lube will help ease you into it.

[865ms3]

Aerosol B12...spray...soak..suck out with shop vac....blast with walnut media...suck out with shop vac. Repeat until clean.

[tec_41]

You'll understand why a traditional intake/valve cleaning solution won't do anything once you see the carbon build up for yourself. The shit's rock hard, caked on. Even after soaking in B12 I still needed to blast multiple rounds of walnut shells to get the suckers clean.

Mine were at about 69k in the picture.

[Me2speed3]

Damn, going to need a ms person nearby with a helpful set of eyes to guide me through this. Not something I'm comfortable trying alone for the first time... This isn't LSD...

[speedfreak44]

I used brake cleaner and pick tools. Took a while and yes the shit is like old gum stuck under the desk at school...always got me frustrated when I just wanted a little piece of cum and couldn't get it off...errr I mean gum

[ABOSWORTH]

I've got to get around to this myself. I've got like 53K on my car now. I don't even want to know what those fuckers look like.

Here is the thread you want to read.

HOW TO: Clean your valves - easy & cheap

[Me2speed3]

@abosworth, thats the one i read, even though his steps are detailed. Still not sure this is something i want to try without an experienced set of eyes watching me.

[ABOSWORTH]

Originally Posted by Me2speed3 @abosworth, thats the one i read, even though his steps are detailed. Still not sure this is something i want to try without an experienced set of eyes watching me.

Oh okay. Sorry about that, then. I hear ya man. I'm sort of hesitant to blast walnuts into my engine as well. Lol

[mize13]

Originally Posted by 865ms3 Aerosol B12...spray...soak..suck out with shop vac....blast with walnut media...suck out with shop vac. Repeat until clean.

This is what we did on my car. Worked well. Although instead of sucking the B12 out, @Travisms3; had the "brilliant" idea to just blow some compressed air down there while covering the runner with a lot of paper towers...

It worked alright until he decided to be funny and turned the compressor to 140psi, in which B12 shot straight through the towels and up into my eye.

[865ms3]

Originally Posted by mize13 This is what we did on my car. Worked well. Although instead of sucking the B12 out, @Travisms3; had the "brilliant" idea to just blow some compressed air down there while covering the runner with a lot of paper towers... It worked alright until he decided to be funny and turned the compressor to 140psi, in which B12 shot straight through the towels and up into my eye.

I got trolled one time....yea it's all out...spray the media.

There is still splatter of b12 gunk all over a wall in @BigBoostMS3; s old garage with the outline of my body.

[MD1032]

Originally Posted by tec_41 Mine were at about 69k in the picture.

That actually doesn't look too bad to me for 69k.

Has anyone ever tried using a sonicator probe in combination with B12? Seems to me like that would work really well. We use sonicators at work to dissolve shit all the time, although I realize that's not something anyone would commonly own at home.

[sporkbomb]

Maybe I inhaled too much of its fumes, but I swear the best thing that has worked for me so far (along w/ blasting) was that Zoom Zoom cleaner that is supposedly now discontinued (part #0000-77-A86 ).

The only problem is it is pricey compared to denatured alcohol. @theurgy; mentioned in a thread a couple of years ago that he would experiment to see which was more effective -- denatured alcohol, B-12 Chemtool or Zoom Zoom Cleaner -- but I'm not sure if you reported his results.

[frothy]

@sporkbomb;

The Texans had a valve cleaning party a while back and experimented with the various cleaning options:

http://www.mazdaspeedforum.org/forum/foru...ml#post2839402


Admittedly, their results differed from my own (they weren't impressed with the Zoom Zoom cleaner). For me, the only cleaner that seemed to make an obvious impact was the Zoom Zoom cleaner. It softened the carbon into a gummy mess that could be scraped away. I didn't see any results whatsoever from Seafoam or brake cleaner.

The second time I cleaned my valves I used nothing but walnut media and that made short work of the process. Word of warning: wear a respirator. Even though I did my lungs weren't happy with me afterwards...

