[BB_cuda]

Animal, was there any hassle involved in changing the valve cover? I recall that the design has changed (in what regard I do not know). I know the hassle of disconnecting the little injector feeds off of the common rail. My question was more in regard to what were differences in old and new cover please.

335dsleeper had told us of having to purge the fuel rail after he had disconnected the HPFP (he was hunting a problem that ultimately was a not fully seated electrical connector on the lifting pump). He may have ultimately changed the HPFP as part of the trouble shooting. My point of mention is it would be good to purge air out of the injector feed tubes.

For anyone out there, does running the lift pump purge this area too? I'm not sure if flow can get past the HPFP. It would seem the injectors are dead headed even if you can purge the common rail itself. Seems I recall sleeper doing something to get a little flow out of the injector feed tubes with tube disconnected from injector's inlet.

[animalchen]

It seems purging air would have been good. I didn't know how to do that and didn't see any reference to such before.

The cover was basically the same. It's the multiple fasteners that are extremely tight to get to that we're the problem. And the fear of getting walnut chips in tre oil/engine when blasting with valve cover off. I taped everything off with plastic wrap changing frequently.

Then I changed the oil shortly after car started and warmed up.

[Mik325tds]

Checking CBU after 25k miles. I'm running without meth and without an oil catch can. I guess this proves that you only need to block the EGR to prevent CBU.

[Torqu3]

Originally Posted by Mik325tds

Checking CBU after 25k miles. I'm running without meth and without an oil catch can. I guess this proves that you only need to block the EGR to prevent CBU.

I'm guessing this is a stock car, right? Looks shockingly clean! I lost the intake end of my EGR block somewhere in the engine bay, and now I'm just wondering if I should snag a race pipe from UK EBay or just get another metal circle from IA.

[BB_cuda]

Originally Posted by Torqu3

I'm guessing this is a stock car, right? Looks shockingly clean! I lost the intake end of my EGR block somewhere in the engine bay, and now I'm just wondering if I should snag a race pipe from UK EBay or just get another metal circle from IA.

It all depends on if you want the EGR cooler to be there still. Don't forget we have a US supplied faux EGR housing from AARodriguez. If you delete cooler, there is the additional work for the water that goes through the cooler to either a) be bypassed or b) corked up with a plug.

[Torqu3]

Originally Posted by BB_cuda

It all depends on if you want the EGR cooler to be there still. Don't forget we have a US supplied faux EGR housing from AARodriguez. If you delete cooler, there is the additional work for the water that goes through the cooler to either a) be bypassed or b) corked up with a plug.

I've already pulled the EGR cooler off to replace the thermostat, and it appears to be a relatively easy process to bypass the cooler by just running a standard coolant line and not have it run through the cooler, block off the hole where the cooler mates to the exhaust end, and then install a race pipe on the intake manifold end. It doesn't appear to be any trouble really. As for buying from AARodriguez, I brought that up before in another thread and was informed that I can get another race pipe for much cheaper from the UK.

[GgOTi]

Question, would there be any significant disadvantage to cleaning the intake manifold by itself, i.e. not cleaning the engine side of the intake? I've got the intake manifold off for other reasons, but I was wondering why not give it a good cleaning while it's off? Would it create any issues, or exacerbate current cbu on the engine side, by only cleaning the manifold? (And I realize it would be better to do both at the same time, but I don't have access to the tools, unless someone in the LA area would be willing to lend out all the necessary parts to do it?)
.

[cummins]

Originally Posted by GgOTi

Question, would there be any significant disadvantage to cleaning the intake manifold by itself, i.e. not cleaning the engine side of the intake? I've got the intake manifold off for other reasons, but I was wondering why not give it a good cleaning while it's off? Would it create any issues, or exacerbate current cbu on the engine side, by only cleaning the manifold? (And I realize it would be better to do both at the same time, but I don't have access to the tools, unless someone in the LA area would be willing to lend out all the necessary parts to do it?)
.

