Carbon Build up of 212,000 miles

[JPJ2007]

I can only assume it's never been done because I bought the car off of a 3yr lease with 90k miles. It now how 212,000 miles and the intake had to come off to replace the thermostat as preventative maintenance.

So, here's what it looks like. (I haven't seen anyone with 200k+ show carbon build up.

VIDEO, Worth watching, shows up better.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IkS4qNIpuI



Photos















Yeah, Definitely some carbon build up.

Here are the lower runners.



When removing the lower intake runners one injector came out. I noticed where it goes was really dirty.
Not sure aside from cleaning with a q tip to worry about the rest or not. I thought about sending them off to a shop to be cleaned but
I haven't been having issues. So I guess I'll just skip that.

[Euro_head]

I've been thinking of doing mine since I've put like 35k miles on my car this year alone but how hard was it cleaning the walls and valves . What did you use to soak them too ?


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[95blkmax]

I guess I have to do something about my old glasses' Rx LOL. I could have sworn I counted 10 runners on the intake manifold when I saw that picture on the other thread. Must have been the Nyquil lolol.

Dude that build up is no joke! Especially on the driver side valves. Any clue what that copper-looking wire is on cyl3's picture? Was it something you found in there or something that fell in accidentally while removing the intake manifold/ lower runner stack? Best of luck with this!

[JPJ2007]

I wish it had 10 runners!! lol.

Haven't cleaned it yet, starting that this evening.
bought some metal bristle brushes from home Depot.
Going to see how far that gets me before trying anything dramatic.
I think it may have fallen in there, but I also pulled out a daddy long leg spider. No way it was in there when the car was running so I can only assume it crawled in there while it sat for a week in the garage... somehow...

[nordictom]

subscribed.

Just an FYI on the injectors........ getting them cleaned & flow tested is pretty reasonable. HUGE difference in flow when you get the printed report. I have used RC Engineering in Torrance, CA. Excellent service. usually 1-2 day turn around.

Thanks for the photo's, this in on my to do list.

NT

[skylinrcr01]

Make sure the valves for the cyl you are working on are CLOSED before you start working on them. You don't want that crap dropping into the combustion cylinder.

[grain370]

Man, this is making me nervous on how much I will have on my 06 3.2. As far as I know, mine has not seen a cleaning what so ever. Got the car with around 55k miles back in early 09. I will hit 190k miles at the end of this upcoming weekend. It has seen mostly highway miles from commuting and spirited driving of course ;), which I am hoping delayed the buildup some. I had the dealership give me a quote while I was getting an oil change and they wanted roughly $1400... (they got a nice little chuckle from me and I said "oh ok") I've seen others get theirs done for less, so I am not sure how that price came to be. Congrats on hitting 200k+ btw. I'm creeping on up there. lol

[JPJ2007]

I'm out of town for the week so I wasn't able to get around to cleaning. I only cleaned the metal runner deviders. that alone took half an hour so I expect the rest of it to take a good day amount of time.

I took was quoted 1,400 from my local audi dealer.

I bought some wire brushes and a small circular one as well
in addition to a single small Dremel wire brush I hope will help
in the cleaning.

Yes, I'll be sure the cyl. is closed I'm working on.

[Dutch_A6]

The quote is about right, i had it done when i hit 100k (at 180 now) and it's based off of 8 hours of work at whatever their rate is, i'll probably do it again next year when i hit 200k.

[JPJ2007]

Dividers all cleaned up..





Runners




Dirty


A little cleaning. I'm worried scrubing it too much with the metal brush because it's plastic. If I scratch into the material it'll just
create voids/scratches for carbon to build up on.

After some cleaning



Bought this at Home Depot, I a pipe cleaner. Hard wire brush.

[JPJ2007]

So I'm finally going to go work on this tomorrow.

I am leaking oil somewhere near the back of the block. It seems to be in the middle because it evenly flows down the tranny bell housing.

Possible it's the oil filter leaking? There's a gasket at the bottom isnt there, and I assume it's easier to replace while the Intake manifold is out. I can't find the part....

Edit: Found this, But could this really be it? I figured it was round o ring. I'm thinking where it enters the block. I don't know.
http://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Inf...6E-115-446-VAG
Here's what pelican parts shows
http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...ilter+housing+


I can't pinpoint where it's coming from.





This thing on the front pass. of the motor is def leaking oil. Even while it's been sitting...


Alright so I'll go buy that gasket at audi if I have to so I can get it back on the road.

Now to pin point the front thing leaking oil.
Edit: It's the brake vacuum pump. I'll buy a gasket for that too..

We'll see how tom. goes

[nordictom]

great thread

few questions; what liquid do you use to clean the runners & the valves? What / how did you get the valve pockets cleaned out?

Thanks,
NT

[JPJ2007]

So far all I've used is Purple Power and the brush. I haven't even touched the valve ports yet. With a 3 week old newborn this project has been pushed back and back, but it has to get done because the Audi is my daily and I'll be returning to work next week.

Probably going to Audi and getting the gaskets I need, then working on cleaning the ports up this evening. I still have to replace everything on the front of the motor as well still.

