[nathanacura]

2007 335i ~105k miles
Bought with 50k and no known valve cleaning performed(clearly!)
I tried walnut blasting(Harbor Freight gravity fed version), but it seems no match for this level of buildup. I can get much of it off, but still the harder buildup remains nearly over the whole port. I have been scraping and vacuuming and then using a pick to get all the detail work. Then blasting and finally soaking and brushing with carb cleaner.
This is a FAR cry for the 5-10 minutes per port people advertise for this job.
My nozzle extension sends plenty of media.
Compressor output is 95psi.
nozzle has about 15-20deg turn at the end so I can drive the media into nooks and more directly against the sides of the port.
Still I don't get much benefit from the blasting vs scraping except for more finely cleaning the valve stem, etc.
Maybe I was just expecting too much from the blasting process or am I doing something wrong?

I am probably 4 hours into just the port cleaning(1 port took an hour) with 1 port remaining.
Car has a noticeable stumble at idle and now will throw misfire code under heavy load(stock boost setting). Both have gotten progressively worse over the last couple years.

[langsbr]

It looks bad but doesn't seem worse that many I've seen. Mine had 146K and no blast in at least 50K miles between blasts when I did it recently.

The media blaster can be confusing with all the different settings - have you tried to spray the media to make sure you aren't getting just a slow sludge? It took a few minutes to get a good balance between air and media to have enough velocity and enough abrasion.

[nathanacura]

I don't think there is much to set on the gravity fed blaster. I sprayed the moving blanket I had nearby and it instantly ate a hole in it. It burns through media FAST. If anything I think dialing back the media would be nice, but I'm not sure there is a way to do that on my blaster.

[NoQuarter]

It does take some practice and I will say with confidence it is just a technique problem and as was said, you need to be able to learn what settings work best with your setup.

Less media is better. Going through media fast is an indication of problems with setup.

The PSI sounds right. You should be able to turn the media down with the valve at the bottom of the tank where it falls into the air stream. For me, it is about a half way to 3/4 turn of the media valve.

Your ports are not any worse than anyone elses so I am confident you can get the technique dialed in and it will work much better.

My first time I recycled the 25lb box of media three times! By my third time I got everything figured out and can do it quite efficiently. You do need to do some scraping as you said to get rid of the big chunks and goo then go at it with the blaster and then final clean with a rag and solvent.

[MysticRob]

Originally Posted by langsbr

It looks bad but doesn't seem worse that many I've seen. Mine had 146K and no blast in at least 50K miles between blasts when I did it recently.

The media blaster can be confusing with all the different settings - have you tried to spray the media to make sure you aren't getting just a slow sludge? It took a few minutes to get a good balance between air and media to have enough velocity and enough abrasion.

I don't know man, that's pretty bad for what I've seen. He has literal pillows of crap built up on the side walls and it looks like a post-meteorite moonscape. If it was human it'd be in the ICU or dead. LOL
Valve stems are also pretty caked, so there's very likely some reduced airflow.

I'd just keep at it and ensure the angles you're pointing the wand do the most good. It's not a quick process, especially with all the crap I see in your pics. Far worse than mine were, and mine were pretty bad compared to many I've seen. I had to scrape crud off the walls and just take my time too, so don't feel too bad. Just think about how well it'll run after you get all that crap off.

[nathanacura]

It better ... I did this to my VW TDI a few weeks ago(call it practice?) along with cleaning the metal intake and I didn't notice much.
I believe it will be way noticeable on this car though.
Sidewall buildup is nearly 1/4" in many locations. Gap between the stem and the casting totally filled up with crap on most of them too.

It's not terrible, but my fingers are killing me from working the fine pick tools around the valve stem areas and around the valve seats.

I will try pinching the media feed hose to lower the media throughput and see if that helps. But as of now, the blaster won't touch the buildup around the valve seats.

[dpaul]

I suspect you blaster is the problem but you don't provide enough details about your set up to be sure

You need this:
https://www.harborfreight.com/catalo...q=sand+blaster

I started out buying the harbor freight gravity fed unit
https://www.harborfreight.com/portab...kit-37025.html

It was useless


You also should buy the OEM fittings to do the blast

81292208037
81292208033

Blaster, wand and adapter together will cost about $160. This stuff works.

