It seems to be more prevalent on the turbo motors than the normally aspirated ones. Other than that it doesn't matter if it is a Clubman, Countryman, Convertible or Hardtop.
Regular non-turbo justa coopers do not have direct injection & seem to not have the carbon issues that turbo DI engines do.
Looks like the whole system pays for itself in 1 use. Someone should buy it and then rent it out to DIY'ers.
Would something like this from NAPA work on the PCV valve if you filled it with Seafoam or equivalent? Not sure about the end working with our clamp though.
:cornut::wink2:yesnod::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: Thank you for that! Some times egos around here get bigger than Everest. Jason
Well it ain't cheap at $129, but it is reusable over and over again. NAPA AUTO PARTS Looks simple enough.
A number of people have had this issue, it seems to plague direct injection engines no matter who makes 'em. Corvette is introducing a direct injected engine in next years 'Vette and they went to great lengths to make sure they would not have this problem in their engine by using special scrubbers in the positive crankcase ventilation system. However, those of us with current direct injection engines are not so lucky. It seems the problem is with the inherent design - in normally injected engines the gasoline is sprayed right at the back of the intake valve, washing any oil vapors off and into the combustion chamber. In direct injected engines the fuel is sprayed right into the combustion chamber itself - after the valves, so you don't get that cleaning effect. Introducing PCV vapors into the intake leaves a nice coating of oil on the valves, the stems and the intake port walls, where it accumulates over time and mileage restricting the port and causing poor running, hesitation, power loss and worsening fuel mileage. 1st gen MINIs do not have this issue because they are not direct injected engines. I did a little looking into my intake today and sure enough, mine are coked up something fierce. Fortunately my car is still under warranty so Baron is going to take care of it for me (Yay Baron!) The repair is fairly simple, they remove the intake manifold and install a specially made tube into the intake port, making sure the intake valves are closed. A wand goes into this device and blasts the port and valves with crushed walnut shells, a shop vac removes the carbon and shell debris at the same time leaving the valves and ports clean as they were when new. I understand that the results can be felt the first time you start the engine and drive away! This is not a new process, BTW. Audi has been doing this in their engines since the 90's, although I understand their problem was due to poor valve stem seals rather than PCV vapors, and those engines are not direct injected. BMW is having the same problems and in fact the machine and cleaning process was adapted for their engines first. I have a sand blaster and shop vac, all I would need to do is develope or buy the port adaptor and the walnut shell media and the next time mine get coked up have at them since by the next time I'll need the service I'll be well out of the warranty period. I'm hoping MINI will come up with some sort of separator to keep the oil vapors out of the ports and off the valves, my understanding is the aftermarket devices (catch cans and such) do not really do the trick so if they don't I'm planning on this being an every 30K or 40K process. I took a video of my ports, I'll post the link so you all can see what they look like. If you have a 40K mile or more direct injected MINI, this is something you should plan for in your maintenance regime. If you're still under warranty, the key symptoms to requiring this service are hesitation, poor running and worsening fuel mileage, just FYI. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXchTCkCvZ4&list=UUaBwiAbBZCLhIcEnvuB1ZJw&index=1&feature=plcp Edit: My car is at the dealer today to be de-carboned via the walnut shell method, I intend to pull the manifold back once I get it back and check the valves post-cleaning and I'll let you guys see the vid of what I find. My car has 45K on it, and all but 5K of this mileage was done on my 40 mile highway commute to work, however I "retired" last summer and since then have driven my car very little and for very short drives. My car has also been to either coast and to Colorado numerous times, as well as 3-5 track day events per summer since I got it. I've decided that it really doesn't matter how you drive it, it has everything to do with how much oil is in the PCV vapors. To that end, i'm going to order the tool that Metalman posted and rig up my own walnut shell cleaning device. Removing the manifold is not that big of a deal and the fuel savings and performance gains should be worth the work of doing this every 30K or so. Metalman, how much did they charge you for the tool?
