HOW TO: Clean your valves - easy & cheap

[mczimer]

Due to the nature of direct injection, these engines will accumilate a large amount of carbon build-up over time. The only way to remove it is manually scrubbing, or media blasting the valves. Using seafoam/engine cleaners/ect will not do anything measurable to this buildup, this cleaning is basic maintenance in order to keep your engine running at its best.

Do this every 40k miles, and I also recommend deleting the EGR valve, swapping your PCV valve, and installing an OCC kit at this time to keep the intake manifold clean
Guide to Preventative Maintenance and Modding

Links to info on DI and other DI cars, showing how common it is for the industry to clean:
Carbon Build Up Info
VW Golf
BMW
*Note: BMW/VW/COBB all offer valve cleaning at their dealerships, among other places- it is an industry standard to clean them

Why clean? Better performance (recovered flow), smoother idle, smoother driving, save money, and to learn about your car!

Here is the BEST method for cleaning your valves: before/after soaking/after a little blasting



Equipment needed: (noted below, with pics)

• An air compressor setup
• Media gun/abrasive gun (open/close valve-but not necessary)
• Fine walnut media **Note: HF has a different categorization than other places for the grit on the media**
• B12 -2 cans (1 could do, if you are tight on cash)
• 1' section of clear hose from Home Depot - 1" ID, available by plumbing
• A towel you can sacrifice
• Two way fluid transfer pump
• Masking tape
• Safety glasses/gloves (IMPORTANT)
• Camera- to brag once you are done

Brief Overview of procedure:

1. Remove IM, followed @jbarone instructions (here)
2. Ensure which 2 valves are TDC- top dead center/closed
3. Soak those valves in B12 for at least 1 hour & cover other valves with masking tape
4. Suck out majority of B12 using two-way fluid pump
5. Air blast valve to remove remining B12, while using a towel around gun tip to catch carbon/B12 coming out (goggles/gloves on) (90psi for all air use)
6. Blast valves with media in 2sec pulses for 30sec, vacuum on, repeat until happy
7. Suck out media with small hose, then air blast for 10sec to remove anything else
8. Tape over cleaned valves
9. Proceed on other valves in same order (TDC/soak/suck/blast/clean)
10. Photoshoot

TOTAL COST, without air compressor = only ~60 bucks, and you have 24.8/25 pounds of media left to help many others and clean again!


In order to achieve these results, the process goes as follows:

STEP 1
Soak 2 TDC-top dead center valves in B12 (maybe-substitute denatured alcohol/seafoam/methanol)
Top dead center is achevied by removing the passenger front wheel, then a little plastic guard which is held on by 3 plastic screw-you can't miss it, then you will see this:


The (14mm) tensioner pulley is on the left-turn this clockwise to loosen the tension on the belt before/after messing with the PS pump. You will need someone to remove the belt from the PS pump as you relieve the tension

The (21mm) crank pulley is on the right, turn clockwise to turn the engine, it will be at TDC when it gets toughest to turn (check valves are TDC by looking, then pouring some B12 in and see if it stays put)

**Note: Only 2 valves will be entirely TDC at a time. On mine, one valve was 90% closed, so take note for next time (ie- valves 2/4 and 1/3 are TDC grouped for me)

**Note: I do recommend removing the belt from the power steering pump before turning the crank pulley (before tilting the PS pump to the side during the Intake Manifold removal is even better), but it is not needed

STEP 2
After soaking the TDC valves either overnight (prep night before), or for 1+ hours, use either your shop vac (if you wish to ruin the filter and spend time cleaning it-trust me on this) or a two way fluid transfer pump (Here: 5 bucks at HF) to suck out as much B12 as you can into a container

Now take your gun, wrap the towel around the tip. Now insert/jam it into the valve to AIR blast all the leftover B12 out (it will shoot out, so wrap the towel in layers to make it thicker, and apply pressure)
**Note: Always use safety goggles and some gloves


STEP 3
Now, apply the one foot section 1" clear ID tube from Home Depot ($2) into the valve runner, as in this picture:

**Note: I soaked one valve for only ~1hr and got the same results, but it took a whole 2-3 minutes longer to clean!

I drilled a hole just small enough for my gun tip to fit into, roughly 1" from the base of the tube, then I stuck the gun/hose into the valve runner and apply the vacuum cleaner/shop vac to the open end.
I blasted at 90psi-the gun max operating pressure (BMW instructions say 6 bar, which is 116 psi BMW Link)

Blasting was done in pulses of 2sec for about 30 seconds total, then the valves were nearly spotless! Of course, I kept going to make them shiny and pretty, but honestly, this can be done on all the valves in under 10min.

