3.5 Ecoboost Carbon Buildup

[SHOdded]

Nice pics, looking fwd to the video.  Was it a professional borescope that you used?

 

[glock-coma]

Yeah. It's used for fire sprinkler pipe internal inspections.
I had to take a screenshot when the video was playing.
I just posted the link for intercooler draining in shoboats original how to post.

 

[DRII]

thanks for the pics!

this carbon buildup thing is having me a little worried, especially after that video saying Ford itself is baffled and really doesn't know what to do or recommend.

what are you going to do about it?  please post after pics if you do some kind of treatment...

 

[Josephm]

BG already did a write up on a Sho they owned with pictures from theres valves.Its a good read and shows there product seem to keep it under control

 

[wasinger3000]

Ok, here a two videos of my intake valves. View 1 is of the cylinder closest to the driver. Second view2 is the cylinder closest to the PCV inlet on the manifold. ( one that would get all off the extra oil blow off). You can see that the valve is open.

2013 SHO, 18k miles. No catch can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8BeEW_2AAI&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViHLwWIN5J0&feature=youtu.be

 

[ShoBoat]

Cool vids, you can see the buildup. Interesting that you have nothing in the CAC but still have it on the valves. Is yours a 13 or 14?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wasinger3000]

It's a 13. I'd say the build up comes from the cylinder itself somehow. Because my intake tracts are all bone dry. No traces of oil at all. So I have no idea how it's building up except for coming back threw the intake port. If it was from the intake side you would see little trails of oil in the manifold. But there isn't a trace at all.

I do run lucas UCL. Not sure if it helps or hurts the carbon buildup. But I do get around 2-3 mpg better on the highway.

Sent using smoke signals.

 

[Spartn27]

It's a 13. I'd say the build up comes from the cylinder itself somehow. Because my intake tracts are all bone dry. No traces of oil at all. So I have no idea how it's building up except for coming back threw the intake port. If it was from the intake side you would see little trails of oil in the manifold. But there isn't a trace at all.

I do run lucas UCL. Not sure if it helps or hurts the carbon buildup. But I do get around 2-3 mpg better on the highway.

Sent using smoke signals.

Carbon build up is not directly correlated to oil being in the intercooler, the latter is just a symptom that usually is there when there is excessive buildup though is not always certain. With our direct injected fuel system the gasoline is sprayed directly onto of the piston whereas a regular fuel injection system sprays the gasoline through the intake valve openings which cleans the valves basically every time the car is running.

Only real way to solve this issue is to do intake valve/fuel system cleaning intervals, to use quality and higher octane fuel, and/or methanol injection which will clean the valves every time it is activated.

 

[wasinger3000]

It's a 13. I'd say the build up comes from the cylinder itself somehow. Because my intake tracts are all bone dry. No traces of oil at all. So I have no idea how it's building up except for coming back threw the intake port. If it was from the intake side you would see little trails of oil in the manifold. But there isn't a trace at all.

I do run lucas UCL. Not sure if it helps or hurts the carbon buildup. But I do get around 2-3 mpg better on the highway.

Sent using smoke signals.

Carbon build up is not directly correlated to oil being in the intercooler, the latter is just a symptom that usually is there when there is excessive buildup though is not always certain. With our direct injected fuel system the gasoline is sprayed directly onto of the piston whereas a regular fuel injection system sprays the gasoline through the intake valve openings which cleans the valves basically every time the car is running.

Only real way to solve this issue is to do intake valve/fuel system cleaning intervals, to use quality and higher octane fuel, and/or methanol injection which will clean the valves every time it is activated.

I'd like to spray some "deep creep" (made by sea foam) on the valves. Just afraid it will all come flying off at once.

Sent using smoke signals.

 

[Spartn27]

I would run some high quality fuel injector cleaner such as BG44, Lucas Fuel Injector Cleaner or Marvel Mystery Oil along with some high quality fuel to clean some of the crud before getting the majority of it out with something more potent.

 

[wasinger3000]

I've been running techron quite often but I know bg44 is what I need to get.

