Jump to content


Engine Carbon Clean


Kombi17

Recommended Posts

Hi

Can I ask the members of the Aurion forum of their views on getting their Aurion engines carbon cleaned? Has anyone done it? Is it worth doing?

I have a 2007 Aurion with 180,000 km's on the clock. Mechanically it has been solid with a flat battery the only 'mechanical' fault. I generally use Shell V-power as the price of petrol has come down in the last year or so.

I've been thinking of taking to a local mechanic to get it carbon cleaned but I haven't been able to find many reviews or people's thoughts on whether it made any difference.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I also would be interested to hear if any have used it..I have seen it done but have never had it done to any car I have owned..the effect i saw made a huge difference

KAA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 07/08/2016 at 0:52 AM, KAA said:

I also would be interested to hear if any have used it..I have seen it done but have never had it done to any car I have owned..the effect i saw made a huge difference

KAA

 

Yeah I've done a bit of research on the difference types available such as:

http://www.5starauto.com.au/carbon.htm

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/kelmscott/other-automotive/engine-fuel-system-and-carbon-clean/1118759388

http://www.lubemobile.com.au/car-repairs/fuel-system-and-fuel-injection/fuel-injector.html

http://www.automasters.com.au/our-services/fuel-injector-service/

The prices very from $165 to $405, the expensive quote was from Automasters which recommended 2 different types of engine cleaning to give the engine 'a new lease on life' :-) I don't mind paying that much if I knew it would actually make a tangible difference. As I said previously, 180,000 k's of hassle free driving, I owe it to my car to give the engine a good internal clean.

I used to think using 98-ron petrol would sort of do the same job over time because of all the additives in the petrol but now I'm not so sure after watching this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfJNz04bWg4

Anyway guys, your thoughts/opinions would be appreciated. I've been thinking of doing this as the fuel economy on my car isn't what it used to be and I think it idles a bit noisier than before. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Kombi17
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As with all of these ‘add-ons’ I would like to see some evaluation of the procedure by an independent authority. Whether it is by Choice magazine, NRMA, RACV, or other independent group. It would involve taking a sample of various cars, giving them a thorough check out of various engine parameters (power output, acceleration, fuel economy etc) by suitably qualified technicians. The cars would then receive the ‘treatment’ and all the parameters checked again. This would give an objective assessment whether the whole process is worthwhile. The testing could be done either on the road, or on a good static dynamometer. Analysis of the result would show whether it is all worthwhile.

This sort of independent study is far better than anecdotal conclusions from a ‘before and after’ motorist. Has anyone done this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites


This topic has been on my radar for some time. I have done heaps of Google searches and watched a few worthwhile YouTube videos. Just looked a video by Eric the Car Guy where he demonstrated using a cup of water to de-carbon the engine which was at operating temperature. In his commentary, he said that short distance driving is the culprit for carbon build up and a long distance drive can be the best way to blow out the carbon from the engine. I do recall a YouTube video where various products were compared and the results were not that impressive.

As for fuel, from what I have read the Aurion engines can use 91 RON but are really tuned for 95 RON so you will get benefits with the higher octane fuel. 98 octane is considered to be not such a great economical proposition unless that is what the manufacturer recommends.

.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, campbeam said:

This topic has been on my radar for some time. I have done heaps of Google searches and watched a few worthwhile YouTube videos. Just looked a video by Eric the Car Guy where he demonstrated using a cup of water to de-carbon the engine which was at operating temperature. In his commentary, he said that short distance driving is the culprit for carbon build up and a long distance drive can be the best way to blow out the carbon from the engine. I do recall a YouTube video where various products were compared and the results were not that impressive.

As for fuel, from what I have read the Aurion engines can use 91 RON but are really tuned for 95 RON so you will get benefits with the higher octane fuel. 98 octane is considered to be not such a great economical proposition unless that is what the manufacturer recommends.

 

I've seen the same videos too regarding spraying water into the car to engine and even tried it with a mate one lazy weekend. The next morning when I started the car, the engine light lit up for the first minute or so and that ended my days of Youtube experimenting on my car. That Seafoam product also looks interesting but I don't think we can get it in Australia.

