How to I clean intake ports in head?

If the valve is closed there should be no leakage into the cylinder. If some does get in it's going to strip the residual oil and cause a nasty dry start.

Seems to me you're only going to get the areas you can see to look brand new so why bother?. There's no point in making an internal area that clean.

I used a set of o-ring picks and was able to get things cleaned up pretty well. I would recommend shooting compressed air in addition to vacuuming as the air will help dislodge anything that might be marginally flaky (a vacuum ain't going to apply any real turbulence to do that).

I don't think that you really need to spray anything into the head as the temps there tend to discourage gooey formations: my only adventure here found that stuff scraped pretty easily, though hitting all the angles is time consuming. But, if you feel you need to use some chemicals then I'd think carb cleaner would be more appropriate (than oven cleaner): it dissipates and you don't need to rinse.

my ports were pretty open when I cleaned the mani out, and it had been cleaned from densely packed three times (and the EGR cooler drilled out twice)
I doubt the crappy shops cleaned the ports in the head any of the times, they didn't even drain the IC one of the times shown by the bent 2 and 3 rods

only way to really get in there is to take the head off, swirl port magic and all... Don't bother. The poop in the ports isn't going to hurt performance as much as the tiny little gt1749V turbine does

[486] said:

my ports were pretty open when I cleaned the mani out, and it had been cleaned from densely packed three times (and the EGR cooler drilled out twice)
I doubt the crappy shops cleaned the ports in the head any of the times, they didn't even drain the IC one of the times shown by the bent 2 and 3 rods

really, the ALH mani even when cleaned is more of a restriction than the junk that builds up in the cyl head's ports

Click to expand...

I believe that the argument for cleaning has more to do with the possibility of newly exposed carbon edges (primarily along the outer edge of the port) than having to do with performance. The carbon builds up fairly uniformly (layer upon layer) from the manifold and in to the head. Removing everything from the manifold means that the opening from the manifold is now greater and that the build-up in the head offers up an edge/lip where it had not been offered up before. Is there sufficient turbulence/air flow to knock that edge off? don't know, but, for me, it was a risk I didn't want to take (just clean things and be done for it, likely once and for all).

I did this on the wife's car with about 150k miles on it: bought with 143k miles. I am more than certain that this car will not need a cleaning in the next 150k miles: I doubt that it would after 200k miles, which would put this car at the 350k mile mark.

UhOh said:

Is there sufficient turbulence/air flow to knock that edge off?

Click to expand...

eh, it's soot not diamonds
piston comes up on it and it'll mush

[486] said:

eh, it's soot not diamonds
piston comes up on it and it'll mush

Click to expand...

I believe that the concern is with material getting caught between the valve and valve seat, which has been said to cause valves to not fully close and pistons to collide with the valve(s). VW dealerships (and others as well) once cleaned intakes on-car; they stopped doing that because it was causing problems (some trashed engines). No idea what the success/failure rate is.

UhOh said:

I believe that the concern is with material getting caught between the valve and valve seat, which has been said to cause valves to not fully close and pistons to collide with the valve(s). VW dealerships (and others as well) once cleaned intakes on-car; they stopped doing that because it was causing problems (some trashed engines). No idea what the success/failure rate is.

Click to expand...

Also in a gas engine this has been attributed to burned valves. That said I don't know if in a diesel this is a concern as the combustion temps are lower (?).

UhOh said:

I believe that the concern is with material getting caught between the valve and valve seat, which has been said to cause valves to not fully close and pistons to collide with the valve(s). VW dealerships (and others as well) once cleaned intakes on-car; they stopped doing that because it was causing problems (some trashed engines). No idea what the success/failure rate is.

Click to expand...

I'm not so scared of valve/piston contact as I once was. Yeah, when they drop it's a ****show, but they'll take a lot of hits before they finally break. Skip time and it happens quick. Drop in some junk, dump the clutch in second at 80, or pump up a lifter, it'll go completely undetected unless you pull the head and see a scuff at the very edge of the valve relief, or marks in the relief pocket.

I took the time to clean out the intake ports over the weekend. Simply scraping out the carbon with a screwdriver, vacuuming, and using compressed air would have probably been sufficient cleaning to avoid engine damage from some of the crud getting into the cylinders. The buildup in the head was actually pretty gooey.

