intake manifold cleaning

bozwell

Veteran Member
Joined
May 17, 2009
Location
your mom's
TDI
diesel hoverboard
for the record i already read the FAQ. i took the manifold off my 1Z engine today and it was pretty gunked up. i scraped off what i could with a flathead screwdriver then i taped the inlet with duct tape and filled it with acetone to loosen up what was left

my question is does anyone have a good method for cleaning the bend in the intake and the plenum? i was thinking maybe a small drain snake might work but i figured id ask here first
 

TDICADDGUY

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 4, 2007
Location
Blaine, MN
TDI
2012 BMW X5 35D
Snake would work well. Basically whatever you can fit in there that can scrape it out...you will likely use a few different things.
 

kack

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2004
Location
Burlington, On Canada
TDI
Jetta GLS 2000 BMP
kerosene and a bucket to start

soak the manifold for about an hour

then use some oven/bbq cleaner and spray it good on the inside

again wait like the can says 2 hours

rinse with some kerosene again until its pouring out clean

your done after its dried out

This might take a long time but it works great

you can also rinse the intercooler with kerosene no need for the oven/bbq cleaner.
 

Rickstah

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2002
Location
Yukon, Oklahoma
TDI
NB, 2002, green, Eurotek STG1
I used a brake adjuster tool, I think, had a bend going backwards at a good angle...there are a couple of awkward places where there were still deposits when I did mine so they did require scraping to get it all out of there.
 

CharlieT

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Joined
Dec 10, 2008
Location
Houston, Tx
TDI
Audi TTqTDI, B4V, B5.5V, '12 NMS SEL
From my very recent experience, I would suggest you be very sure the intake ports in the head are clean also. There are a few posts on here as to how... in short turn the cam so both lobes of cyl 1 are pointing upwards, ensure valves are CLOSED, clean and vacuum intake #1 out REALLY well. Repeat with #2 etc, ensuring each is closed first.

I did the same last weekend, thought I was being careful...
but this is the aftermath.... headless 1Z...:mad:

I would hate to see someone else go down the same path... I feel fairly embarassed about the whole thing :(
 

bozwell

Veteran Member
Joined
May 17, 2009
Location
your mom's
TDI
diesel hoverboard
wow that sux. yea i was planning on cleaning the ports in the head as well. tonite i taped off the intake inlet and filled the manifold with acetone. it seems to have loosened up the gunk pretty good. im gonna take it to work tomorow and let it sit in the parts washer all day then ill blast it with a pressure washer and see how it comes out
 

FL/COtdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2009
Location
Aspen CO
TDI
2003 Jetta wagon
vw diesel said:
bucket of kem dip, cleans everything carboned like crazy
I will be doing this in a few weeks. What exactly is kem dip? Where can I get it? Is it safe to put acetone into the head? Im sure some of it will leak into the combustion chamber, right?

Patrick
 

Rickstah

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2002
Location
Yukon, Oklahoma
TDI
NB, 2002, green, Eurotek STG1
He could be referring to Chem-Dip, which I used. It is made by Chem-Tool, which is Berryman, and they have the carb cleaner spray, etc.

You can get it in large jugs. It seems to work pretty well, I soaked mine in it for several hours, with the egr valve up out of it, though. I don't think it is a substitute for a thorough scraping and high-pressure cleaning after you use it.

If you go to the link below and skip down to the "Vatting" link, you can see the can of it in a video.

http://rchurry.com/tdi/intake_cleaning/a3_intake_manifold.htm#cleaning
 
Last edited:

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
The only thing I would add to all this is don't use oven cleaner. They usually have some sodium hydroxide (NaOH, aka lye or caustic soda) in the formula and that stuff eats aluminum.
 

bozwell

Veteran Member
Joined
May 17, 2009
Location
your mom's
TDI
diesel hoverboard
well i finished cleaning the intake today and it came out damn good. i started by duct taping the inlet closed and filling it with acetone thru the intake ports. i let it sit like that overnight then dumped it in the morning. then i threw it in a parts washer at work and filled it with parts washer solvent and let it sit. every time i walked past the parts washer i shook the manny around a bit, dumped the solvent and refilled it. then i filled it with throttle body cleaner (took a couple cans!), let it soak in for about and hour then used a refrigerator coil brush and scrubbed the crap out of the manny. afterward i used brake cleaner and compressed air to clean off the residue and dry it.

ill take pics of it when i get a chance
 

RamMan4x4

Veteran Member
Joined
May 6, 2007
Location
Raleigh, NC
TDI
'03 Jetta TDI
Carb cleaner, elbow grease, and a pressure washer knocks out most of the heavy stuff. Purple power, more elbow grease and regular rinsing will clean it down to the surface....manifold looked almost new afterwards.

Also, lye chemically "etches" the aluminum...I doubt something like draino or oven cleaner could ever eat through the manifold. I read some where that the gas produced during the reaction is toxic so I wouldn't recommend it unless you know what you're doing (Note: I'm not a chemist by any means of the word, so read more about this before you try it).
 

RamMan4x4

Veteran Member
Joined
May 6, 2007
Location
Raleigh, NC
TDI
'03 Jetta TDI
CharlieT said:
From my very recent experience, I would suggest you be very sure the intake ports in the head are clean also. There are a few posts on here as to how... in short turn the cam so both lobes of cyl 1 are pointing upwards, ensure valves are CLOSED, clean and vacuum intake #1 out REALLY well. Repeat with #2 etc, ensuring each is closed first.

I did the same last weekend, thought I was being careful...
but this is the aftermath.... headless 1Z...:mad:

I would hate to see someone else go down the same path... I feel fairly embarassed about the whole thing :(
Sorry to hear about your bad luck...almost makes me want to pull my intake again and make sure the build up around the head ports isn't worse than I thought. I cleaned around the ports a little but I didn't try to get all the gunk out, just the edges and whatever the shop vac would pull out. Its been running strong for a week now, but you never know....
 
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