**Note: I turned the vacuum on periodically to suck up excess media, since the tube collects much of the media. Keeping a vacuum on a "low" setting throughout the blasting could also be done, but you will use more media, as noted below. I also held the gun sideways (hood-style) to avoid any jamming, which worked best.

Unlike the prior write ups, I used a gun from harbor freight which had an open/close valve for the media. This allowed me to only blast air, which cleans very well on its own. This also allowed me to use less than 1 hopper of media for ALL the valves (out of the 25 pounds I got from Harbor Freight). Blasting only air into the valve periodically in essence reuses the media which is laying down there; think of it as a balloon which you let loose in a box-it smacks into everything. Another great point of using this gun was the ability to air-clean the engine bay, since 100% of the media is never going to be contained.
Gun used:
Gun has standard 1/4" air hose fitting and was sealed at the threads using tephlon tape (standard air tool procedure according tpo the neighbor)

This is what my setup looks like, note the vacuum attached on the end:


STEP 4
After blasting was to my liking, I stuck a small plastic hose attached to my vacuum into the valve to suck up any excess, then I blasted the valve with AIR for 10sec to clean anything remaining out (although it would just burn off, walnut is combustable).

**Note: cover the finished/remaining valves with masking tape to avoid any richochet media going in. I also taped the gun's hopper closed since I was holding it at all angles


That's it guys, let me know if you want clarification on anything. As a sidenote, you could probably acheive very clean valves simply by using the air and soaking (as noted in this thread, post #15) Props to @timjs for inspiration on this project. I think B12 does an identical job to the Mazda Zoom Zoom Cleaner, possibly in a less concentrated form; but, nonetheless, it is just as effective for a fraction of the cost. Zoom Zoom Cleaner is originally designed for rotary engine cleaning, link to RX8 forum info

I used the liquid B12, since it is cheaper and the spray does nothing we need

[Blackrider]

Good writeup! Really the only thing I did differently was I used pneumatic pressure to turn the crank, but I have a setup for that!

[3Gee Tee]

Tagged, thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[exentix]

What was the mileage before doing it? Did you run an occ or egr delete?

[mczimer]

Originally Posted by exentix What was the mileage before doing it? Did you run an occ or egr delete?

These valves were cleaned about 15k ago, EGR is deleted, and I have an OCC setup. Just comes to show this is a maintenance thing.

[TiGraySpeed6]

Nice write up

I really like the method you ended up using- using that clear hose gracefully splits the difference between cheap, simple and effective. Very Well Done!


@Raider - I'm thinking this is worth a bit o' $$, and an addition to the how-to database please

[BPASPEED]

Good thread, thanks!

[Constantin]

Excellent wright up man! I was going to do something similar. I thing now I'll resort to a comparison How To between manual method and walnut blasting.

@Raider I think that deserves a sticky too.

[mczimer]

Originally Posted by Constantin Excellent wright up man! I was going to do something similar. I thing now I'll resort to a comparison How To between manual method and walnut blasting. @Raider I think that deserves a sticky too.

I have done the manual job, which takes a good 3 hours. For 60 bucks, and a nearly endless supply of walnut, this actually would save you money in the longrun, not to mention a lot of time

[CaptainCrunch]

Internet high-five.

Thanks for this. I can't imagine what my now 80k valves look like.

[Constantin]

Originally Posted by mczimer I have done the manual job, which takes a good 3 hours. For 60 bucks, and a nearly endless supply of walnut, this actually would save you money in the longrun, not to mention a lot of time

I did manual too...didn't take 3 hours (we are talking only about cleaning - no disassembly). I have used drill though, which made it quite faster. The result was the same cleaned valves. Walnut blasting is better by all means. But for the guys w/o compressor manual method will work very good

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch Internet high-five. Thanks for this. I can't imagine what my now 80k valves look like.

