Carbon cleaning before and after

[vishmr2]

Thought I'd share some before and after pics etc - 72k 2013 RS4. No running issues etc. before doing this. Fairly sure it's never been carbon cleaned. Full Audi history (not that that has made any difference to the carbon build up).

R-Tech Performance in Nuneaton cleaned the injectors - flow tested and balanced them (decent and quick turnaround - they did miss replacing one wee clip but no big deal). Sent them down on the Monday and they were back by Saturday. As per the attached, a few were running more than the others. The injector tips looked pretty dirty/carbon'd up too.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqq4layN5ac ... hare_sheet

[AndyBrad]

interesting thanks for the pics.

what fuel are you runing

[vishmr2]

For the last year and a half it's either been 97 from Costco or more recently 99 from esso or vpower. Not sure what it ran before though.

[noidea]

How are you finding the difference? Was it worth doing?
Did you do the blasting yourself l, if so what did you use?
You didn't mention any before and after Dyno runs, might be worth it to see how it performs now?

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[vishmr2]

I've actually not noticed a major difference - it might just be psychological but it does feel very slightly quicker/smoother. Would be quite interested to see what it gets on a dyno - I'd hope near the stock levels. Not done my usual commute yet but apparently I should notice an improvement with the injectors all flowing equally now.

Yeah did it myself with a wee bit of help from a few mates.

I got some crushed walnut shells off of ebay - ended up with 2 x 10kg which was more than enough. Company called Key Abrasives. The gun I used wasn't the best - https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/sb3-gritblast-gun/ - I'd recommend getting one with a longer nozzle like the one used by the RS5 chap.

You'll need a decent air compressor and Shop vac. and an attachment like the 034 motorsport one - or a mate with a 3D printer. I bought one off ebay and it was pish - my mate kindly made something a wee bit better. https://www.034motorsport.com/audi-and- ... -tool.html

Also handy to have a good set of picks and this wee kit. The walnut blasting (maybe because of the nozzle not being long) wasn't really getting the carbon off of the top of the valves. Needed to get them manually.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003610P8C? ... ct_details.

And I ended up getting the lower and upper intake manifold gaskets from LLL parts - lower ones (red) were around £50. the upper ones (green) were about £120. The lower ones need to be changed. The upper ones were optional - and to be honest the ones on the car would have been fine.

It's not the most fun car thing to do but glad its done.

[noidea]

Thank you for that information, very helpful.
I am not sure if mine needs doing but at 62k miles it would help. Plus it's knowing it's done. I had spotted a vacuum/blaster on eBay. It looks a good option but not sure it's worth spending the money as it would only get used once.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165797039606 ... media=COPY
Not sure how much a garage would charge.

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[vishmr2]

I got a few quotes - our local Audi specialist (A4Audi) were going to be £900 but they weren't able to do pull and flow test the injectors. The other quote I got was from Ecotune - £1200 not including injector testing/rebuilding (prob would have been at least another 200 for that). And they warned about the injectors potentially getting damaged as they were removed (managed to avoid that when we did them).

If you've got a local specialist you trust - and they're willing to provide before and after pics, defintely easier to go with that option - and if they have a dyno you can see the difference. Regal had some good videos on YouTube (they are miles away from me but not sure if they are close to you)

[noidea]

That seems to be the price range for a carbon clean. It's quite labour intensive as you will know! I just fancy having a go myself I know it would be done properly.
Did your injectors come out easily or were they stuck?

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[vishmr2]

Yeah they were OK coming out - just gently pulled them out with angled long nose pliers. I did buy this wee kit which had a mini slide hammer thing (also has all of the bits for sliding the new teflon combustion chamber seal on and compressing it back). It would have worked but we just fired on with the pliers. Good wee kit for getting them back in too - they were harder going back in and needed a gentle chap using one of the wee attachments from that kit.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/383593790298

Good luck with it!

[noidea]

Thanks again for the info.
Can I borrow your gentle chap!

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[vishmr2]

Screwfix do a nice plastic hammer!! Also surprised by this but managed 32mpg coming off the motorway this morning to work...30.7mpg door to door with a few residential roads either way. Best I'd managed before was high 20s. Didn't expect that sort of a difference!