Fuel induction/intake valve cleaning?

[BABYSITR]

Local dealer advises to have a fuel induction/intake valve cleaning done on wife's 2019 turbo 4cyl. at 36k miles..could someone please explain what this is and what it entails? can I do it myself?

 

[Big Papi]

At 36K miles it's more of an up-sell than a necessary maintenance item. Can you operate a spray can and screwdriver? Then for about $12 your set. Have a LOOK

 

[ravenblack67]

In my opinion, It is an upsell that is not needed. It is not in the maintenance guide and can be had cheaper at an independent garage. There are plenty of kits for doing it yourself. My 2020 is running fine at 69,000 without it.

 

[BABYSITR]

Thank you both! mostly what I thought, and yes, being a retired truck mechanic, I'll enjoy giving this a shot!

 

[sdhow]

Not an "upsell" on a GDI engine. The amount of carbon build up on the backside of the intake runner and valve is considerable, even to the point of keeping the valve seats from properly sealing.

Can you do it yourself? Absolutely. Watch the numerous YouTubes done on the subject. My personal experience has been using SeaFoam, with good results.

 

[PoManNox]

Total dealer up-sell and I'd be curious to actually see what they are selling here and if it's a true manual cleaning or not. We all know what GDI engines do to the backs of the intake valves, but dealers typically want to sell liquid sprays, aerosol kits or fuel system adds that aren't going to do much of anything other than lighten your wallet. On top of that, you can't spray these products through a forced induction engine like our 1.5s

I have yet to see a video of anyone manually cleaning the intake valves on a 2018+ 1.5T. The intake manifold is on the back side of the engine, so you have the challenges of that.

 

[sdhow]

Don't know on the turbo engines. I'm speaking about the 2.4, 3.0 and 3.6 GDI motors. These can be done through the PCV vacuum port, after the throttle body, on the intake manifold.

 

[PoManNox]

Don't know on the turbo engines. I'm speaking about the 2.4, 3.0 and 3.6 GDI motors. These can be done through the PCV vacuum port, after the throttle body, on the intake manifold.

These LYX 1.5 turbo engines really have me confused in terms of their PCV systems. While doing some maintenance on my 2021, I had the plastic engine cover and the big foam sound deadener off to look at the valve cover. You can get a good look at the one piece plastic PCV "hose" assembly this way.

This hose assembly is attached to two fittings on the back side of the valve cover which is the intake cam side. Those 2 join up with another fitting on the exhaust cam side of the the valve cover, then a single branch off of that trio connects to a fitting just upsteam of the turbo compressor.

It appears there is no vacuum source for the PCV system on these engines. I believe the system relies on suction from the turbo. It kind of explains why the turbo and charge air cooler gets so full of oil and condensation on these engines.

The only vacuum source I see on mine is where the EVAP system hose pluggs into the intake manifold just downstream of the throttle body.

You could potentially spray a liquid cleaner product into the EVAP port if that hose comes off easy enough.

Vacuum for the brake booster comes solely from the exhaust cam driven vacuum pump.