Here is a hit for you: http://www.mazdaspeedforum.org/forum/foru...ml#post1531403

[Raider]

Moved to proper section. Op, lease on me in a week to send NSF bucks. Busy with fam emergency now

[mczimer]

Originally Posted by Raider Moved to proper section. Op, lease on me in a week to send NSF bucks. Busy with fam emergency now

I think I got the jist of what you said, will do

[Frequentflyer]

So here's the question; did you feel a difference after all this? Acceleration? Gas mileage? Drivability? I'd hate to do all this with no change, but I'm assuming you felt something.

[Constantin]

Originally Posted by Frequentflyer So here's the question; did you feel a difference after all this? Acceleration? Gas mileage? Drivability? I'd hate to do all this with no change, but I'm assuming you felt something.

Read this and you should have not more doubts:

How-to: Gain instant 20whp fo freeee

[mczimer]

Yes, the powerband is much smoother after doing this. Also, there is power to be regained

[rfinkle2]

Thanks very much for this write-up. Really well done.

[buddyrda]

Hi,

I finally got the car back together after cleaning the intake valves, but now it will not start at all.

I took the intercooler back off to see if I missed a connection somewhere but all the cables look good.

Is it possible I screwed something up when rotating the crankshaft, or got a little too much carb cleaner in the engine when looking for TDC?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,
Ryan

[TiGraySpeed6]

Does it turn over?

[buddyrda]

Unfortunately it does not turn over. I tried cranking it a few times but it just felt like the battery was about to die.

Was I suppose to make a marking on the ring behind the crank pulley before I did anything and then return it to that position?

[JSmith]

After cleaning my valves I had to jump from another car and keep turning it over. My battery alone was not enough to start it up again. YMMV.

[buddyrda]

JSmith thanks for the tip I'm going to try that tomorrow and see if that does the trick. I would love for it to be something so simple. I'll let you know how I make out.

If anyone has any other tips please let me know. Thanks!

[mxlplx71]

Originally Posted by buddyrda Hi, I finally got the car back together after cleaning the intake valves, but now it will not start at all. I took the intercooler back off to see if I missed a connection somewhere but all the cables look good. Is it possible I screwed something up when rotating the crankshaft, or got a little too much carb cleaner in the engine when looking for TDC? Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks, Ryan

had the same problem, no crank.
we had the small wire on the starter come unplugged when we rehooked the harness up on the topside,, reaching from the top to plug it back in.

[himurax13]

Originally Posted by buddyrda Hi, I finally got the car back together after cleaning the intake valves, but now it will not start at all. I took the intercooler back off to see if I missed a connection somewhere but all the cables look good. Is it possible I screwed something up when rotating the crankshaft, or got a little too much carb cleaner in the engine when looking for TDC? Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks, Ryan

Did you prime the engine like you would during a fuel pump internal install?

Sent via blown passenger side speakers.

[buddyrda]

Himurax, I did not. Have you cleaned your valves? Did you have to the same? I will give it a shot.

I grabbed this from another post, is it all I have to do to prime the engine?
2. The car should not start with the pedals all the way down. Turn the key to the run position to let the in tank pump push fuel up to the HPFP. Then push the pedals down and crank for 10 seconds or so. Then start her up normally.

[himurax13]

Originally Posted by buddyrda Himurax, I did not. Have you cleaned your valves? Did you have to the same? I will give it a shot. I grabbed this from another post, is it all I have to do to prime the engine? 2. The car should not start with the pedals all the way down. Turn the key to the run position to let the in tank pump push fuel up to the HPFP. Then push the pedals down and crank for 10 seconds or so. Then start her up normally.

I have done the procedure more than once.

Ifn you didnt mess with the fuel system, you shouldn't have to prime the engine but sometimes it helps.

Sent via blown passenger side speakers.