Disadvantage? I don't think so. But I also don't think there'd be any advantage either. If you do one, it's probably work the time and money to do the other.

[alex sol]

incredible post. learned a lot. will tackle this job when my swirl flap delete kit arrives and need the local Toronto temps to hit the 50s at least...

[alex sol]

@[Mik325tds]

with the block off plate, did you ever go into limp mode? i blocked off the egr on the hot side with a small 35mm plate and got the p401 code... then later got the p402 code which i believe put me into limp mode... not fun...

[Torqu3]

Originally Posted by alex sol

@[Mik325tds]

with the block off plate, did you ever go into limp mode? i blocked off the egr on the hot side with a small 35mm plate and got the p401 code... then later got the p402 code which i believe put me into limp mode... not fun...

I also installed block off plates with no limp mode. It threw a few EGR codes, but none of them had me limping.

[Mik325tds]

Originally Posted by alex sol

@[Mik325tds]

with the block off plate, did you ever go into limp mode? i blocked off the egr on the hot side with a small 35mm plate and got the p401 code... then later got the p402 code which i believe put me into limp mode... not fun...

I never had a limp home mode with the EGR block and no tune and I did drive it quite a bit with that. Quite interesting that yours goes into limp. Have you tried updating your DDE SW?

[335stoner]

just wondering could I spin the motor over by hand? or is the starter a must....

Im doing my cleaning now... I don't have a blaster for the heads I was planning on running a flexible brush on a drill down the head to clean out as much as I can and get some meth working for me.....

knowing how easy the manifold comes off I have no issues yanking it off again

[335dsleeper]

You can turn over by hand but you'll need to verify the valves are closed. I chose to use a bore scope instead of removing the valve cover.

Gasoline works exceedingly well on carbon. You could put it in the runner, clean with a wire brush and then soak it up with a rag and blow it dry with compressed air. It might do the trick if you do not have the blaster.

Originally Posted by 335stoner

just wondering could I spin the motor over by hand? or is the starter a must....

Im doing my cleaning now... I don't have a blaster for the heads I was planning on running a flexible brush on a drill down the head to clean out as much as I can and get some meth working for me.....

knowing how easy the manifold comes off I have no issues yanking it off again

[derkenblosh]

Originally Posted by lee4him

@ montr, possible, sure...effective I don't think so. Cleaning the gunk out will be problematic because of the oil, it sticks and smears on everything. I believe you'd find yourself getting very frustrated very quickly. The other issue is ensuring all the dislodged carbon and gunk (large pieces) is removed so that you don't pass it through the valves. I try lots of crazy stuff but cleaning only with a brush would not be one of them. If you don't have the equipment then go with the Water/meth injection and egr block. It'll take longer but will help.

Wanted to add to this for anyone who doesn't take this reply to heart...


I did my CBU cleaning the hard way (brushes, chemicals, bore scope) ... ended up running some of the crap into the DPF cause i couldn't get the goo out of the runners... BIG giant hole in the DPF now :-).

lesson being that it is easier to remove dry walnut shells, than wet GOO :-p

[civilator]

Originally Posted by lee4him

.......
Anyway, the tools used were from the SIB released on CBU cleaning. Mik325tds was kind enough to allow me to rent all the required adapters and wands. I purchased my fine grade walnut shells from harborfrieght (25# for $24. I ended up reusing them several times with no issues. Some may scoff at this but I couldn't care less. That's how I did it and its how I'd do it again! Of course, I have a blasting machine, air compressor and shop vac. With all the right tools, the process was simple and pretty easy. I used the Ryobi camera to ensure my valves were closed and to validate the cleaning was done to an acceptable level. To close the valves, you will need to bump the starter by either purchasing a cheap jumper switch or do like me and wire up an old light switch. It was a crude setup but it worked. As you may know the starter has a continuous 12v hot and a circuited 12v. You wire one end of your switch to a 12v source and the other to the circuited 12v. Then bump your switch to engage the starter. If you jockey your camera right, you can watch the valve open and close while you bump the starter. Easy stuff guys!

hi,
thanks for the excellent guide.
the above section in your write up answers my question about using the starter to turn the engine.

my other question is about the compressor setup. I have a good compressor that I want to use, but this piece of details seems to be skipped in almost every thread I have read on the cbu cleaning topic.