[NoQuarter]

Originally Posted by dpaul

I suspect you blaster is the problem but you don't provide enough details about your set up to be sure

You need this:
https://www.harborfreight.com/catalo...q=sand+blaster

I started out buying the harbor freight gravity fed unit
https://www.harborfreight.com/portab...kit-37025.html


It was useless


You also should buy the OEM fittings to do the blast

81292208037
81292208033

Blaster, wand and adapter together will cost about $160. This stuff works.

Right on - that gravity unit won't do it.

[dsjr2006]

Last couple times I've had an N54 cleaned it had the valves soaked with a spray of carb cleaner and hit with a wire brush like tool before blasting.

[nathanacura]

I do have the gravity and it works ... but it's 30-50% less powerful than the pressurized unit so it doesn't work as well. However I'm in florida and have to dump maybe 4 cups of water every few dozen hours of use from my compressor and was too cheap to buy a $100 water separator that actually works so I could use the compressed one.
If I soaked these and tried to brush before scraping ... man it would be ugly. I get like 1-3 tablespoons of crap out of each by scraping. I am also using a pvc elbow instead of the fitted tool so that doesn't help either. Basically requires two hands. the biggest drawback of the gravity fed blaster is the gun style handle ... ok on most of them but the back port is bad because I can't fully rotate the handle or blast towards the front very well.

Here are results from the worst one. No carb cleaner used ... but I think it's OK and I'm honestly sick of working on this already ...

[anorphirith]

Originally Posted by dsjr2006

Last couple times I've had an N54 cleaned it had the valves soaked with a spray of carb cleaner and hit with a wire brush like tool before blasting.

how did you close the valves / make sure the valves were shut close ?
how much did you get out with the wire brush tool ?

[NoQuarter]

Originally Posted by anorphirith

how did you close the valves / make sure the valves were shut close ?

Easiest is to use a bump starter trigger type switch. Connect it to the starter and momentarily pull the trigger until the valves get to where you want

[nathanacura]

I just took a 5" piece of wire, alligator clip on one side and bare wire on the other. Clip to the connector terminal on the starter and touch the other side to the post briefly to crank. Same function, easy to make.

[dsjr2006]

Originally Posted by anorphirith

how did you close the valves / make sure the valves were shut close ?
how much did you get out with the wire brush tool ?

Use a wire jumper and alligator clip to bump the starter, make sure ignition isn't on of course.

With a brush and pick you can get the intake tract above the valve pretty well cleaned, then vacuum that bit out before you walnut blast.

[dpaul]

Originally Posted by nathancura

I do have the gravity and it works ... but it's 30-50% less powerful than the pressurized unit so it doesn't work as well. However I'm in florida and have to dump maybe 4 cups of water every few dozen hours of use from my compressor and was too cheap to buy a $100 water separator that actually works so I could use the compressed one.
If I soaked these and tried to brush before scraping ... man it would be ugly. I get like 1-3 tablespoons of crap out of each by scraping. I am also using a pvc elbow instead of the fitted tool so that doesn't help either. Basically requires two hands. the biggest drawback of the gravity fed blaster is the gun style handle ... ok on most of them but the back port is bad because I can't fully rotate the handle or blast towards the front very well.

Honestly, with the proper equipment you will not have the problems you are having. Your flow rate is too low.

[anorphirith]

if the walls weren't so porous I bet gunk wouldn't add-up so quickly

[dpaul]

Originally Posted by anorphirith

if the walls weren't so porous I bet gunk wouldn't add-up so quickly

The cylinder head is not porous. What in the world do you mean?

Gunk adds up because in a direct injected engine there is no fuel in the intake to wash oil and deposits away. In the current design, the low speed blow by from the crankcase is dumped directly into the intake ports. Oil vapors hit the hot metal and carbonize. That's your gunk. It is not an inspired design. Even the German automotive geniuses don't always get everything right.

[nathanacura]

I think he is referring to the very rough finish of the casting. At the very least it would be much easier to clean off later.
I'm pretty much done now ... it took longer, but all in these tools cost about $180 less than the others, especially since I didn't need to buy a water separator. It's not pleasant, though I would be surprised if the right tool would have taken off some of the deposits I had. They were sometimes difficult to get off with a screwdriver.
No doubt it would have been better with the right stuff. I really wish I had a straight wand more than anything.

Results look good though I think. I could do more, but I doubt it would make any difference