High Mileage Owners Chime in regarding intake valve deposits.

[ZREXER]

There's a board member with over 160k and no perceptible problem .

Well, that is what I wanted to hear!

 

[Initial_Will]

Absolutely true, but, at least some on here seem to think that any auxiliary fueling (extra single regular fuel injector in intake manifold, WMI, or full race 4 added port injectors) actually keeps the intakes valves SPOTLESSLY clean.

So maybe some mods help?

Some mods do help I believe. Aux fuel injection should help clean it or keep it cleaner over time as if we had port injection. Same thing with aqua-mist applications. There's something to clean some of the crud off. With both a catch can and some sort of aux injection, you should keep them fairly clean. Long as there's no coking with the methanol.

 

[MitchsFiesta]

Thought id chime in on this.

I do alot of walnut blasting here on CP-E. There are very few motors that we work on that aren't direct injection. Starting with the MZR Mazdaspeed motor (which is a direct predecessor to the 2.0 and 2.3 ecoboost motors). Those motors have EGR which makes the problem a little worse.

At 19.5K I removed the intake manifold, took pictures, and blasted all the intake valves. they were suprisingly bad for 20k miles. I tuned my car starting at 700 miles on the odo. I installed a mishimoto catch can at 19.5k after this proceedure. Car has pretty much had stage 3 bolt ons since the beginning.

So far ive blasted about 20 other cars with no negative side effects. However, I am yet to dyno a car, blast and then redyno without making any other changes. I also recently did a second blast on an N54 BMW (also DI) after I blasted and installed a catch can 20k before that. The catch can did not seem to help much, however, it was pretty full of crap.

Before

After

I plan on removing intake manifold again at 40k and checking the effectiveness of the catch can. Even if the catch can isn't doing much to help the valves, I still believe it is useful in keeping oil filled air out of the motor which reduces the effective octane.

All the cars I do with ~100k are so much worse. You are effectively blocking the passageway of air into the motor. I haven't confirmed this but you should see a decrease in LTFT as the car is higher mileage as at the same load levels, less air will be getting into the cylinder, and less fuel is needed to reach the desired AFR. By how much? Who really knows. There are too many other factors that can also effect your volumetric efficiency over the life of the motor. Also, as this carbon buildup gets worse, chunks can go into the cylinder and build up on the piston and create hotspots or go through the exhaust and potentially cause other damage.

Just upgraded my blaster. Excited to get better results!

 

[Initial_Will]

I definitely plan on keeping track of mine so it doesn't get bad. I ordered a scope so I can check it periodically, awaiting it's arrival. I figured I would have to get it blasted or cleaned a few times during the ownership of this car. To me that's just adding more to the maintenance schedule.

 

[ColoradoST]

I have 45k miles. I should probably buy a catch can.

 

[FieSTa Blanca]

I had a 2010 Cooper S before my FiST, and carbon buildup was a major theme on the MINI forum I frequented. There were entire threads devoted to it, along with various methods of administering SeaFoam, tools for walnut blasting, etc. etc. One could easily get the impression that valve carbon was a major showstopper for MINIs.

Along with the other issues plaguing MINIs of that era, such as weak timing chain guides, getting into a FiST was a pretty easy decision, and it's nice to see that Ford seems to have sorted this sort of thing.

That said, my MINI was pretty much trouble-free during the 5.5 years I owned it. I think it needed a valve cleaning by the time I traded it in, though.

FB

 

[DANger_zone]

Hey guys im at 78K on my 14 FiST and I haven't experienced any of the common symptoms. Haven't looked at the valves but I have looked at the pcv system briefly and didn't find any large build up if crud. I'm bone stock, no catch can.

I know it goes against pretty much everything we know about direct injected engines, especially ecoboosts, but I think its safe to assume this issue won't be popping up as often as it does in other DI engines if at all.

 

[apex]

I now have 110k miles on my 2014. I've never had a hiccough, hesitation, or misfire under any condition due to carbon buildup. It's all stock except a Mishimoto intercooler and Meister R cool over suspension which is just fine for my 850 miles per week travelling job. I love my job especially with a tool like this.

 

[Zissou]

I had a 2010 Cooper S before my FiST, and carbon buildup was a major theme on the MINI forum I frequented. There were entire threads devoted to it, along with various methods of administering SeaFoam, tools for walnut blasting, etc. etc. One could easily get the impression that valve carbon was a major showstopper for MINIs.

Along with the other issues plaguing MINIs of that era, such as weak timing chain guides, getting into a FiST was a pretty easy decision, and it's nice to see that Ford seems to have sorted this sort of thing.

