Terraclean

[Jamie@SPTuning]

We'll check it after it's been done

[Chris_Blue]

It might be clean as a whistle at the moment tho :-)
No issues at all

Might wait till after the winter, as thats when the catch can fills the most. Will think.

[Superfly Guy]

he explained that the "High pressure Induction tool" works really effectively at cleaning carbonned up valves on GDI engines. .

He would do, did you ask if they have a camera with them so you can look yourself at before an after, for me that's the deal breaker.

[Toxic]

He would do, did you ask if they have a camera with them so you can look yourself at before an after, for me that's the deal breaker.

Yes this maybe so for you however it is not an option for me. There is no one in NI that does Walnut Blasting - Period.

If i really needed this, I'd go to SPT, however that would mean a ferry trip and long journey from Belfast to Stranraer and drive down or get the Belfast to Liverpool boat (11hrs just on the ship) then drive some more, then pay for fuel on top of the ferry price (£200-300), before I then pay £300 to get Jamie walnut blast the intake. Somehow at that overall price it is not an option for me.

I'm hoping to get the Direct Injection cleaning service done next week. Neill Clarke who is the Co. Antrim Agent, has told me twice now, if it doesn't work for my car, then i don't have to pay. I cant ague with that now can I?

Neill has had plenty of satisfied customers of VAG/BMW, can car clubs in NI who have all given good comments on his facebook site.

[Czar]

Yes it maybe for you but not for me.

There is no one in NI that does Walnut Blasting - Period.

If i really needed this I'd go to SPT, however that would mean a Ferry trip and long journey from Belfast to Stranraer and drive down or get the Belfast to Liverpool boat (11hrs just on the ship), then pay for fuel on top of the ferry (£200-300), before I then pay £300 to get Jamie to do it. Somehow that is not an option for me.

Here's an idea for you, if you've got a BMW MINI dealership in Northern Ireland, why not ask them to do the walnut blasting job for you, afteral it is BMW that initiated the concept of walnut blasting!

[Toxic]

Here's an idea for you, if you've got a BMW MINI dealership in Northern Ireland, why not ask them to do the walnut blasting job for you, afteral it is BMW that initiated the concept of walnut blasting!

Already done that, I had asked previously two BMW dealerships here in NI. the response was "its wasnt a BMW" Hence me quoting there is no one in NI to do it. Yeah there is now an opening for someone to do it here, but not me, and no one as yet is doing it, so the alternative is Terraclean. at £80 it's a no brainer.

[Jamie@SPTuning]

The adapter for R56 needs modifying to fit the DS, so the dealer BMW will struggle to do it. Unless they want to butcher there kit of course.

[Czar]

Already done that, I had asked previously two BMW dealerships here in NI. the response was "its wasnt a BMW" Hence me quoting there is no one in NI to do it. Yeah there is now an opening for someone to do it here, but not me, and no one as yet is doing it, so the alternative is Terraclean. at £80 it's a no brainer.

Although TerraClean sounds like a great idea, the reality is, that one TerraClean induction cleaning service, will NOT, remove most of the carbon deposit from the back of the inlet valves, it will require multiple service treatments.

I'm not saying you won't feel any improvement, you will, but this won't be from the effective removal of all gummy carbon deposit built up on the back of the inlet valves, from just one treatment, it will merely be from desolving some of the gummy carbon deposit from the back of the inlet valve, the piston crown, the piston rings, and the fuel injector spray nozzle.

The adapter for R56 needs modifying to fit the DS, so the dealer BMW will struggle to do it. Unless they want to butcher there kit of course.

Thanks for the heads up, it was merely a thought.

[Czar]

Let me see if I can explain and enlighten to anybody who might be interested to know a little more about any chemical additive solution (TerraClean and other additives) premium fuel, Methanol or indeed water when introduced into the otherwise dry air intake on our THP engines, or any DGI (gasoline direct injection) engine, as a measure to clean the air intake tract and inlet valves.

Firstly, let's get our heads around a regular port fuel injected engine, this is where we inject under pressure 5-7bar or for the old school, 72-101psi a metered amount of fuel directly into the intake manifold, this is known as a wet intake system, meaning the fuel will continuously wash the inside of the intake manifold, the air intake tract and of corse the all important back of the inlet valve/s.

