How To Clean Carbon Off Your Engine!

Today we test 3 different methods to clean the carbon out of your engine! We media blast with baking soda one cylinder to see the results, we then use picks (what most people would use) to scrape off as much carbon as possible, then finally, we try an internet method of spinning zip tips on a drill. Which one will work the best?

Links Talked about in this video

Carbon Cleaning Kit for GEN3 Engine 2.0T and 1.8T ( 2015+ )

Carbon Cleaning Kit for 2.0t TSI Engine ( 2006 - 2014 )

24MM Socket (12 Point) 1/2 Drive

Don't Overpay for a MK7 Waterpump/Thermostat Housing and How to do it Yourself

Intake Manifold for VW and Audi 2.0T TSI DIY (How to) Replacement

Can you Really Remove Carbon for $29?

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Similar Cars that may have carbon problems

Volkswagen
Beetle 2012-2015 w 2.0T TSI Engine
CC 2009-2015 w 2.0T TSI Engine
Eos 2008-2015 w 2.0T TSI Engine
GTI MK5 2008-2009 w 2.0T TSI Engine
GTI MK6 2010-2014 w 2.0T TSI Engine
Jetta MK5 2008-2010 w 2.0T TSI Engine
Passat B6 2008-2010 w 2.0T TSI Engine
Tiguan 2009-2015 w 2.0T TSI Engine
Volkswagen MK7 GTI 2015-2017 2.0L Turbo
Volkswagen MK7 Golf Alltrack 2017-Present 1.8 Turbo
Volkswagen MK7 Golf R 2015-2017 2.0L Turbo
Volkswagen MK7.5 Facelift GTI 2018-Present 2.0L Turbo

Audi
A3 8P 2008-2010 w 2.0T TSI Engine
TT MK2 2008-2015 w 2.0T TSI Engine
Audi Audi A3 8V 2014-PRESENT 1.8 TFSI
Audi Audi A3 8V 2014-PRESENT 2.0 TFSI
Audi Audi S3 8V 2015-2017 2.0T
Audi Audi TT MK3 2016-2017 2.0T
Audi Audi TTS MK3 2016-2017 2.0T

[Deutscheautoparts]

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Carbon Cleaning Kit for GEN3 Engine 2.0T and 1.8T ( 2015+ )

Carbon Cleaning Kit for 2.0t TSI Engine ( 2006 - 2014 )

24MM Socket (12 Point) 1/2 Drive

Don't Overpay for a MK7 Waterpump/Thermostat Housing and How to do it Yourself

Intake Manifold for VW and Audi 2.0T TSI DIY (How to) Replacement

[b.chuchlucious]

"It's an ingenious solution to a problem that shouldn't exist in the first place." – James May

[RevoFoto]

Adding a zip tie around the bundle at the chuck end and another at the other about 2" from the end works well for focused agitation. Learned this growing up cleaning lathes and mills in family machinery business. Hope this helps. Great video.

[CorradoAlley]

It would be really cool to see before and after dyno numbers on really gunked up valves.

[ltur]

Best DIY option is vinegar & baking soda. Least that’s what the lady from the farmers market selling essential oils told me.

[darylmorse]

Try cutting the blocks off the end of the zip ties, leaving them as long as possible, then put them through a piece of tubing maybe a few inches long, then put them in the drill. That would let you get them deep into the ports while keeping the drill away from the port, but they would not fly around so much because the tubing would keep them together.

[davidescobar]

Paul is the only person that could say the dumbest/funniest things and somehow have my full attention when explaining something serious 😂😂

[TheRallyCoop]

Thanks Paul. I have a 2016 Mk7 GTI with 200, 000 miles. The car is still running great and giving 35 mpg highway. I change the oil according the service reminder, approximately evey 10, 000 miles. I bought it new and only used premium fuel, oil and filter.