Somewhere on a 3.5 teardown I read that these engines inject a miniscule amount of fuel during the exhaust stroke to help wash the valves. I just can't find the page anymore. Not sure if it's true.

Either way the only "fix" right now is a meth kit. 

Sent using smoke signals.

 

[SHOdded]

I do run lucas UCL. Not sure if it helps or hurts the carbon buildup. But I do get around 2-3 mpg better on the highway.

Impressive gain!

 

[wasinger3000]

I do run lucas UCL. Not sure if it helps or hurts the carbon buildup. But I do get around 2-3 mpg better on the highway.

Impressive gain!

Yeah it is surprising. Doing 73-74  mph on interstate I get 27 mpg. Anything after 74 and the milage drops off. Coming back from Denver I was getting 29 mpg. Considering it's a gradual decrease in elevation to ks it's expected. I'll post pics of my trip meter next time.

Sent using smoke signals.

 

[ShoBoat]

I did the seafoam a while back with no apparent I'll effects. It actually felt like it ran better after I was done. Just use it slowly like I did over about 15-20 min. I used about 1/2 can. I plan on doing another soon. I will do a before and after on the valves. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[panther427]

You values looked fairly carbon free.  But they seemed wet . So oil is getting to them.  I wonder if changes where made to system for the 13 refresh?? ?

 

[wasinger3000]

I did the seafoam a while back with no apparent I'll effects. It actually felt like it ran better after I was done. Just use it slowly like I did over about 15-20 min. I used about 1/2 can. I plan on doing another soon. I will do a before and after on the valves. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Have you tried using the deep creep stuff by seafoam? It's supposed to really break carbon down. What I did was take the map sensor out and sprayed into each venture of the manifold in hopes to cover each valve.

Sent using smoke signals.

 

[wasinger3000]

You values looked fairly carbon free.  But they seemed wet . So oil is getting to them.  I wonder if changes where made to system for the 13 refresh?? ?

The second video was after I sprayed seafoam on the valves so it looked glossy. But they still had a liquid oil sludge on them so they are getting contaminated somehow.

I wish I could put the camera down the manifold while it's running to see if there is some kind of blow back into the manifold.

Also I wonder if it's possible to atomize seafoam so it can be sprayed into the manifold like a fog.

I'll try to make something tonight using compressed air and some kind of nozzle.

Sent using smoke signals.

 

[ShoBoat]

I did the seafoam a while back with no apparent I'll effects. It actually felt like it ran better after I was done. Just use it slowly like I did over about 15-20 min. I used about 1/2 can. I plan on doing another soon. I will do a before and after on the valves. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Have you tried using the deep creep stuff by seafoam? It's supposed to really break carbon down. What I did was take the map sensor out and sprayed into each venture of the manifold in hopes to cover each valve.

Sent using smoke signals.

This is what I used,

It comes with a tube that is slid under the intake tube just before the tb. And this allows you to slowly add the seafoam to the intake track. Almost the same point of entry for the meth kits I have seen. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wasinger3000]

I did the seafoam a while back with no apparent I'll effects. It actually felt like it ran better after I was done. Just use it slowly like I did over about 15-20 min. I used about 1/2 can. I plan on doing another soon. I will do a before and after on the valves. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Have you tried using the deep creep stuff by seafoam? It's supposed to really break carbon down. What I did was take the map sensor out and sprayed into each venture of the manifold in hopes to cover each valve.

Sent using smoke signals.

This is what I used,

It comes with a tube that is slid under the intake tube just before the tb. And this allows you to slowly add the seafoam to the intake track. Almost the same point of entry for the meth kits I have seen. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I forgot they made that straw. I'll have to find one.

Here's what I'm using.

Sent using smoke signals.

 

[Spartn27]

As a suggestion for a kit, I wouldn't try this at the normal price of $49.99 but it is on sale for $24.99 with a $10 rebate. Makes a nice filler for a Amazon order, cheap enough to keep a couple on hand.

http://www.amazon.com/3M-08963-Fuel-System-Tune-Up/dp/B003YJ47JO