[Mfinlay04]

Mine took a few extra turns after cleaning. But if your not getting it to crank at all either the starter isn't functioning properly or the battery is dead. Battery is the easiest to troubleshoot, so as other suggested start there.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[Constantin]

@buddyrda; when I was cleaning mine I have turned the crank multiple times with out making any marks. Had no problem starting the car. Wasn't as smooth as regular start, thought.

Tripple check all connections. Or reconnect them again. We had one guys do everything right by one connection was in, but not all the way... However, it looked like everything was fine.

[buddyrda]

Thanks for the tips guys. I charged the battery last night, rechecked all the connections, and tried again. At first it refused to turn over but on the 5th or 6th try it came to life. Thanks again!

[Dahouse702]

Anyone else have problems with that same media gun? Did a buddies vavles this past weekend and had problems with the gun jamming. Going to look at getting a different type of media blaster.

[mxlplx71]

Originally Posted by Dahouse702 Anyone else have problems with that same media gun? Did a buddies vavles this past weekend and had problems with the gun jamming. Going to look at getting a different type of media blaster.

I used the fine walnut and it still jammed some

[soul.survivor]

Originally Posted by Dahouse702 Anyone else have problems with that same media gun? Did a buddies vavles this past weekend and had problems with the gun jamming. Going to look at getting a different type of media blaster.

You got a water filter on the compressor? I don't and my media gun didn't perform very well after the first 10 minutes because the compressor was shooting out water vapor.

Also, denatured alcohol is worthless for this endeavor. Seafoam or B12 (or both).

[LatinKraze]

Originally Posted by soul.survivor You got a water filter on the compressor? I don't and my media gun didn't perform very well after the first 10 minutes because the compressor was shooting out water vapor. Also, denatured alcohol is worthless for this endeavor. Seafoam or B12 (or both).

The compressor was borrowed, not sure of the water filter. We did good on the first two valves and then performance detiriorated. Had to go in and scrub by hand.

I also forgot to torque down the bottom IM bolt, lol. Pain in the ass to torque without uninstalling anything. Had to reach from bellow and snake my arm around the FMIC.

[soul.survivor]

Originally Posted by LatinKraze The compressor was borrowed, not sure of the water filter. We did good on the first two valves and then performance detiriorated. Had to go in and scrub by hand. I also forgot to torque down the bottom IM bolt, lol. Pain in the ass to torque without uninstalling anything. Had to reach from bellow and snake my arm around the FMIC.

Yea that's what happened to me. I opened the media reservoir and the walnut was clumping together in the outlet hole. You need water filter. I could get it to shoot short blasts but nothing sustained after the first 2 valves.

[mczimer]

That is why I recommended holding the gun "hood style" and shooting in bursts

[Hanzodurrr]

@mr_mazda329;

Note 2 Tappin

[Lex2007]

First: Thanks again for your instructions and pics McZimer.

Second: Your valves are like virgins compared to my dirty, rank, nasty, crud-encrusted, Greasemaster valves. Unfortunately I couldn't get my camera to cooperate. Here is a barely acceptable pic of one valve. My 07 has 85k miles, Mazdaspeed CAI, that's all.



I had a 1/8th inch + of dried oil on my valve stems. Took me HOURS and HOURS of blasting and scrubbing. It takes a long time to take the intake manifold off. This is a 1 and 1/2 day job.

Here is advice for those with similar buildup.

1. Don't use B12 (which works very well) initially.

FIRST hit the valves with walnut shells. Get as much of the large gack off as you can with abrasion. Use a shop vacuum with a thin hose (as pic below) to pull out the shells and crud.

My air blaster pushed so much walnut shell through the gun that I could only do 4-5 blasts before the intake runner would be full of shells. I didn't use the 1 inch clear tubing. Waste of time. Pressurized shells and air got to come out so just cover all other holes in engine so walnut shells don't get in (intake plumbing, cylinder with open valves).

I used 13 pounds or so of shells of a 25 lb bag I got from Home Depot (online delivered to store). Medium coarseness.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Agra-Grit...GM25/204068198

2. Then use some engine cleaning brushes (http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS-Performan...11#moreDetails) which have plastic bristles of varying diameters and lengths and scour intake runner and valve. I had chunks falling off the ceiling of the intake runner which the walnut shells did not get to. The walnut shells don't get right behind the valve stem or the very front of the valve where it seats. This is where the brushes help a lot.





