[dirtypickle]

Originally Posted by vr6extreme

Update. The car is getting about >6mpg better fuel economy. Throttle response down low is awesome now. Pulls so strong

What do you charge to do mine? I live in Louisville, Ky. Will want it sometime early 2017 as it runs great right now.

[Starko]

Now when my engine is being fixed I will make the mechanic open the covers so I can see inside the cylynders. I don't know if this procedure was ever done to my 190k km car so I guess it is a must. Also here in Bulgaria it costs under $150.

[vr6extreme]

Originally Posted by dirtypickle

What do you charge to do mine? I live in Louisville, Ky. Will want it sometime early 2017 as it runs great right now.

Need to look at the car first. Depends on gaskets and other things you may need

[blau iii]

how do you tell if the valves are closed? Isn't there 4 positions to the valves so It would be possible for one of them to look closed but is actually open?

[Meatos]

Originally Posted by blau iii

how do you tell if the valves are closed? Isn't there 4 positions to the valves so It would be possible for one of them to look closed but is actually open?

They open together so look down the intake side on the head and turn the Engine clockwise until you see the valves open and the Close. Turn a quarter turn after they Close and start cleaning. when youre done make sure the pocket is Clean and continue to the next cylinder with the same procedure until youre done

[blau iii]

Originally Posted by Meatos

They open together so look down the intake side on the head and turn the Engine clockwise until you see the valves open and the Close. Turn a quarter turn after they Close and start cleaning. when youre done make sure the pocket is Clean and continue to the next cylinder with the same procedure until youre done

Thanks. I was planning on using my little starter trigger. Should the valves be "up" or "down" in the chamber?

[Meatos]

Originally Posted by blau iii

Thanks. I was planning on using my little starter trigger. Should the valves be "up" or "down" in the chamber?

Up, you better be sure that they are closed when you begin cleaning or you will have a big problem, take a good look down the intake and turn the motor to understand when they are open and closed. You dont want to get it wrong.

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by blau iii

how do you tell if the valves are closed? Isn't there 4 positions to the valves so It would be possible for one of them to look closed but is actually open?

You can buy a button that you hook up to the starter and turn over the engine, or you can take a 1/2 drive with a socket and put it on the crank and turn it. You will feel the rotation of the engine and will know by how it felt (when you feel it give way) that the valves have opened or closed. If you do the latter, you will need to take out the engine fan.

You need a flash light to look into the intake valve. When you see not a lot of valve stem and the plate part of the valve up, it's closed. You can always test to see if it's closed by spraying either seafoam intake cleaner, or brake cleaner in the valve to see if it holds water so to speak. Obviously, if the valve is closed it will hold "water" much like a kitchen sink.

[blau iii]

Originally Posted by mweisdorfer

You need a flash light to look into the intake valve. When you see not a lot of valve stem and the plate part of the valve up, it's closed. You can always test to see if it's closed by spraying either seafoam intake cleaner, or brake cleaner in the valve to see if it holds water so to speak. Obviously, if the valve is closed it will hold "water" much like a kitchen sink.

This is what I couldnt get my brain to figure out. Thanks much, just what I needed!

[KevinWaterloo]

Originally Posted by mweisdorfer

You can buy a button that you hook up to the starter and turn over the engine, or you can take a 1/2 drive with a socket and put it on the crank and turn it. You will feel the rotation of the engine and will know by how it felt (when you feel it give way) that the valves have opened or closed. If you do the latter, you will need to take out the engine fan.

Just FYI in case it hasn't been mentioned earlier. You can also turn over the engine by turning the alternator pulley. Removing the cap in the center of the alternator pulley exposes a bolt that is easy to turn. I found that out on this site and used it when I cleaned my intake (manually). Much simpler than removing the fan or using the starter.

[yupetc]

Never thought of the alternator pulley method, good one, Kevin and thanks.

I've been reading this thread because I'll be doing the cleaning for my buddy's car. I have a garage full of tools, the blaster, and a 20-gal compressor. I've done this on the Mini Cooper S many times, just never done it on the N54.