In regards to using 98 ron (my preferred petrol now that's cheaper) there's 2 equally strong arguments as to whether there's any additional benefit to it. I saw this video for the 'Pro' side https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WPfLnVuQyM 

I spoke to a technician at Toyota today and enquired about the carbon clean and found out that they do it there too so I will ask them to possibly do it when I next take my car in for a service in a couple of month's time. He mentioned some interesting points:

- He only recommended a carbon clean if the car really needed it (i.e running like s..t) otherwise it wouldn't be worth it. I was pleasantly surprised to hear this as I thought all mechanics would push a carbon clean for up-selling purposes. 

- He recommended running the car on 98 ron and using a fuel injector cleaner if I felt the car the idling a bit rough first thing on cold mornings.

Anyway I will have the car serviced in October and will update this forum again with the results if the engine is carbon cleaned.

(Special mention goes to City Toyota in Northbridge Perth where I have been get my 2007 Presara serviced for the last 5 years, they do a great job and do not find 'faults or things that need fixing or replacing' to make an extra buck. Generally I take my car there once a year to get it serviced and that's all they do. As mentioned, the car is now pushing 180,000+ kms and is still mechanically solid)

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, nswnotill said:

As with all of these ‘add-ons’ I would like to see some evaluation of the procedure by an independent authority. Whether it is by Choice magazine, NRMA, RACV, or other independent group.

Being an ex- scientist, I always look for the statistically designed experiment by an independent authority. There is a lot of ‘snake oil’ out there (not saying that Engine carbon clean is snake oil).

Remember Peter Brock and the ‘HDT Engine Energy Polariser’? He swore by it. However it was independently tested by automotive engineers and proven to be useless.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nulon Upper Engine Cleaner is a similar product to Seafoam. A cleaner combustion chamber will be a better burning one. Oil and carbon deposits will only lower the knock threshold and can potentially cause hot spots on components over time.

Fuel economy should be slightly improved as the combustion chamber can achieve a cleaner burn.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎8‎/‎08‎/‎2016 at 9:29 PM, Kombi17 said:

 

I've seen the same videos too regarding spraying water into the car to engine and even tried it with a mate one lazy weekend. The next morning when I started the car, the engine light lit up for the first minute or so and that ended my days of Youtube experimenting on my car. That Seafoam product also looks interesting but I don't think we can get it in Australia.

In regards to using 98 ron (my preferred petrol now that's cheaper) there's 2 equally strong arguments as to whether there's any additional benefit to it. I saw this video for the 'Pro' side https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WPfLnVuQyM 

I spoke to a technician at Toyota today and enquired about the carbon clean and found out that they do it there too so I will ask them to possibly do it when I next take my car in for a service in a couple of month's time. He mentioned some interesting points:

- He only recommended a carbon clean if the car really needed it (i.e running like s..t) otherwise it wouldn't be worth it. I was pleasantly surprised to hear this as I thought all mechanics would push a carbon clean for up-selling purposes. 

- He recommended running the car on 98 ron and using a fuel injector cleaner if I felt the car the idling a bit rough first thing on cold mornings.

Anyway I will have the car serviced in October and will update this forum again with the results if the engine is carbon cleaned.

(Special mention goes to City Toyota in Northbridge Perth where I have been get my 2007 Presara serviced for the last 5 years, they do a great job and do not find 'faults or things that need fixing or replacing' to make an extra buck. Generally I take my car there once a year to get it serviced and that's all they do. As mentioned, the car is now pushing 180,000+ kms and is still mechanically solid)

 

Yup I like the guys at City Toyota in Northbridge perth too. They are good people and respect my deafness and explains what's what. And it is a good 20 mins walk from there to my work so having an exercise instead of using taxi or their courtesy is a bonus!

They fixed the oil leak issue I had late last year which turned out to be the cheap service centre's own fault. They refunded the money back to me which I used to pay for City Toyota to fix.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 08/08/2016 at 10:19 PM, campbeam said:

This topic has been on my radar for some time. I have done heaps of Google searches and watched a few worthwhile YouTube videos. Just looked a video by Eric the Car Guy where he demonstrated using a cup of water to de-carbon the engine which was at operating temperature. In his commentary, he said that short distance driving is the culprit for carbon build up and a long distance drive can be the best way to blow out the carbon from the engine. I do recall a YouTube video where various products were compared and the results were not that impressive.

