Cleaned Intake Valves Again

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Al

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On my '18 Forester XT with 42 K miles. This is the 5th treatment. (CRC) looking at Youtube videos it me be a waste of time. But for a total of 80 bucks. Better than nothing. I may do the walnut shell thing in another 10 k miles
 
You've done 5 intake cleaning services in 42K miles? Is the Forester direct injection only?
What is your goal of doing intake cleaning so often? Is this engine prone to intake valve deposits?
 
You've done 5 intake cleaning services in 42K miles? Is the Forester direct injection only?
What is your goal of doing intake cleaning so often? Is this engine prone to intake valve deposits?
DI only. Very susceptible to deposits.
 
wow, I think driving it harder might help? Like Italian tune-up?
Thank you for telling us, might be a car to avoid?
 
I did it every oil change (4) for like 18k miles on my 2.5L NA boxer using CRC and STP. Got someone to do a borescope of the intake valves. Carboned up for sure.

The stuff didn't work well at all even though it was kicking crap out the tailpipe (smoke).

Stopped using it. Will get someone to Walnut blast at 50k miles. Definitely disappointed but not surprised the products were ineffective in a preventive capacity.

GDI sucks.
 
On my '18 Forester XT with 42 K miles. This is the 5th treatment. (CRC) looking at Youtube videos it me be a waste of time. But for a total of 80 bucks. Better than nothing. I may do the walnut shell thing in another 10 k miles
Do you have any before/after pictures?
 
I did it every oil change (4) for like 18k miles on my 2.5L NA boxer using CRC and STP. Got someone to do a borescope of the intake valves. Carboned up for sure.

The stuff didn't work well at all even though it was kicking crap out the tailpipe (smoke).

Stopped using it. Will get someone to Walnut blast at 50k miles. Definitely disappointed but not surprised the products were ineffective in a preventive capacity.

GDI sucks.
I 100% believe you. I will no longer do it. It doesn't work IMHO
 
Do Subaru's have a history of valve fouling to the point where it causes issues? Is your car Turbo? I know Ford doesn't recommend induction cleaning of DI intake valves on Ecoboost engines because of related turbocharger failures.
 
Do Subaru's have a history of valve fouling to the point where it causes issues? Is your car Turbo? I know Ford doesn't recommend induction cleaning of DI intake valves on Ecoboost engines because of related turbocharger failures.
All DI engines do. I recall it started with Audi's, and has now spread like a disease. The simple solution is port+DI injection which Subaru has done in other engines but they decided not to in all of their mainstream vehicles. They complain about cost, but that excuse has held no water with me since prices shot through the roof since Covid.
 
All DI engines do. I recall it started with Audi's, and has now spread like a disease. The simple solution is port+DI injection which Subaru has done in other engines but they decided not to in all of their mainstream vehicles. They complain about cost, but that excuse has held no water with me since prices shot through the roof since Covid.
All? At almost 160,000 miles, my '15 2.7 F150 has never had the valves cleaned. While I don't doubt there are deposits, I haven't had any issues, and I haven't read or seen of any videos of documenting this as an issue on any DI F150's. I did have a coworker that had a DI nightmare with a Focus ST misfiring on cold start due to intake valve fowling. For him the solution was to clean the valves, install methanol injection, and beat it once in a while. I do recall what a nightmare early DI Audi's were, but I don't think many shops are spending much time cleaning intake valves unless it some high profit induction service of questionable effectiveness.
 
I would want to see the before, and after personally. I would want to know that there’s a problem, and that the solution was effective,

Spending money on the belief that there’s a problem, and hoping that my chosen solution (to a problem that may/may not exist) works without evidence to support that conclusion just isn’t something I’m willing to do.

I got a really nice borescope (@Trav recommended) for about $100. Totally worth it to be able to peek inside an engine. Depstech was the brand, and I am sure they have newer models than mine.
 
How difficult is it to get a borescope in there to see the intake valves? I would stop using the CRC, check the valves every so often (frequency depending on buildup rate) and then decide when to do walnut blasting.
 
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