That said, my MINI was pretty much trouble-free during the 5.5 years I owned it. I think it needed a valve cleaning by the time I traded it in, though.

FB

We're like the same person; I too had a 2010 R56. I remember blowing out black soot on a couple occasions, but I didn't get to do the Italian tune up often as I was living in a city.

The timing chain tensioner rattle was one of the things that made me nervous. I sold it as soon as it was out of warranty and got my FiST in 2014. I'm at 17.5k miles with my FiST right now. I'm thinking I ought to get a catch can as my next purchase.

 

[Larcat]

My girl has an R56 we just went through carbon hell with (long story.)

In the Mini S at least, it wasn't a subtle thing. Power delivery and MPG went to absolute crap.

We're like the same person; I too had a 2010 R56. I remember blowing out black soot on a couple occasions, but I didn't get to do the Italian tune up often as I was living in a city.

The timing chain tensioner rattle was one of the things that made me nervous. I sold it as soon as it was out of warranty and got my FiST in 2014. I'm at 17.5k miles with my FiST right now. I'm thinking I ought to get a catch can as my next purchase.

 

[MitchsFiesta]

Of many of the car's that I have blasted, there weren't any issues really warranting the blasting in terms of drivability (misfires, hiccups, ect), however, the car does seem to run smoother after the valves are cleaned.

I also don't like the idea of seafoaming. The main reason is that the carbon goes through the motor! With walnut blasting, all the carbon and shells are vacuumed out during the process so they do not end up getting on the pistons or going through the turbo.

 

[Larcat]

I'd agree with the walnut blasting comment.

One problem is finding a shop that is reliable to do it on a fiesta, though...

Of many of the car's that I have blasted, there weren't any issues really warranting the blasting in terms of drivability (misfires, hiccups, ect), however, the car does seem to run smoother after the valves are cleaned.

I also don't like the idea of seafoaming. The main reason is that the carbon goes through the motor! With walnut blasting, all the carbon and shells are vacuumed out during the process so they do not end up getting on the pistons or going through the turbo.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Of many of the car's that I have blasted, there weren't any issues really warranting the blasting in terms of drivability (misfires, hiccups, ect), however, the car does seem to run smoother after the valves are cleaned.

I also don't like the idea of seafoaming. The main reason is that the carbon goes through the motor! With walnut blasting, all the carbon and shells are vacuumed out during the process so they do not end up getting on the pistons or going through the turbo.

Do you also do a light detergent fluid 'flush' of the post manifold intake tract/combustion chamber to make sure you get out ALL of the walnut shell powder, and carbon 'fines' after the process?

 

[MitchsFiesta]

Do you also do a light detergent fluid 'flush' of the post manifold intake tract/combustion chamber to make sure you get out ALL of the walnut shell powder, and carbon 'fines' after the process?

Nope. The intake valve is closed during the process and the walnut material is combustible. Gives a nice smell in the shop when you turn the car back on.

 

[Larcat]

We are really from from MD --- Any suggestions on how to find shops that do it brand-agnostic?

Nope. The intake valve is closed during the process and the walnut material is combustible. Gives a nice smell in the shop when you turn the car back on.

 

[MitchsFiesta]

We are really from from MD --- Any suggestions on how to find shops that do it brand-agnostic?

BMW shops! BMW has an OEM tool for blasting and it is a recognized procedure for BMW.

 

[M-Sport fan]

We are really from from MD --- Any suggestions on how to find shops that do it brand-agnostic?

My local Ford dealers don't have a CLUE as to what this procedure even is, let alone the capability to do it at all.

The local Bimmer shops would charge me 10x what cp-e would, so even if I wanted to save the travel time/expense/bother, it would STILL pay for me to road trip to Maryland.

Besides, I trust Mitch much more than the Bimmer techs, and would rather give him and cp-e my business anyway.

 

[Larcat]

Yeah, we are in Chicago and there isn't a shop I trust. Chi-MD is a *haul* though

-L

 

[Maxpowa]

At 18k miles my engine has developed a rough idle. Every few seconds (no real pattern, though), if you stand by the exhaust, you can hear an ocassional poor detonation (can't rally think of another way to describe it), almost like an occasional single cyl. misfire. No codes and no CEL. A/F ratio meter bounces around a bit when it does produce the symptom. The only mod I have is the Mountune 215 kit. Could it be carbon? This early? Car is going into the shop in a couple weeks. Will keep everyone posted. I checked the PCV hose that exits the valve cover and connects to the front of the intake and it was dripping with oil. Not good. BTW, I'm pretty aggressive with the throttle. ????

 

[OffTheWall503]

Do you have a catch can installed? Not that it matters, but curious.