I wanted to get the ports as clean as I could get them without removing the head, so I did end up spraying oven cleaner in there in addition to scraping, vacuuming, and compressed air. I gave each cylinder 3 rounds of oven cleaner, rinse with water, shop vac, and compressed air. I also took UhOh's advice and used a bit of carb cleaner as well. I found that the oven cleaner was stronger in melting the carbon in large amounts, and the carb cleaner was helpful in removing some small bits as I was able to apply a direct short burst to eliminate them.

Here's some before/after pics I snapped while doing this. I didn't get a before pic for cylinder 1, but it looked the same as cylinder 4. 2 and 3 were the worst.

Cylinder 1

Some scraping:


After:


Cylinder 2

Before:


After:


Cylinder 3

Before:


After:


Cylinder 4

Before:


After:


This is what the EGR and IM looked like before:




I couldn't get the small layer of carbon off the valves, but I was certainly satisfied with how clean the ports turned out. The car has definitely recovered some lost power, especially above 2500 rpm. I plan on getting the dynamic egr tune from Malone to minimize the carbon build up in the future.


Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

Great work!

Just to share what I'd encountered when I'd pulled the intake off the wife's car...

Before (that's a lot of crap right there at the opening!):

http://pics.tdiclub.com/showfull.php?photo=111044

After:

http://pics.tdiclub.com/showfull.php?photo=111047

VE1.9 said:

I couldn't get the small layer of carbon off the valves, but I was certainly satisfied with how clean the ports turned out.

Click to expand...

Well done. That's an impressive job. Most people don't have the patience for that.

wow VE that looks great... now I feel like a lazy bum.

When I cleaned my intakes I hadn't considered cleaning the head until I pulled off the manifolds, after looking I had to do them. On my Golf the 2 and 3 ports were bad - probably about 35% clogged. I hit them with the standard assortment of bent screwdrivers/picks/anything I could find. As I was picking I had the shop-vac on it. After that I hit the ports with lots of compressed air and my small nozzle (both valves closed). I was surprised how much broke loose and came out with the air nozzle. I spent a lot of time on each port with the air to make sure it was good to go. It did an OK job but I wasn't able to really clean it as I would have liked.

I'll likely be picking up another car sometime in the next year (i'm sure will need the standard cleaning). I'll definitely doe either the chemical clean or a walnut kit to get those ports flowing like new.

VE1.9 and UhOh - what fantastic work! Good job!
I'm wondering what mine will look like when I take the manifold off. Ordering up gaskets now in preparation for the job in a few weeks.

03TDICommuter said:

VE1.9 and UhOh - what fantastic work! Good job!
I'm wondering what mine will look like when I take the manifold off. Ordering up gaskets now in preparation for the job in a few weeks.

Click to expand...

My car's performance was abysmal. Wife's car ran pretty darn good: that it was so much better than mine was the reason I decided to buy it (I've learned a lot since then!). Intake and egr were more clogged than on the wife's car, but not by a lot. And, interestingly, the ports in the head were very clean by comparison: I just flicked off a crusty edge and that was it. In saying all this it tells how much of a crap-shoot it really is: best, as I'd first noted, to expect to have to clean them; if it's good then you can have nearly four hours of your life to do something else

Guys I want to clean my intake ports and have read through the post.
If I clean with Oven cleaner, carb clean and shop vacumm. Is there any reason to worry about the valves being open? also after all done should I spray with a little fogging oil to make sure pistons didn't get washed clean from oil? 400k and I am sure the valves leak a bit is why I ask.

The ports in the head???

Yes, you need to make sure they're closed.

Seems like you are thinking the carboned up ports will cause the valves to leak? I don't think so.

400k, your valve guides are going to have about an eighth inch of clearance in them
I know at 160k mine were shockingly loose on a stock motor

Yes, sir the 4tec Supercharged motors I build have had some valve issue's were I have had to relap them or do a head job.

So I was assuming my TDI with 400k would have some leak down.

Thank you for the input. I just want to clean all that mess in my head intake ports. I read everything and was just going to cotton ball them and then spray oven cleaner and throttle body cleaner in there then blow and vacuum.

Not knowing the overall car condition, you might consider a conventional head refresh.
If not you can clean those ports being careful nothing gets away. I'm definitely a novice and would probably go ahead and remove it for cleaning.