Also, to add something useful for everyone here, the way I test to see if the valves are closed or not here's my way: I remove all the spark plugs to use that opening by feeding my vacuum tube into it. On my vacuum, I just have to make sure it's clean first, then I reverse the air flow so I can blow high volume air into the spark plug holes directly into the cylinder. On start, I'd do this through all cylinders to see which intake valves are completely closed, because you'll get no air coming out of the valve side, use you hand to feel it. I'd start walnut blasting with those closed valves first. Then when I get done, I'd go after the other valves by turning the crank, in this case, I'll adapt Kevin's method by turning the alternator, to set up the other un-cleaned valves. Now the only piece I'll need is the port adapter piece. I did modify an S-shaped coolant pipe to fit into a MK-6 VW Golf GTI port before. The vacuum works great, but the port match was poor, so it made a good mess despite being a little efficient. With the right adapter, it would save a ton of shell leaks or outside spraying for sure. If there's anyone needing this service done in Houston, TX, I don't mind to help on good weather weekends.

[Eagles3]

Originally Posted by vr6extreme

I think I have the most build up ever seen on my valves.
I used the BMW walnut blasting tools and a Harbor Freight $54 open air blaster. I used coarse grit first then fine grit. It made no mess at all. If anyone lives near me I can loan out the tools
I just did a full service
valve cover gasket
HPFP(because it failed)
oil filter housing gasket
Plugs
two new vanos(just because)
New charge pipe and BOV
Burger oil catch can

Thank you ECS Tuning

Hey brother...picking up an ‘09 JCW mini clubman this week and been doing a lot of reading about this. I’m 15 min from the ville and saw your post and not sure if you still have the supplies but I have the wherewithal to do it myself. Thought I’d ask if you still are able to loan out equipment for this?

[Jgd2y0]

Holy crap was this thread informative!!

[nissubaru]

Long thread, don't really feel like going through every single comment but maybe someone can answer these two questions for me.

What is the consensus on using the cheap portable Harbor Freight abrasive blaster over the bigger 20 pound kits? Seems like some people have used it without issue

What about the 3D printed, plastic vacuum nozzles, are they any good? I've heard they're junk and break but I feel like $70 or whatever for the metal tool is a bit much. I'll get the metal one if needed but I wish I could just rent one for $10 or something to be honest.

[arkie6]

Originally Posted by nissubaru

Long thread, don't really feel like going through every single comment but maybe someone can answer these two questions for me.

What is the consensus on using the cheap portable Harbor Freight abrasive blaster over the bigger 20 pound kits? Seems like some people have used it without issue

What about the 3D printed, plastic vacuum nozzles, are they any good? I've heard they're junk and break but I feel like $70 or whatever for the metal tool is a bit much. I'll get the metal one if needed but I wish I could just rent one for $10 or something to be honest.

The cheap red Harbor Freight abrasive blaster worked fine for me. I modified the spray nozzle by getting a 12" long 1/4" dia brake line from NAPA and cut it down to 8" & 4". This brake line is flared on each end. I also had to add a small flat washer to make the flared end big enough to be captured by the nut on the end of the nozzle. The 8" piece of line worked good except for cylinder #6 and there I used the 4" nozzle.

I made my own vacuum attachment elbow using a 90 deg PVC pipe slip fit elbow (1" if I remember correctly). I heated one end with a heat gun to soften it and formed it into an oval shape to fit the head ports. I ended up doing a little filing and wrapping with paper tape to get a good snug fit in the head. Then I drilled a small hole in the back of the elbow to accept my spray nozzle 1/4" brake line. The other end of the PVC elbow fit onto the end of my shop vac hose and was held in place with duct tape.