I have bought this basic kit from amazon (http://a.co/flC7zjH) and the nozzle is removable, however it turned out to be too big for the little fitting the bmw wands seem to have.
can you please explain how you attached the bmw wands to the blasting kit and what kit you used etc etc??? it would be awesome if you have pictures as well.

thank you so much for your elaboration.

[Mik325tds]

Originally Posted by civilator

hi,
thanks for the excellent guide.
the above section in your write up answers my question about using the starter to turn the engine.

my other question is about the compressor setup. I have a good compressor that I want to use, but this piece of details seems to be skipped in almost every thread I have read on the cbu cleaning topic.

I have bought this basic kit from amazon (http://a.co/flC7zjH) and the nozzle is removable, however it turned out to be too big for the little fitting the bmw wands seem to have.
can you please explain how you attached the bmw wands to the blasting kit and what kit you used etc etc??? it would be awesome if you have pictures as well.

thank you so much for your elaboration.

Ah, yes. Sorry for not explaining this. I used the blaster from Harbor Freight (20 lb. Pressurized Abrasive Blaster, https://www.harborfreight.com/20-lb-...ter-68994.html) and a 2HP 7.4 SCFM compressor, but any decent compressor should do.
In order to attach the wands to the Harbor Freight blaster I pulled off the nuts from the BMW wand and used the nut from the noozle that came with the blaster. It wasn't a 100% tight fit but enough to not let any media through.

[civilator]

Originally Posted by Mik325tds

Ah, yes. Sorry for not explaining this. I used the blaster from Harbor Freight (20 lb. Pressurized Abrasive Blaster, https://www.harborfreight.com/20-lb-...ter-68994.html) and a 2HP 7.4 SCFM compressor, but any decent compressor should do.
In order to attach the wands to the Harbor Freight blaster I pulled off the nuts from the BMW wand and used the nut from the noozle that came with the blaster. It wasn't a 100% tight fit but enough to not let any media through.

thank you so much... I have probably read every thread on cbu cleaning and this has never been mentioned. I thought there was an Omerta oath to keep this information from general public )

[Hoooper]

Photobucket changing their photo sharing platform has really screwed up all the old DIYs.

[myculito]

Originally Posted by Mik325tds

Ah, yes. Sorry for not explaining this. I used the blaster from Harbor Freight (20 lb. Pressurized Abrasive Blaster, https://www.harborfreight.com/20-lb-...ter-68994.html) and a 2HP 7.4 SCFM compressor, but any decent compressor should do.
In order to attach the wands to the Harbor Freight blaster I pulled off the nuts from the BMW wand and used the nut from the noozle that came with the blaster. It wasn't a 100% tight fit but enough to not let any media through.

How long did the job take, from beginning to end?

[Mik325tds]

Originally Posted by myculito

How long did the job take, from beginning to end?

It depends a little on how OCD you are for how clean you want to get it, but I'd say that most people can do it in a weekend.

[rbreding]

Thanks Mik for the tools. Just want to add to the overall process. Took about 1.5hrs per cylinder to complete. Did it over 3 days @ 2 per day. Cylinder 6 was a PITA on the upper valve to get clean due to the firewall and cowl. Had to remove the wipers and trim out of the way to get that really hard to reach upside down curve but she came clean.

I did the EGR delete at the same time so any additional EGR Based soot has been eliminated. Oil catch can is waiting on a couple hoses but will be installed this week. No more funky shit in my intakes!

The internal intake shots were from the worst before and after. The upper port shot external was probably the worst one.

I will say that that process took a little time and I definately don't want to do it again, but it really wasn't that awfully bad. If your compressor is borderline or has seen some years this process might very well put it over the edge.

BTW this is the camera that I used on my S8+. It provided an invaluable function in this overall process (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1).