[JPJ2007]

Well, I started cleaning lastnight and wow, is it going to take awhile. I'm going to try the zip tie in the drill method. I had tried to look for a long skiny metal brush to get down there but was no luck.

I did get the Water pump, Thermostat, Tensioner, Idler Pulley on.

[skylinrcr01]

That oil leak may be the filter housing. I had a friend who had that happen to her 3.2 a6, was pretty hard to track down too. As for cleaning the valves up, I think media blasting is what the dealer does if you have a compressor and a harbor freight nearby. It's gonna make a huge mess though.

[JPJ2007]

Also before I did this I had this issue with my throttle body sounding like it's jittery when I would even open my car door and it powers the car up.
Is the sensor bad or something? Whats up with this

[JPJ2007]

Got the valves cleaned up!

It might not be perfect, but it's MUCH better than before!

No order to the photos regarding cylinders.



this ones still kinda dirty. But, it was the worst one. cyl #5 IIRC and it was incredible the flakes and chips of carbon that came off this valve.








I don't know if some of these were final or mid cleaning. I'll get some better final photos. Obviously it's still apart.


New poly front snub mount from ECS.





And the majority of the stuff is together.




MOTHER F! I broke this rigid plastic hose attached to the pvc valve? that goes under the intake mani. Every damn piece on this motor is brittle.





I wonder if can use a rigid rubber vacuum line from the local auto store....

[Bonaccmj_A6]

Ohhh, THAT'S what a snub mount is??? I have wondered about those before. What exactly is the purpose of that? And how difficult was it to install? If I recall correctly, they're fairly inexpensive, but I've heard they're a real bitch to get in...

[JPJ2007]

Obviously it's on the front of the motor, and it limits movement up/down apparently when shifting and accelerating. A new oem like is $6-10, new oem one from my audi is $30. The ECS poly mount is $40
It's apparently the perfect balance of crisp smooth shifts without allowing vibrations into the cabin through the frame/body.
I haven't driven yet, but the reviews are all outstanding.

I don't know how people are saying it's easy, I had to pull the radiator completely off and out (Since it was already in the service position) to get it to go. I'd find it nearly impossible but I didn't do it any other way.
Also, On the ECS poly mount, it has to be installed like shown. There is a groove in the polly and in the metal mount that allows it to "snap" into place. I had to forcefully push the poly mount onto that metal plug after I removed it off the car.

[JPJ2007]

Well, It's all back together and holy cow does the car run better. I'm going to say the extra parts I swapped helped out. But, I have no CEL's anymore. No Stuttering or bucking.
I have pics/vids I can upload but it's not really of anything aside from what I replaced and what it all looked like.

This section is so dead. lol

[95blkmax]

Well, It's all back together and holy cow does the car run better. I'm going to say the extra parts I swapped helped out. But, I have no CEL's anymore. No Stuttering or bucking.
I have pics/vids I can upload but it's not really of anything aside from what I replaced and what it all looked like.

This section is so dead. lol

lol I've actually been following your movements!... It's just that I only get on the forum every few days. Glad to hear she's back up and running! Does the butt-dyno detect more power?? lol Better question for my curiosity would be, where do you feel the most difference? Partial throttle accel WOT, low/ mid RPMs, mid/ high RPMs? I have this on my to do list by year's end along with a few other things while the IM is off lol.

Quick question regarding the snub mount- My OE snub mount is non-existent. The prong of the engine-side is literally sitting on the bottom (6 o'clock) of the radiator support-side. Did you notice how was yours sitting prior to taking apart the front end? I got 103k on my car right now and Im wondering if given that the snub-mount sitting how it is, if my actual motor mounts are squashed so the motor has just settled. My motor mounts FEEL perfectly fine, but then again I never had this car with new mounts to compare lol.

Is it a noticeable difference with the ECS snub mount?

[JPJ2007]

Hey! My oem snub mount was the same. Sitting on the 6 oclock part of the sqaure metal mount. Here's a photo. And, Because I never knew it was even there I have no idea how long it's been like this. It could have been for years! :/




I did notice a couple points where the shifts felt a tid bit stiff like a thud, but then also were shifts were silky smooth which was crazy smooth like butter. So, I guess I really don't know until I get some more time in.


I haven't been too crazy on it since It's only been one day and I've been making sure it didn't overheat due to air in the cooling system. I don't have any kind of a flush kit or pressure adapter
so I filled it from a few different hose locations and finally by... well... literally covering the overflow tank with my mouth (after cleaning) and blowing to create pressure. It actually worked and I got 1/4 gallon more in that way.

I thought I was good but on my way home this evening my CEL came on. I checked with carista and 54 faults showed up. But, I had never dissconected the battery and multiple times put the car in acc. mode while it was apart
which showed in the faults because it was pretty much everything I unplugged.

So, I reset all faults and am waiting to see a CEL and see what it says. If... I have one. We'll see.

[95blkmax]

Sounds great man. I'm impressed you still had snub mount material left in there with your mileage lol. I'm at ~103k and even when I bought it at 77k it was metal-on-metal already lol. Look forward to hearing a review after a few days! As for the cooling system pressurization technique... sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to get the job done!