As for fuel, from what I have read the Aurion engines can use 91 RON but are really tuned for 95 RON so you will get benefits with the higher octane fuel. 98 octane is considered to be not such a great economical proposition unless that is what the manufacturer recommends.

.

I sometimes use e10 which is 94 or 95 octane depending where you get it, will sometimes use regular 95. May i ask where you read that they are tuned for 95 octane?

Edited by RoadRunner
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I mainly use 91 UPL unless 95 ULP is very cheap. I did fill up with E10 95 in NSW on an interstate trip and did not notice any noticable difference in performance or fuel economy. It has been mainly a collective number of forum comments about the differences between using 95 RON compared to 91 RON. The assumption is that if the engine is specifically tuned for 91 RON then using a higher octane is not going to be much different. Apparently there are 2 sets of performance figures when using 91 RON and 95 RON. Also presumed to be a bit of a marketing ädvantage" that the engine uses standard ULP rather than the more expensive higher octane fuel.

After looking at the YouTube videos for the Shell V-Power, I will be using it for a few tankfuls to presumably clean the intake valves etc. In my 2006 Aurion now 179,000Km, I have started using the Fuel Doctor product to clean the fuel system more as a preventative maintenance measure. So maybe the intake valves have already been cleaned. Anyway spend a few extra $ to put the Shell V Power to the test before deciding whether to go back to 91 ULP + Fuel Doctor or 95 ULP.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am pretty happy with the subaru upper engine cleaner. At worst it had no negative effects but I think it has slightly reduced fuel use. I base that on the numbers my scangague gives me on fuel use. A lot of smoke came out as I ran the car after / while using it. Several posts I read on similar sites to this said the smoke was the crap being burnt off. I used it in my 2007 with 200,000 km and wifes 2009 with 90,000km. both are running well approx 8000km after using it.

 

I think its good. I really have no proof though. Certainly nothing bad happened.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 09/08/2016 at 4:35 PM, trentmeyer23 said:

Nulon Upper Engine Cleaner is a similar product to Seafoam. A cleaner combustion chamber will be a better burning one. Oil and carbon deposits will only lower the knock threshold and can potentially cause hot spots on components over time.

Cheers for that trentmeyer23, if this is the product https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOGFvju2ZTc then I definitely do not have the confidence or know-how to do that.

 

6 hours ago, matt36415 said:

I am pretty happy with the subaru upper engine cleaner. At worst it had no negative effects but I think it has slightly reduced fuel use. I base that on the numbers my scangague gives me on fuel use. A lot of smoke came out as I ran the car after / while using it. Several posts I read on similar sites to this said the smoke was the crap being burnt off. I used it in my 2007 with 200,000 km and wifes 2009 with 90,000km. both are running well approx 8000km after using it.

Did you use this product? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nof8DiSx0y8  Without sounding like a virgin, which hole did you insert the nozzle into on the aurion? 

I poured a bottle on Wynn Fuel System cleaner into the tank the other day http://www.wynns.net/product/i/complete-fuel-system-cleaner-petrol and I think I can feel a slight difference. I'm putting it down to the placebo effect but I'm taking the car out for a 5 hour drive this weekend on the highways and giving the engine a good old work out and seeing what overall effect it has made.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




  • Join The Club

    Join the Toyota Owners Club and be part of the Community. It's FREE!

  • Latest Postings

    1. 1

      Gear change time adjustments?

    2. 1

      2001 Hilux diesel Overheating issues

    3. 2

      Supercharger oil

    4. 0

      Programming Remote key fob

    5. 1

      2013 Rav4

    6. 2

      Supercharger oil

    7. 2

      Supercharger oil

    8. 0

      1mzfe fuel consumption at 15+L/100km

    9. 1

      2013 Rav4

    10. 4

      Concerns about Fuel Consumption in Kluger Hybrid

×
×
  • Create New...

Forums


News


Membership