I'm afraid it has the same carbon build up on the back of the valves. I've had the dealer do a carbon clean 3 time with crushed walnut shells. I'm starting to see the cold start misfire again so this will be the 4th cleaning. The first time it happened I got intermittent misfires. Everything checked out. It was the carbon. Thanks again to you and the humble mechanic. You-all helpled me to figure it out.

[zephrizi]

I used oven cleaner, water, carb cleaner, a pick, a compressor airgun and lots of patience to clean the valves on my TDI. The oven cleaner worked FAR better than I had imagined, as a note of caution make sure you rotate the engine so that your valves are closed when spraying any liquid into that area otherwise you'll have a bad day when trying to start the engine.

[maxwellkeeling]

When I had my 2011 MK6 GTI, B12 and other strong cleaners weren’t available where I lived (Alberta, Canada). Canadian Tire just has your usual carb cleaners. Found that fresh oil soaked overnight (maybe only a few hours actually required) helped soften up the carbon, suspend it and also made it easier to clean everything. Used paper towel at first to soak up and remove everything and then compressed air to finish it off. Works very well and if any happens to get passed the valve stems or go down into the engine, I’m not worrying about it mixing with the existing engine oil and causing issues (as opposed to some strong cleaner seeping in).

[plasmaman]

I installed a water/ methanol injection system to reduce knock and lower egts and it removed all the carbon build up. I was happy to see that it cleans as well as increase power substantially

[davidingram]

On my 2018 VW Golf (Gen 3)TSI, change synthetic oil every 5K miles, use Top Tier gas, change filters regularly. This is the first time I have heard that these engines don't have big problems with carbon buildup. I had worried about this, but will continue to care for this engine. Thanks.

[jhoodied]

Been using the drill and zip ties for YEARS!! Then I vacuum the bits or carbon out followed up with carb cleaner and stuffing a paper towel in to soak up the carb cleaner and carbon residue before it dries out. It never looks perfect, but it's GOOD!!

[hdoglesby]

We use the walnut media blast. After we get the cylinder to TDC, it helps to use a pick tool and a seal removal tool (I've never used this tool to remove seals. It looks like a tiny hockey stick) as the first step to get the majority of the carbon off. Then blast it with the walnut media. It is a night and day difference.

[DevilsDiscretionAdvised]

Service kid at Preston in Boardman told me about you guys and I forgot the name until I just stumbled on this channel, heard nothing but amazing things about you, hopefully I’ll be a lifelong customer soon

[alphaturbo]

I haven't done any valve cleaning on my Mk7.5 GTI yet(Only 34k miles on my 2018 bought new) but I owned a Focus ST before this car. I put 30k+ miles a year on that car as I traveled about 100 miles a day for work back then. Every year I would take the manifold off, soak the port in 2+2 carb cleaner for about an hour and use various size gun brushes in my drill. Got about 90% of the stuff off every time. The different size and shape gun brushes worked great and I barely had to do any scraping.

[Fmandan]

I didn't have any noticeable cold start misfires on my MK6 GTI until about 170-180K miles. I ran Chevron 89 or 91 octane fuel exclusively and never added any fuel additives. When I pulled the intake it was a horror show of carbon build-up. Took me a few days of soaking, and cleaning using a variety of methods mentioned here until I was happy with the results. While the intake was off, I changed the fuel injectors and their seals and replaced the intake with the newest revision which VW recommended in a recall anyway. Once it was put back together, it literally ran like new...and still does at 215, 000 miles. Just changed the timing chain, guides and tensioner for good measure a few weeks ago. Love the car, it's been amazing.

[einfelder]

I think the zip tie thing would work better if you used the clip ends instead of the finger ends. The heavier ends and sharper edges would knock the carbon off quicker. Could then turn them around and do a "polish" with the finger end.

[tempestv]

Excellent explanation and I also enjoyed the comparison between the different cleaning methods. Well done! This youtube video is actually very helpful and covers just about all the bases.

[neccchallenger]

Great video!
In Europe, models from 2013-2017 have dual port from factory, avoiding this problem and better fueling for stage 3 tuning...