Intake valve carbon cleaner

[Muffin1]

Aside from risk of damage... getting that cold side intercooler pipe off and on the throttle body is a pain in the ass.

I am able to borrow a friends borescope but have no idea where to enter the intake to see the valves. I’m new to this engine platform and turbos in general with all the extra plumbing.
I’m use to seeing the TB at the top & center of the engine, this one appears to be in a lower position than the airbox but in-line with it.

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[Sariandan]

I am able to borrow a friends borescope but have no idea where to enter the intake to see the valves. I’m new to this engine platform and turbos in general with all the extra plumbing.
I’m use to seeing the TB at the top & center of the engine, this one appears to be in a lower position than the airbox but in-line with it.

The throttle body on mine is on the driver side, lower on the engine. Follow the pipe coming out of the intercooler back towards the firewall. You’ll run right into it. It’s nowhere near the air box.

 

[Muffin1]

The throttle body on mine is on the driver side, lower on the engine. Follow the pipe coming out of the intercooler back towards the firewall. You’ll run right into it. It’s nowhere near the air box.

Yes I see that now,thanks I was looking at this (pic below) and thinking that small black box with the little sticker was the TB cause it’s fed right from the airbox, so that means the TB doesn’t get any air directly from airbox ?? it goes thru and fed by the turbo?? Like I said above not familiar with all the extra hardware.
Again thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

 

[Sariandan]

That is correct. Air enters through the airbox, is compressed by the turbo, and sent through the intercooler prior to entering the throttle body on the other side of the engine.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

@Sariandan , just wanted to pipe in and say I dig your avatar!

And for myself anyway, based on my current driving it will be another 2+ years before I hit 30k so I don't have to think about it just yet.

Hopefully there will be some solid experiences by then that I can learn from.

 

[rydfree]

I've heard stories of Seafoam causing issues on old Rangers too. I had bought it for my high mileage 1999 and after a bit a research decided to leave it on the shelf.

The Seafoam worked wonders on my '91 Ranger . It started running rough and fuel mileage went down to 10 mpg around 290k . Changed plugs and did not help so tried the Seafoam into a vacuum line . Instantly helped and mpg went back up to 19 . Have 330k on her now .

 

[Muffin1]

That is correct. Air enters through the airbox, is compressed by the turbo, and sent through the intercooler prior to entering the throttle body on the other side of the engine.

ok got that, I removed the air tube (2 pieces) going into the TB so I could see if the borescope would feed through but no luck, it’s tricky cause I’m keeping the TB blade open with a screwdriver and trying to feed the camera cable I can see it’s oily in there but not able to get the cable to find the route to the intake area.

 

[C.moore01]

I wouldn’t run anything through the intake that could cause large amounts of carbon to be broke loose and then sent through the turbo on the exhaust side .. the answer is the walnut blasting that is vacuumed out before starting the engine

 

[Dgc333]

I wouldn’t run anything through the intake that could cause large amounts of carbon to be broke loose and then sent through the turbo on the exhaust side .. the answer is the walnut blasting that is vacuumed out before starting the engine

The top end cleaners dissolve the carbon. There is no more of a chance of carbon braking loose than when you are just driving down the street.

I have been using top end cleaners in all my turbo powered cars going back to the first in 1985. In 3/4 of a million miles I have never had a turbo failure.

 

[Muffin1]

I just finished up performing the intake cleaning using the STP stuff I mentioned in my earlier post, while I would’ve loved to see the valves before & after I wasn’t able to and curisoty is not killing this cat lol.
Being I have only 12,400 miles I was figuring I didn’t have a large carbon buildup probably a thinner layer, while doing this procedure I didn’t see any smoke coming from the tailpipe, also the CEL started flashing about 2 minutes in and intermittently came on / off, I smelled the ‘ rotten egg’ smell from the cats.
Also as I feathered the throttle I could feel/ hear the engine stumble. I then went for a test ride and a couple full throttle bursts and everything seems normal,
no smoke,CEL,or any stumble. And I used my code scanner just to see if any codes were stored and there were none.
So for those with lower miles it may be a good preventive before the carbon gets built up more and into larger pieces on the valves.
I can see myself doing this every other year just before my annual oil change. And the cost from Autozone was $41.99 and I had two $5 off codes so it was $31.99 + tax.

 

[MountainGoat]

The Seafoam worked wonders on my '91 Ranger . It started running rough and fuel mileage went down to 10 mpg around 290k . Changed plugs and did not help so tried the Seafoam into a vacuum line . Instantly helped and mpg went back up to 19 . Have 330k on her now .

There were good stories and bad ones. My Ranger was running fine so I decided to leave well enough alone.

 

[thellamafarm]

I used the spray in my intake and now my turbo seals are blown, my battery blew up. My headlights converted from LED to halogens also my exhaust fell off. Please dont use these products.

 

[Tim H.]

I used the spray in my intake and now my turbo seals are blown, my battery blew up. My headlights converted from LED to halogens also my exhaust fell off. Please dont use these products.

Mine started doing wheel stands after this treatment!

 

[Msfitoy]

I used the spray in my intake and now my turbo seals are blown, my battery blew up. My headlights converted from LED to halogens also my exhaust fell off. Please dont use these products.

And your tranny will blow up prematurely...

I wonder if the STP treatment can be induced at the airbox area, pre turbo intake and intercooler?

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