Cleaning intake/valves with canned product. Good idea or not?

[paokara777]

Yeah my MPG is tanking and my power is down too (this is track verified, not just how it feels)

Also i have had problems starting it in the cold.

I have started to point the finger at carbon build up

I want to try something like this as a diagnostic step almost, i like your idea of doing small amounts gradually to prevent large pieces of carbon breaking off

I imagine the best way to do this is to do it at every service from new to prevent this happening altogether!

[SHOdded]

Another alternative is to talk to Brian at BND Automotive, see if ACES IV can help you resolve the issue gradually.  IIRC, intake valve deposit prevention/cleaning is one of the effects of this additive, yes in a DI system.

[polskifacet]

Since you have never cleaned before i would also take it apart and clean. What I did before meth was chemtool b12 in a chemical sprayer and spray directly at the butterfly valve with intake pipe off. Also only about half of a can at a time, it heats the cats really good.

o yea you need someone in the car to modulate throttle so it doesn't die. We do 3 other lexus vehicles the same way.

[paokara777]

Another alternative is to talk to Brian at BND Automotive, see if ACES IV can help you resolve the issue gradually.  IIRC, intake valve deposit prevention/cleaning is one of the effects of this additive, yes in a DI system.

Yeah, I was thinking about how this issue could be prevented altogether in a similar way they prevent it with detergents in the fuel, and I was wondering if (since the sludge comes from blowby crankcase pressure that gets pushed back into the fuel) they will develop a special oil that has some sort of cleaning agent that will, when mixed in with the fuel, clean the valves. But then i realized that would be the same as having detergents already in the fuel and also its not the unburned stuff causing the problem its the burned stuff so i dunno. I'll leave it to Valvoline to think about it.

[SHOdded]

Not really any shortcuts to cleaning up buildup.  Maintenance regimens, sure.  But ideally u start from a known, good baseline.  I would suggest talking with Brian regardless.

[J-Will]

Another alternative is to talk to Brian at BND Automotive, see if ACES IV can help you resolve the issue gradually.  IIRC, intake valve deposit prevention/cleaning is one of the effects of this additive, yes in a DI system.

Dont call it an additive to Brian, he will quickly correct you into calling it a catalyst

That said, my understanding of the product is more as a preventative.  While it is supposed to facilitate some light weight cleaning, I dont know if ACES is going to compete with a cleaning product such as BG or SeaFoam.  Though, talking to Brian about your particular use case and questions is going to be the best idea.  I would love for you to be able to provide before/ after pics of your build up for whatever product you end up choosing. 

In closing, I think its appropriate to note that I am an ACES user.  I think it really keeps my stock vehicle mechanically stay in top form (preventing carbon build up), and the ECU pinned to the highest performing parameters the stock tune allows.  93 octane plus ACES at every fill up for over a year, and I have not seen the OAR move from -1 showing 3 decimal places to make sure its pegged.  Perhaps I should scope my cylinders to take a peak, I'll need to look up some scopes.  I have also never drained the CAC, so maybe a maintenance day is in order to see if I'm experiencing any of the issues some of the other SHOs do.  Taking this further, my wife's Escape Titanium gets significantly better gas mileage with ACES.  This is immediately noticed in her vehicle.

[SHOdded]

Yes right you are, catalyst, thanks . I had initially used it in the 10 FSport at 90K.  The first tankful was a bit rough running, rest fine.  The most difference it made on this naturally aspirated engine was in increasing available timing by up to 4 degees, followed by a near flattening of longterm fuel trims, and a small bump in mpg by about 0.5 or so.  On winter fuel.

[Macgyver]

Interesting Video on this topic.

[abs]

Over the years I've used both Amsoil Power Foam and more recently CRC GDI cleaner.  I think they can both work.  The GDI cleaner is more of a liquid and the power foam is a foam.  The issues with using any product is that you do not want hard chunks of carbon to break off the valve stem and enter the combustion chamber and potentially get stuck between the piston and the cylinder wall, or not get burned up and hit the blades on the turbo.  I do not believe Seafoam softens/dissolves the carbon, it more or less cracks it off (bad).  On the other hand, the Power Foam and the CRC GDI cleaner behave more like an oven cleaner product, they soften the carbon and help it to "melt" away.  This is the much better approach.  With either product the key is not to allow the product to hydrolock the engine.  I have also personally used walnut blasting on my EB to get the valves clean.  The process worked, but it really makes a mess.

My current thinking is to leverage the CRC GDI cleaner every 10k miles as this is a product specifically designed to help remove the carbon build up on direct injection vehicles.