Doing an Intake Valve Clean - any tips?

[Anonymous]

So why do your pictures look like that rather than this nice N54 clean intake post walnut blasting?

 

[enzed4]

What medium are you using if it’s not walnut shell? :?
Rob

CRC Intake Valve Cleaner. Dissolves the carbon buildup. The instructions say to spray it into the throttle body (past the MAF sensor) with the engine running blah blah, but I do not want stuff going through the engine and cats, so the other method is similar to walnut blasting (remove the intake manifold and to access the back of the valves directly) except you spray the cleaner instead of blasting with any media.

Where did you get the CRC Cleaner from and how much was it?

A local auto spares store. Cost around $25NZD each

 

[enzed4]

So why do your pictures look like that rather than this nice N54 clean intake post walnut blasting?

Because it wasn't walnut blasted. I would love to have them looking like that (and even more to have had someone else do it for me), but I had to go with what I could find. Thanks for making me feel I completely wasted my Saturday.... :lol:

 

[R.E92]

So why do your pictures look like that rather than this nice N54 clean intake post walnut blasting?

Because it wasn't walnut blasted. I would love to have them looking like that (and even more to have had someone else do it for me), but I had to go with what I could find. Thanks for making me feel I completely wasted my Saturday.... :lol:

Your results look just as good. The polished appearance of a walnut blast will last all of 30 minutes once the engine is started again. The important part is that you removed the build-up which impedes airflow.

 

[enzed4]

So why do your pictures look like that rather than this nice N54 clean intake post walnut blasting?

Because it wasn't walnut blasted. I would love to have them looking like that (and even more to have had someone else do it for me), but I had to go with what I could find. Thanks for making me feel I completely wasted my Saturday.... :lol:

Your results look just as good. The polished appearance of a walnut blast will last all of 30 minutes once the engine is started again. The important part is that you removed the build-up which impedes airflow.

Thanks, now I'm thinking I should invest in a catch can to keep it that way for longer, despite my earlier insistence I wouldn't bother :roll:

 

[mcbutler]

I'd bet you might be able to turn her over by hand without the plugs? Worth a try, just grab the fan and turn once the plugs are out... you are replacing plugs now too? I was going to suggest you take pics of everything you are going to remove - for yourself. Having watched the manifold removal on line I see a bunch of stuff needs disconnecting. That can get confusing for not much DIYer guy upon reassembly

I am pretty sure the fan is electric and not connected to the engine at all!!

 

[scootr]

[/quote]
I am pretty sure the fan is electric and not connected to the engine at all!!
[/quote]

I'm pretty sure you are absolutely correct and I am very old fashion.

 

[BadgerDog]

[ref]enzed4[/ref], to revive an old thread, I see you had a BMS charge pipe on its way to you. Without going into details of my own issues in this regard, I was under the impression that they do not make one to fit a Z4. It could just be that you have a 2010 and I have a 2016, though. I'm assuming the parts are not interchangeable between the two.

 

[enzed4]

[ref]enzed4[/ref], to revive an old thread, I see you had a BMS charge pipe on its way to you. Without going into details of my own issues in this regard, I was under the impression that they do not make one to fit a Z4. It could just be that you have a 2010 and I have a 2016, though. I'm assuming the parts are not interchangeable between the two.

Sorry for the slow reply - I haven't been on here for a while.
You are correct about the charge pipe. I must have been half asleep when I ordered it because it's for a 335i not a Z4 35i. My son has a 335i so the intention was to fit it to his car but that still hasn't happened yet and it's sitting in my garage mocking my poor research skills every time I look at it.

 

[richg]

This is mine being done by Redish Motorsport in Bristol.

https://youtu.be/5L7Gc436rB4

Car had only done 40k miles.

£400 including new gasket. Cheapest I've seen is £250 by PMP cars near Birmingham. I went with Redish as they can do DCT service.

Had M3/4 Brembo front calipers fitted with 370mm discs.

 

[enzed4]

This is mine being done by Redish Motorsport in Bristol.

https://youtu.be/5L7Gc436rB4

Car had only done 40k miles.

£400 including new gasket. Cheapest I've seen is £250 by PMP cars near Birmingham. I went with Redish as they can do DCT service.

Had M3/4 Brembo front calipers fitted with 370mm discs.

That was a very good/clear video of the walnut blasting - I wish someone here offered the service, I don't know if I could be bothered with the hassle again. Now that I'm familiar with the process of getting everything off down to the intake ports, even a DIY blasting kit would probably be ok if good quality.
Nice Brembos, too

 

[BadgerDog]

Sorry for the slow reply - I haven't been on here for a while.
You are correct about the charge pipe. I must have been half asleep when I ordered it because it's for a 335i not a Z4 35i. My son has a 335i so the intention was to fit it to his car but that still hasn't happened yet and it's sitting in my garage mocking my poor research skills every time I look at it.

Ahhh, gotcha. Thanks!

I got caught up by the misleading title: "N54 charge pipe for e-chasis BMWs". Figured, I have one of those! lol My mistake.