Even though modern engine emissions require the crankcase to be internally vented, this is no problem to a regular wet intake system (port injection) as the injected fuel will always wash and keep any suspended oil particles from forming within the air intake manifold, air intake tract and the back of the inlet valve/s.

Now let's look at GDI (gasoline direct injection) we have a dry intake system, furthermore to optimise GDI with its amazing MPG statistics, we have to increase the compression ratio to maximise efficiency from the turbo, we also run very very high fuel pressures 50-150bar or for the old school 725-2175psi it's this atomisation of the fuel which gives us the amazing precise control of the fuel to be injected in very very precise amounts, resulting in the incredible MPG.

All this increase in compression pressure generates heat, which in the GDI case on one hand is a good thing, this increase in heat allows for precise fuel control (MPG) and emissions, on the other hand, this increased working heat, is part of the equation to quickly coagulate the suspended oil particles which are vented for the purpose of strict regulated emissions, into the dry air intake system, take note, there is no fuel to wash the air intake system!

Hopefully you will now have an understanding between the two types of fuel systems,

So along come various chemical additive solutions which claim to clean carbon deposit from the troubled back of the inlet valves of a GDI (gasoline direct injection) engine, some claim to do this from adding the chemical additive directly into the petrol tank, how on earth can this clean the back of the inlet valves on a dry intake system ? It simply can't, period.

The only way to clean the inlet tract and back of the inlet valve/s with any chemical additive, premium fuel, Methanol or indeed water is to inject it, under pressure, more on that in a moment, directly into the otherwise dry air intake system.

Taking note of what I have touched upon earlier, you will remember that when we inject the fuel, we do it under pressure, why do we inject fuel under pressure ?

If we didn't squeeze the fuel under pressure, we would have very large fuel droplets (like rain) resulting in very very poor engine MPG and emissions, the greater pressure we put the fuel under, the smaller the formation of the droplet, this is now atomisation, as we continue to squeeze the fuel under pressure, look at the pressure differences between port injection and GDI ^^^ the greater surface area we can cover per single injected metered amount of fuel.

Now before I loose some of you in the depths of fuel atomisation, let's look at some of the facts:

Chemical additives, premium fuel, Methanol and water can all help in combating the gummy carbon deposit, when we inject it directly into a otherwise dry air intake system, so to cover the largest surface area, injecting any of the afore mentioned liquids under pressure is nothing new, it merely increases fuel droplet size to a fine mist (atomization)

With the above mentioned, it's not so much the injection of a chemical additive under pressure which is going to remove our gummy carbon deposit, it's the shear amount of chemical additive injected over a period time frame whilst the engine is running, that said, this is where pressurised metering volume comes into play.

We have our engine idling at 800rpm the inlet valves open and close 6.66 times every second, and I'm sure most if not all of you, can see that any chemical additive, premium fuel, methanol or water injected under pressure (75psi variable) does not spend much time, in contact with the gummy carbon deposit, per injection cycle, only the shear amount of chemical additive, premium fuel, Methanol or water over multiple cycles will see significant results.

But nothing in what I have wrote above, will come close to the walnut shell blasting process, the above methods can only ever be a secondary reduction process.

[Superfly Guy]

If I had my car from brand new all over again, knowing what I know now, I would run 98 Ron from the start as well as an OCC. I would have the engine Terracleaned every 5000 then a Walnut Blast at the 20 k point.

[Chris_Blue]

I still think the Terraclean is worth a go- and yes, i did ask for before and after piccies, and they said that would be down to the Agent
Cant see how they can claim something, and it be completely inaccurate. Even if its partially accurate its a help.

Still- we pays our money and make our choice :-)
Only ever BP Ultimate, and catch can since 10k. Reason i didnt put on earlier as had one eye on warranty. Can get the can off in and all back to normal in 10 mins flat now, and carry the tools in the car

[Czar]

I still think the Terraclean is worth a go- and yes, i did ask for before and after piccies, and they said that would be down to the Agent
Cant see how they can claim something, and it be completely inaccurate. Even if its partially accurate its a help.

