Intake valves after 60k - with OCC and EGR delete

tarnumf

tarnumf

Greenie N00B Member
Greenie Member
Couple weeks I've cleaned my intake valves, after ~60k miles from previous cleaning. Had EGR delete and OCC for all these 60k, but I think my old OCC sucked.
Now I got DIY one, 5 good lbs of brass and copper and switched to CorkSport "check valve less" routing. Will keep an eye on this sucker..
So, here are my observations and pictures:

- if you do not have access to the compressor that can make 90+ psi continuously at CFM rate necessary for blasting gun, then forget walnut blasting and go straight to manual scrubbing. My 8 gal HF compressor sucked and eventually broke.
- for manual cleaning you will need 6 piece pick set, clamp pliers, tube brush, can of engine cleaner, roll of paper towels and some compressed air to blow that shit from runners.
- get rubber gloves on and use all your patience. This was the most boring work I ever did on the car.
- soaking doesn't do much, scrubbing does.
- put oil dip stick back when you turn engine to close next pair of valves or it will spit the oil out.

50k in 2012 (walnut blasted with decent compressor):
upload_2016-5-28_23-2-19.png

110k in 2016 before cleaning:
upload_2016-5-28_23-3-42.png

110k in 2016 after manual cleaning:
upload_2016-5-28_23-4-36.png

upload_2016-5-28_23-5-17.png
 
Great to see the 50k and the 110k, thanks for the pics! I want to see something equivalent with someone who has a methanol injection system as its supposed to help here

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
 
brainbot1 said:
Great to see the 50k and the 110k, thanks for the pics! I want to see something equivalent with someone who has a methanol injection system as its supposed to help here

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
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You and me both. I'm spraying 100% methanol with a CM10 nozzle, have an oil catch can with a check valve on the intake manifold, and a VTA fitting with a check valve on the OCC return line to vent extra pressure (no vacuum leaks). I also run my EGR unplugged.

I'm thinking that now that I spray methanol, I may be able to re-plug the EGR. I'm interested in doing so because it appears I'm losing at least several MPGs with it unplugged.

I'd love to hear from anyone who sprays methanol WITH the EGR intact and confirm that the valves still stay clean.
 
Redline said:
You and me both. I'm spraying 100% methanol with a CM10 nozzle, have an oil catch can with a check valve on the intake manifold, and a VTA fitting with a check valve on the OCC return line to vent extra pressure (no vacuum leaks). I also run my EGR unplugged.

I'm thinking that now that I spray methanol, I may be able to re-plug the EGR. I'm interested in doing so because it appears I'm losing at least several MPGs with it unplugged.

I'd love to hear from anyone who sprays methanol WITH the EGR intact and confirm that the valves still stay clean.
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I'd imagine that the valves would stay clean with the EGR intact with meth injection but I guessing it would decrease performance since hot exhaust gases are going back into the intake. Cooling the air down is the main point of injecting meth in the first place. I personally would rather take the decrease in gas efficiency than putting dirty exhaust gases back into the combustion chamber. Reliability vs. gas savings?
 
brainbot1 said:
I'd imagine that the valves would stay clean with the EGR intact with meth injection but I guessing it would decrease performance since hot exhaust gases are going back into the intake. Cooling the air down is the main point of injecting meth in the first place. I personally would rather take the decrease in gas efficiency than putting dirty exhaust gases back into the combustion chamber. Reliability vs. gas savings?
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Perhaps. But a CM10 with 100% methanol will cool things down real quick. Honestly, I don't remember really seeing an appreciable BATs decrease when I unplugged, but then again, those are WOT logs. The way I understand it, the EGR is doing its thing under part-throttle conditions, not WOT conditions.

Cooling the air down isn't the main point of meth injection as a rule. There are a lot of reasons. I'd say #1 is the octane increase to run more timing and make more power (like the folks who don't have ethanol around going methanol instead for the same reason). For me, more consistent year-round performance (i.e., lower BATs) is a factor, but also is added safety measure (cooler combustion chamber), IDC relief, and valve cleaning.
 
In that case, If I were you, I would get a picture of the current state, replug the EGR, re-tune, and check back in 5-10k miles
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Redline said:
Perhaps. But a CM10 with 100% methanol will cool things down real quick. Honestly, I don't remember really seeing an appreciable BATs decrease when I unplugged, but then again, those are WOT logs. The way I understand it, the EGR is doing its thing under part-throttle conditions, not WOT conditions.

Cooling the air down isn't the main point of meth injection as a rule. There are a lot of reasons. I'd say #1 is the octane increase to run more timing and make more power (like the folks who don't have ethanol around going methanol instead for the same reason). For me, more consistent year-round performance (i.e., lower BATs) is a factor, but also is added safety measure (cooler combustion chamber), IDC relief, and valve cleaning.
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In that case, I don't see the harm but I'm a noob, I would get a picture of the current state of the intake valves, re-plug the EGR, re-tune, and check back in 5-10k miles. Isn't 100% meth rather dangerous which is why most people to 50/50 with water, do you think its possible the hot EGR air could ignite the methanol before the combustion chamber?
 
@Redline - if there was initial build-up from pre-meth years, then I doubt meth injection will do much or anything good.
May be just open it up and check yourself? It's not that hard really.
 
brainbot1 said:
In that case, If I were you, I would get a picture of the current state, replug the EGR, re-tune, and check back in 5-10k miles
[doublepost=1465784970][/doublepost]
In that case, I don't see the harm but I'm a noob, I would get a picture of the current state of the intake valves, re-plug the EGR, re-tune, and check back in 5-10k miles. Isn't 100% meth rather dangerous which is why most people to 50/50 with water, do you think its possible the hot EGR air could ignite the methanol before the combustion chamber?
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Easier said than done. Ever pulled an IM? I did when I did my valves, and it was quite the experience, LOL. Wish I could get a bore scope in there easily somehow.
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Spec said:
Throw the egr in the trash and don't look back.
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That's always an option, but I'm flying under the EPA radar. I can only have one not ready. I have I for my catless exhaust already, and that's the limit. My workaround is to replug a week or so before inspection, and then I pass. The EGR throws two more codes, which I normally run disabled. I can't have 3 not readies all the time, though.
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tarnumf said:
@Redline - if there was initial build-up from pre-meth years, then I doubt meth injection will do much or anything good.
May be just open it up and check yourself? It's not that hard really.
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Pulled IM and walnut blasted a while back. Valves looked great when I finished. Definitely wouldn't want to do that again for a quick peek, though; not with my current setup, FMIC, etc.

See, my main concern is that we're driving around in closed-loop fueling most of the time, and that's the time that the EGR recirculates. I'm just not sure that the minimal amount of time that methanol is spraying would be sufficient to address the vast majority of time that it's not and the EGR is recycling. Then again, I did install an OCC with a check valve to help the overall situation. I just don't know how much EGR gases flow through there.
 
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Keeping EGR off also makes IM pulling much easier.
You can borrow the scope from HF.
How many mpg do you really miss? On average (25 mpg, 15k yearly, $2.50 pump), every 1 mpg equals $50-$55 per year.
 
I'm sure they have restocking fee for it. I just had to pay that fee on mechanics stethoscope that I didn't even took out from shopping bag.
 
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