Carbon buildup at 25k miles - A short story

[Friday yet?]

10-4. The 2.3 EcoBoost is a GDI (gasoline direct injection) design.
Pro: the piston only has to draw air on the intake stroke, yielding less pumping losses from the less dense air. The fuel being delivered separately creates more turbulence during combustion yielding higher performance(economy) and more complete combustion.
Con: there is no fuel being pulled past the intake valves cooling them and "washing" them clean.
GDI injectors have very, very small orrifices, as tiny as 800µm (800millionths of a meter) delivering fuel at around 2000psi into a hot combustion chamber, and clogging can occur if running E-85 gasohol

Explained MUCH better than I ever could!!!!

Thx for the detail.

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[grammat95]

Update: Sometime this week I will be crossing the 50k mile line. Depending on how busy I am, I will be getting more pictures of the intake valves. Any bets on whether there will be an appreciable difference from the 25k picture? I'm guessing there wont be.

 

[grammat95]

Quality post and informative. No need for walnuts at 25k with regular maintence. Maybe do 100k?

Edit: I hope you updates at 50, 75, 100k.

Coming soon!

 

[HenryMac]

Update: Sometime this week I will be crossing the 50k mile line. Depending on how busy I am, I will be getting more pictures of the intake valves. Any bets on whether there will be an appreciable difference from the 25k picture? I'm guessing there wont be.

Really great that you're sharing this information. Much appreciated.

 

[grammat95]

Alright, 50k update:

- Odometer reads 49,400 mi
- Last 25k miles has been mostly highway driving
- I've continued to use Vavloline full synthetic 5W-30 at 5k intervals
- It's an absolute PITA to get these pictures and I'm thinking 100k will be the next update (If I still have the truck).
- I drive it like I stole it

Original picture at 25k:

 

[got3fords]

Alright, 50k update:

- Odometer reads 49,400 mi
- Last 25k miles has been mostly highway driving
- I've continued to use Vavloline full synthetic 5W-30 at 5k intervals
- It's an absolute PITA to get these pictures and I'm thinking 100k will be the next update (If I still have the truck).
- I drive it like I stole it

Original picture at 25k:

This latest pic is not as clear, but it looks almost like the valve is cleaner.

 

[Dr_Strangelove]

Thanks for making the effort @grammat95. I agree it's odd it looks like more valve stem is visible in the 50k pic and the top of the valve head looks oddly cleaner too - but the second thing I attribute to the picture clarity.

 

[grammat95]

Thanks for making the effort @grammat95. I agree it's odd it looks like more valve stem is visible in the 50k pic and the top of the valve head looks oddly cleaner too - but the second thing I attribute to the picture clarity.

It's certainly difficult to tell whether there's an appreciable difference. Either way, I really don't see valve buildup being an issue for the first 100k miles. I also think catch cans really don't make sense at this point.

 

[Dr_Strangelove]

Yeah I agree I should have mentioned in my post that regardless of my observations they are almost the same photo.

 

[SilverSlugger]

LOL. Finally, at long last we can put, "are catch cans worth it?" to rest. I've laughed at the people saying catch cans are needed for 2 years now.

 

[TJC]

What cylinder are you checking? I've read that the inner two tend to have the largest buildup.

 

[grammat95]

What cylinder are you checking? I've read that the inner two tend to have the largest buildup.

Cylinder 3... the only one I can get to.

 

[TJC]

We have ancedotal evidence of 1 instance. I agree that it is better than nothing. But it is still only 1 instance. He drives it "like he stole" and and runs it distances instead if just around town. I think this helps keep buildup down.

All these factors play into the equation. And we are all different in this regard.

Driving style, gas grade, oil change interval, and brand of oil all play a roll in speed of buildup. On my next oil change I am switching to 5w40 Rotella. It has extremely good performance and low volatility numbers.

I've investigated the effort needed to pull the intake manifold, and it doesn't look like much fun.

And I have a UPR catch can installed.

 

[TJC]

Cylinder 3... the only one I can get to.

That's actually good news! Cyl 2 & 3 typically have the higher buildup

 

[Blmpkn]

Big thanks for the update. Surprised there doesn't seem to be any additional buildup since last time.. that's good for us!

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