It almost looks like your carbon has turned to diamonds.... The engineers at Subatoyota added a pre-injector in their direct injected "Boxer" engine just to wash the oily build up off the intake valves to solve this issue... Great and simple idea.... Others need to follow through with this concept even if Subatoyota has patent protection..... I wonder if auto companies are looking at this as a maintenance profit center...
I think Subaru actually borrowed their fuel injection system from Toyota - it's called D4-S. They used it on the joint FR-S / BRZ project. And I agree - very cool engineering.
I ordered the BMW/MINI adaptor (Thanks Metalman for the part number) the dealer said there was one left in the country, in Ca. I think I'm going to put together a kit with a small pressure pot blaster and the wand etc and rent it out to local KC MINI Club DIYers, and I'll offer the cleaning service for a fee to those who don't have the facilities to DIY. I'm not trying to bite the hand so to speak, and I don't want to get into a competition with the dealer, but $800 to do this strikes me as about twice what it should be. I'm also going to pull the manifold on mine when I get it back to see how they did. The pics I've seen online of cars that have had this done already make the valves and ports look brandy new.
Yeah.... The wand is a key part to the system that will prevent crushed walnut shells from flying everywhere (imagine how much of that stuff could get thrown into the cowl air vents)... The balance of the kit is a simple "pressure pot" and blast gun.... Course, everyone has a shop vac that's also needed....
Well, they fooled me. As others have posted, unless the car throws a code, they won't get paid by MINI to do the job - and mine has not set a code so they didn't do it. They also said that based on my vid that my valves and ports were "not bad at all"......at least compared to some they've seen. Our opinions differ on that point. So, I'm going ahead with my own setup and once I get it to work I'll post a vid. I feel for those who don't have the ability or facilites to do some of these repairs themselves and have to put up with poor performance and worsening gas mileage. My dealer also said that it's not up to MINI to fix the design since it's Peugeot's motor - Peugeot pays MINI for the repairs so it's not coming out of their (MINI's) pocket. Lastly, my loaner today was a new Countryman All4, manual transmission. While I like the 4dr accessibility and I'm a real fan of the All4 drive, I'm not a fan of the clutch in these and I would stick with my automatic. I also think it has one of the worst cupholders extant - and yes I realize that's a small nit to pick but come on, cupholders are a way of life in America, and all I was trying to put in it was a soda can, not a 64oz big gulp! I also really felt the extra mass of the car, and the seating position felt really high, even tho I had the seat all the way down. I think I'll stick to my Clubman, but I would like to have the All4.
Someone needs to come up with a tool that plugs in & sets the code. Crazy! I agree about the clutch on the Countryguy. Test drove one & it just felt dreadful like it was going to stall each time I started. Automobile Mag has a wrap up on their long term Countryguy. They did not like the clutch either & even had to have it replaced in the year they had the thing.
Here is a thread on the BG liquid system... Read it to the end for the conclusion... Still waiting for a chemical cleaner that works.... Haven't found one yet... Lot's of claims, but no proof and of course no before and after pictures... The only method that works is to manually remove the baked on carbon with "Dentist or Gun cleaning brushes" or the "Walnut Shell method (in my opinion).... De-coke guinea pig
Aquamist? Hasn't Aquamist Injection systems been a solution to the problem? The trouble with them is that it is something else in the process to go wrong...
^^^ I did see where one fellow had meth injection but he wasn't getting good distribution and two sets of valves had no effect and two were pretty clean... He was planning to try and relocate the jet.... It was never reported that the valves were cleaned first when the injection was added.... But yeah... meth was working... By chemical, I was referring to Swampfoam or some of the other additives....
I would think it is a pre-emptive measure and not a cleaning solution. Have you checked out the RMW web site to see what they say? It is been a while since I have been there since my MAC does not seem to play well with their recognition system.
So you like carbon.... Picture of piston out of a 2007 MCS with 44,000 miles.... Water/Meth might just be the best fix for this....