Then vacuum it out.

Here is is a pic of my shop vac with reducer and 1/2 PEX tubing of about 18 inches length duct-taped on the end.



3. After you've hit the valves at least 15-20 blasts, fill the 6 (of 8) closed intake valves with B12. I mean until you cant see the valve. DROWNED it. Use the plastic brushes again and agitate all of it. Wait 20-30 minutes or more. Since you've taken the majority of the crud out with the shells the B12 doesn't have as much to dissolve.

Then either push a rag down into the B12 and soak it up, or if you're nuts and have a proper shopvac and good ventilation, SUCK that schmegma out. The suction pulls all of the wet carbon out and B12. Works very very well. HOWEVER your vacuum could explode! I am not kidding. I was waiting for it to blow up on me. The B12 is flammable. Dangerous and not advisable. I was delirious from inhalation of B12 fumes.

With respect to taking the intake manifold off, I noticed that Barone's instruction are missing a couple of important steps.

1. There is a TINY black hose that goes from the hard black plastic plumbing coming out of the turbo, and into a hard black plastic tube. This is the BCS (boost control solenoid). REMOVE THE TINY BLACK HOSE or you will snap the hard tubing on the sensor. Notice the shiny glue on the sensor in the pic below? A word to the wise....

Here:

2. Before you pull up on the intake manifold to pull it out REMEMBER that you need to take the PCV valve tube off and the SENSOR before you can pull it all the way off. Don't try and yank it all out like Hercules. Ease it up slightly until you see the hose and the sensor on the passenger side of the manifold and disconnect them.

Here they are:

3. Felpro makes a 3 gasket set which includes intake manifold, throttle body and EGR tube gasket. MS97054



4. I put all parts in baggies and label them so I don't have to guess what goes where when Im putting things back together.

5. Lastly, while you have the intake manifold, EGR tube off and any other plumbing out and free, use some carb cleaner and B12 and clean the butterfly valves and interior oil build up on these surfaces. Blow it all out with compressed air to dry it out.

This is a messy and very time consuming job. I used 1 can if B12 and one can Carb spray. 13 or so pounds of walnut shell.

Don't rush. Its not worth breaking a sensor.

I drove the car 30 miles today. Cant say if I notice anything different with respect to throttle response or power delivery. Am waiting to see about MPG.

I did notice that the clamp on the boost end of the turbo was totally utterly loose such that I could pull it out without even loosening the clamp, and grease was dripping off the turbo. I do believe I have been losing boost for some time now. This hasn't been touched since the car was new. Go figure.

[jack_hammer]

well, if nothing else your post proves that even someone with no idea of what they're doing can clean the valves.

also, the piece you broke is the boost control solenoid. hopefully you glued it well and it lasts, otherwise you'll boost uncontrollably and grenade your engine.

[Constantin]

@Lex2007; from personal experience it wasn't that hard, and it doesn't take 1.5 day Took us about 5 hours or so. And I used only the brushes, B12 and the drill to rotate the brushes...

Anyhow, thank you for a great post and many details!

I might have the stock BCS (boost control solenoid) laying around, I can send to you free, if you want.

[Lex2007]

Originally Posted by Constantin @Lex2007; from personal experience it wasn't that hard, and it doesn't take 1.5 day Took us about 5 hours or so. And I used only the brushes, B12 and the drill to rotate the brushes... Anyhow, thank you for a great post and many details! I might have the stock BCS (boost control solenoid) laying around, I can send to you free, if you want.

Hey we all contribute and we all learn together. That's the power of the forum!

5 hours? Man you move fast. I soaked the first 6 valves overnight. then tried the better method of walnut shells followed by B12 on the last 2 valves which was way faster.

1st time doing anything is always slow. Reading instructions, finding the bolts...etc. First time using the walnut shell and gun too. Slow and steady.

I would love to have the solenoid if you don't mind. PMing you.

Lex