[attomica]

Im at 56K mikes and will do a valve cleaning soon and I'm going with the pure walnut blasting method. Its still not clear to me about rotating the crank or whatever. Do you have to take the front pass. wheel off? What do you turn to rotate the crank? What tool do you use for that? You have to make sure the valve is completely closed before cleaning, but how do you tell if it's closed all the way? If you're going pure walnut, why the need for a respirator?

[mize13]

Originally Posted by attomica Im at 56K mikes and will do a valve cleaning soon and I'm going with the pure walnut blasting method. Its still not clear to me about rotating the crank or whatever. Do you have to take the front pass. wheel off? What do you turn to rotate the crank? What tool do you use for that? You have to make sure the valve is completely closed before cleaning, but how do you tell if it's closed all the way? If you're going pure walnut, why the need for a respirator?

Take bendy straw, flatten end, try and slip it by valve. If you can't, it's closed.

As far as getting a set of valves to close to clean them, we just just left the car in gear and pushed.

[frothy]

@attomica;

Yes, remove the front passenger wheel to gain access to the crankshaft bolt.
Have the car in neutral and with a ratchet and 21mm socket rotate the crankshaft clockwise until it turns over (you'll be fighting less resistance if you remove the serpentine belt).



Two sets of valves should be sealed enough to work on at a time. It should be pretty obvious which ones they are. If you need to, have someone spin the crank by hand while you observe the valves to familiarize yourself with what's going on.

The walnut media will get pulverized into fine particles/dust that will hang in the air. You don't want to inhale that crap.

EDIT: If you're using the Harbor Freight media blaster, I highly recommend disassembling it and going over it before use. I found that mine kept jamming at times and would blow nothing but air. I had to remove the hopper and drill out some excess plastic from the feed hole. I also found it necessary to drill out the "feed regulator" (shown below) as there were large metal burrs inhibiting the flow.



You don't have to remove the "feed regulator" from the gun. Remove the hopper and look into the gun while the regulator is in the "Open" position. It will be apparent if there's excess material clogging things up.

[theurgy]

Originally Posted by sporkbomb Maybe I inhaled too much of its fumes, but I swear the best thing that has worked for me so far (along w/ blasting) was that Zoom Zoom cleaner that is supposedly now discontinued (part #0000-77-A86 ). The only problem is it is pricey compared to denatured alcohol. @theurgy; mentioned in a thread a couple of years ago that he would experiment to see which was more effective -- denatured alcohol, B-12 Chemtool or Zoom Zoom Cleaner -- but I'm not sure if you reported his results.

I only really worked with the Zoom Zoom cleaner and it worked pretty well to soften up and loosen the carbon, however that said, come spring this year, I'll be doing a walnut blasting as I find that is way more effective.

[Me2speed3]

If any of the richmond, va people want to get together and do this again... Hit me up, love working on my own cars, just not sure I'm up for tackling this one alone!

[attomica]

Originally Posted by frothy @attomica; Yes, remove the front passenger wheel to gain access...

Thanks so much! You've allayed the worry I've had about doing this.

[Insiatent]

At how many miles i should expect a power loss from carbon build up and need cleaning?

[mxlplx71]

Originally Posted by Insiatent At how many miles i should expect a power loss from carbon build up and need cleaning?

mine were gunked up at 42k

[Me2speed3]

Would gummed up valves potentially give you a p0300?

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[mxlplx71]

Originally Posted by Me2speed3 Would gummed up valves potentially give you a p0300? Sent from my LGLS990 using tapatalkreplace

usually thats from plugs or injector seals

[MSMS3]

kI'm still a Chemtool B-12 and shotgun bore brush advocate. Works great. I use clean gasoline to verify that the valves are closed before starting. Then soak and scrub. Also use gasoline to flush and suction it out. Change engine oil when done.

[Me2speed3]

Thanks @mxlplx7, i figured with CoP a real misfire should know exactly what cylinder was missing and a random mis had to be caused by something else.

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[MD1032]

Originally Posted by Insiatent At how many miles i should expect a power loss from carbon build up and need cleaning?

It never really hurts your power much because the turbo is still the biggest flow limitation on the car.

I have 74k on mine. Never cleaned them. Only noticeable symptom is my idle is quite rough. I'm gonna wait until my beaner blows up my injector seals and then do everything at once.

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