Still- we pays our money and make our choice :-)
Only ever BP Ultimate, and catch can since 10k. Reason i didnt put on earlier as had one eye on warranty. Can get the can off in and all back to normal in 10 mins flat now, and carry the tools in the car

Personally speaking, I have not said its not worth a go, or that TerraClean are claiming or quoting inaccuracies, what you and anybody thinking of taking on the TerraClean induction service, is, that any Chemical additive injected into the dry air intake system, will through agitation dissolve some of the soft gummy carbon deposit, how much it will dissolve and disperse, will depend soley on each individual engine, and the initial contamination build up.

Anyone thinking that for £80 and a one time single TerraClean induction service, injecting 250-500ML of their chemical additive at a raised idle speed of say 1,600rpm is going to have the same effect as a walnut shell blasting, is misguided and misinformed.

[Chris_Blue]

Another email just received when I asked how does the system work:

"Features and Benefits

· Can be used to clean induction system through the air intake or through a vacuum line

· Tool comes complete with S-tool and vacuum line attachment

· Easy to read gauge for accurate pressure settings

· Sight glass allows the Technician to monitor chemical level – no guessing when the service is complete

· Schrader valve on gauge assembly allows for simple, safe depressurization of the system when the service is complete
Product Description

Direct Injection Engines are particularly susceptible to carbon build up on the backs of the intake valves. These valves are not cleaned during a conventional fuel system service and require a separate cleaning through the induction system. As more and more vehicles are made with Direct Injection Engines, there is a greater need to service the Intake Valves separately from a conventional Fuel System Cleaning.

The TerraClean Pressurized Induction Tool helps you perform an effective induction service on Direct or Conventional Fuel Injected Engines. After filling the tool’s cylinder with TerraClean Intake Valve and Deposit Cleaner 201230, it is pressurized using shop air. The S-Tool is placed inside the intake past the Mass Air Flow Sensor and a fine spray of cleaner is introduced into the system. The intake valve deposit cleaner is sprayed on to the valves, ensuring that they are cleaned of hard carbon deposits that negatively impact effective combustion. Alternatively, using the Vacuum line attachment, the tool can be connected through a vacuum line, allowing for a faster introduction of the chemical into the air intake.





Your best source of information will be your local operator or if needs be I can put you in touch with our engineer

[Oakleyman]

Hi guys,

So here's my story.

150Thp with 41k on the clock (11 plate). Car is 2.5 years into a three year loan deal and most importantly 3 months outside of warranty. Car had always been a little judder under acceleration and one morning decided to have a big cough and put itself into recovery mode. Citroen had a look and came back with a quote of £2500 to take the head off and decarbonise it. Needless to say I was not very happy at all and argued the case, I did receive a goodwill gesture of £1000 off the quoted price but still very unhappy this work needed doing in the first place.

Numerous calls to CUK ended by going in more circles and only achieving a small amount extra off the cost of the work.

Paid my 'investigation' fee to Citroen and took the car back. Had investigated alternative options and Terraclean popped up so figured for £108 it might be worth a try.

I was under no illusion that this would be a magic wand fix but went ahead and had it done this morning. All I can say is the difference so far is pretty decent, the car accelerates smoothly for the first time in over a year and idle is no longer lumpy. I'll give it a week to see if it impacts mpg as they suggest it will.

I am hoping this clean will be enough to see me through the term on my car and then I am sorry to say Citroen have lost me as a customer for life, I was very happy with the car and was already planning to swap it for another one come April next year. The way Citroen simply put up a massive brick wall in all endeavours to be nice about wanting another car and coming to some arrangement has really put me off the brand.

I'm sure Citroen are not alone on this but the whole experience has left a bad taste in my mouth about main dealers

I'm no expert and I truly know this cleaning won't correct an underlying issue but for me it was well worth the money.

Mark

[Superfly Guy]

I'd love to see your valves, if they are spanky clean il eat this iPad. Having said that if it has improved the performance and drivability then it's a winner. I do wonder however if you will see a deterioration at a quicker rate than from new. The first time I used BK44 it improved my performance, but only for a while and the second time it had zero effect.
I will look at Terraclean but only as a preventative measure now I have had mine valves cleaned.