[nissubaru]

Originally Posted by arkie6

The cheap red Harbor Freight abrasive blaster worked fine for me. I modified the spray nozzle by getting a 12" long 1/4" dia brake line from NAPA and cut it down to 8" & 4". This brake line is flared on each end. I also had to add a small flat washer to make the flared end big enough to be captured by the nut on the end of the nozzle. The 8" piece of line worked good except for cylinder #6 and there I used the 4" nozzle.

I made my own vacuum attachment elbow using a 90 deg PVC pipe slip fit elbow (1" if I remember correctly). I heated one end with a heat gun to soften it and formed it into an oval shape to fit the head ports. I ended up doing a little filing and wrapping with paper tape to get a good snug fit in the head. Then I drilled a small hole in the back of the elbow to accept my spray nozzle 1/4" brake line. The other end of the PVC elbow fit onto the end of my shop vac hose and was held in place with duct tape.

Sounds like you MacGyvered the shit out of everything lol

So you're saying you used one of the red abrasive blasters? The portable one I was referring to is grey

https://www.harborfreight.com/portab...kit-37025.html

Here's what I think you used?

https://www.harborfreight.com/20-lbs...ter-68994.html

My question was in reference to the cheap portable one and whether or not that would work. The 20 pound unit looks like it would definitely work. I'm just running out of space for all my tools so I'm hoping I don't need this big ass abrasive blaster sitting around after only using it for a few hours.

[arkie6]

Originally Posted by nissubaru

Here's what I think you used?

https://www.harborfreight.com/20-lbs...ter-68994.html

Yes, that is the one I used. I didn't realize they had a cheaper version. I'm not familiar with the grey one and can't comment on it.

[Bimmer_Engineer]

Originally Posted by nissubaru

Sounds like you MacGyvered the shit out of everything lol

So you're saying you used one of the red abrasive blasters? The portable one I was referring to is grey

https://www.harborfreight.com/portab...kit-37025.html

Here's what I think you used?

https://www.harborfreight.com/20-lbs...ter-68994.html

My question was in reference to the cheap portable one and whether or not that would work. The 20 pound unit looks like it would definitely work. I'm just running out of space for all my tools so I'm hoping I don't need this big ass abrasive blaster sitting around after only using it for a few hours.

I bought the portable one but haven’t used it yet. Several members here mentioned they’ve used it and it works fine...

[arkie6]

Originally Posted by arkie6

...I made my own vacuum attachment elbow using a 90 deg PVC pipe slip fit elbow (1" if I remember correctly). I heated one end with a heat gun to soften it and formed it into an oval shape to fit the head ports. I ended up doing a little filing and wrapping with paper tape to get a good snug fit in the head. Then I drilled a small hole in the back of the elbow to accept my spray nozzle 1/4" brake line. The other end of the PVC elbow fit onto the end of my shop vac hose and was held in place with duct tape.

Here are pictures of the 1" PVC pipe elbow that I used for the vacuum adapter to the head ports. I turned it so the Shop Vac hose would fit horizontally between the alternating intake manifold bolts. Once it was in place with the vacuum running, I didn't even need to hold it.

[arkie6]

Here are a couple photos of the results of my walnut cleaning. My valves were really grungy before I started cleaning. At the time, my car had >100,000 miles and I don't know if they had ever been cleaned (I bought the car with ~70,000 miles).

[nissubaru]

What about using a pancake compressor? I have a shitty little pancake compressor, I forget what compressor my father has although I don't think it is much better.

I don't mind buying tools that I will get use out of but a big ass compressor would be a waste unless I was doing a walnut blasting

[ScottB4857]

Originally Posted by nissubaru

What about using a pancake compressor? I have a shitty little pancake compressor, I forget what compressor my father has although I don't think it is much better.

I don't mind buying tools that I will get use out of but a big ass compressor would be a waste unless I was doing a walnut blasting

You can use the little compressor as long as your willing to be very patient. You'll probably get 8-10 seconds of enough air pressure/volume to do any good. Then you'll have to wait for it to build pressure and repeat as necessary. Maybe it takes an extra 30-60 minutes, but you'll spend longer than that going to buy a compressor and getting it set up.