- Messages
- 622
- Reactions
- 46
- City
- socal.
- State
- CA
- Country
- United States
- What I Drive
- 2015 s3
i just performed my first carbon cleaning. i used basic tools but i did have one specialized tool, the media blaster from harbor freight. simple tool to help do the work.
i cant say it was totally difficult but it was very time-consuming and tedious. i cant believe that this is something we need to do like an oil change.
my first thought, will a multi-port injection kit fix this issue?
if it does, i think the investment into a kit will be worth the cost. currently the cost of a mpi kit can vary around $900.
if black Friday specials are on these kits i may just invest into one this year.
back to the cleaning.
there was a lot of carbon and i can see how it would rob the car from performance. i was lucky to have modified my engine to allow me to work on the car much easier this time. and after this time, i made it even more easier for the next job.
the idea is to allow me to remove the intake manifold easier.
there are a few good videos on youtube to show how this is done. so i wont be doing that here. what i will say here are a few things.
i would recommend doing it more often. around 50k miles or less if possible.
i would look into dry ice and a special machine that does carbon cleaning with the dry ice method. this will remove two issue, one is with the special attachment that we must use to shoot media into the port and vacuum out the used media.
the second issue is the mess. its everywhere. and you have to worry about it going into the next port and other crevices. since its something that would be used often then i would say the machine would most likely be worth it.
things i found out while doing the job.
- i didn't realize the media blaster doesn't really remove the carbon all that much. it helps with the smaller carbon that is stuck on the tighter areas but for the most part you will need to scrap off all the carbon with picks and other tools that will fit in there. the media blaster is just not strong enough to blast the carbon. it might be my compressor but my compressor can max out at 90psi. i would then assume we would need at least 180psi or more to really get it out. all mine did was get the lighter carbon. the other important part it does, it dries the carbon out more. that helps with the scraping process.
- dont spray liquid into there, thinking it will help. yeah, i sprayed cleaning agents and it made it more difficult to work on. so when you scrap, the carbon, its will normally flake off and you vacuum it out.
but if its wet, scrapping with your pick is like scraping mush. it takes way more time. i preferred just scrapping it dry.
in the end, i felt like the power i had lost over the years is back. the engine is much more powerful. less lag and it accelerates strong.
i do feel doing it every 50k miles or even 25k miles would be more useful. if the mpi kit helps reduce the carbon build up then we can then see how long between cleans it will allow.
i cant say it was totally difficult but it was very time-consuming and tedious. i cant believe that this is something we need to do like an oil change.
my first thought, will a multi-port injection kit fix this issue?
if it does, i think the investment into a kit will be worth the cost. currently the cost of a mpi kit can vary around $900.
if black Friday specials are on these kits i may just invest into one this year.
back to the cleaning.
there was a lot of carbon and i can see how it would rob the car from performance. i was lucky to have modified my engine to allow me to work on the car much easier this time. and after this time, i made it even more easier for the next job.
the idea is to allow me to remove the intake manifold easier.
there are a few good videos on youtube to show how this is done. so i wont be doing that here. what i will say here are a few things.
i would recommend doing it more often. around 50k miles or less if possible.
i would look into dry ice and a special machine that does carbon cleaning with the dry ice method. this will remove two issue, one is with the special attachment that we must use to shoot media into the port and vacuum out the used media.
the second issue is the mess. its everywhere. and you have to worry about it going into the next port and other crevices. since its something that would be used often then i would say the machine would most likely be worth it.
things i found out while doing the job.
- i didn't realize the media blaster doesn't really remove the carbon all that much. it helps with the smaller carbon that is stuck on the tighter areas but for the most part you will need to scrap off all the carbon with picks and other tools that will fit in there. the media blaster is just not strong enough to blast the carbon. it might be my compressor but my compressor can max out at 90psi. i would then assume we would need at least 180psi or more to really get it out. all mine did was get the lighter carbon. the other important part it does, it dries the carbon out more. that helps with the scraping process.
- dont spray liquid into there, thinking it will help. yeah, i sprayed cleaning agents and it made it more difficult to work on. so when you scrap, the carbon, its will normally flake off and you vacuum it out.
but if its wet, scrapping with your pick is like scraping mush. it takes way more time. i preferred just scrapping it dry.
in the end, i felt like the power i had lost over the years is back. the engine is much more powerful. less lag and it accelerates strong.
i do feel doing it every 50k miles or even 25k miles would be more useful. if the mpi kit helps reduce the carbon build up then we can then see how long between cleans it will allow.