How long until your next TB change?
I would be tempted to wait until then and pull the head off for a proper refresh.

Ha ha 2000miles

Water4fire said:

Guys I want to clean my intake ports and have read through the post.
If I clean with Oven cleaner, carb clean and shop vacumm. Is there any reason to worry about the valves being open? also after all done should I spray with a little fogging oil to make sure pistons didn't get washed clean from oil? 400k and I am sure the valves leak a bit is why I ask.

Click to expand...

I would not ever use oven cleaner (caustic) on an aluminum head.

use caustic parts washer solution on aluminum all day,

just gotta wash it off after real good, it does do bad things to stuff like lifters left in their bores and shuttle valves left in valvebodies left for a day or two, but long as you're aware of what it does, it does a great job taking stuff right down to bare shiny aluminum.

In this situation I'd imagine that it'd be pretty easy to wash it all out afterwords without even removing the head, just idle the engine with the intake off and use a garden sprayer in each port with soapy water to rinse the caustic solution out the exhaust. Pull the vacuum line to the vane actuator to keep mister turbine from being spun up stupid fast as the little bits you no doubt missed are making their way through.

ETA: I never cleaned the ports in the head when I burned out the intake. Still made huge difference in scoot. Cleaned them out a while later when I went through the head, didn't notice as much difference, and that was with a lot of port work.

From the EASY-OFF web site:
3. Can EASY-OFF® Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner be used on any aluminum?
We do not recommend using this product on aluminum, as it may pit and discolor it. However, it does not penetrate into the metal or remain on the surface after the recommended rinsing instructions have been followed. Utensils and appliances cleaned with EASY-OFF® Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner are completely safe for use in cooking or serving food after they have been thoroughly washed and rinsed in a vinegar and water solution.
End.
I seem to recall some oven cleaners would set aluminum foil of fire.
I don't think I would try it.

I used oven cleaners to clean two intakes. I submerged the intakes in water between/after application (and hosing off).

Not that I plan on ever cleaning another intake (the ones on my cars will never have to be cleaned again), but if I had to I'd just drop one off to a local NAPA or similar shop and have them clean it. It's just flat out a messy job. Carb cleaner seems to work fine for EGR valves.

wonneber said:

From the EASY-OFF web site:
3. Can EASY-OFF® Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner be used on any aluminum?
We do not recommend using this product on aluminum, as it may pit and discolor it. However, it does not penetrate into the metal or remain on the surface after the recommended rinsing instructions have been followed. Utensils and appliances cleaned with EASY-OFF® Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner are completely safe for use in cooking or serving food after they have been thoroughly washed and rinsed in a vinegar and water solution.
End.
I seem to recall some oven cleaners would set aluminum foil of fire.
I don't think I would try it.

Click to expand...

ugh

it's aerosol lye
no magic to it
no need to care what the company that makes it for housewives to use thinks what they should use it on

They say don't use it on alu because that makes hydrogen gas, and their lawyers will bark up a storm if they say anything less.

I know the feeling of wanting parts, in this case, intake ports, to be almost spotless. However, I believe cleaning to bare metal is probably over-kill. I've scraped out the ports in numerous heads that went on to perform well.

Using a mirror, scrape, vac, blow, and repeat until the vast majority of crud is off. Then move to the next port, and obviously making sure that valve is closed and always plug the other ports with paper towels or something similar as well as keeping the work area protected from flying soot bits.

Lastly, OC is not going to hurt anything in the intake port....... just be careful!

In a previous post, someone mentioned blasting with walnut shell medium. I don't think I'd recommend such a procedure. The bits flying everywhere would no doubt result in some of that stuff going up beside the valve and valve guide ...... no good in my opinion!

oven cleaner is fine, as stated above it won't harm heavy castings unless it soaks for days ... it's also an awesome baked on brake dust remover for alloy wheels, but you have to spray it on and hose it off within a minute

To clean ports, with valves closed, I've used a length of 1/4" dia vinyl covered cable chucked in a cordless drill. Strip 2" of vinyl off the tip and fray the strands. Makes a great reversible rotating brush to run down port. Use air gun to blow carbon out of port. Cover firewall, windshield and engine with old sheets, its messy.