New to us 2013 Kia Rio - GDI cleaner/catch can experiences

[mcwilly]

We had to get a new beater car earlier this year as our 2001 Toyota Echo died a horrible death via hit and run.

We learned the used car market is horrible in our area, but finally settled on a 2013 Kia Rio with 125,000kms on it.

Being a bitog member I immediately started obsessing on how to get the engine cleaner and running better.
I wont bore with all the little things I did like fluids, sparkplugs, filters, however I did try two new things I had never done before: used a GDI intake cleaner, and installed a catch can.

No pics of the intake cleaner operation. But it went something like this:
I followed the instructions on the can and emptied it into the throttle body with RPMS held at 2,000. Gave it a couple pumps to 3,000 RPM then shut of the engine for an hour. Initially I didn't notice anything as I slowly drove out neighborhood. Then instructions said to do some spirited highway driving and I as soon as I opened her up the engine lost power, nearly stalling, followed by the most heart wrenching sound I can only describe as dropping a handful of marbles into the engine. As the random bits of carbon were chewed up in the cylinders a large white cloud of smoke filled all my mirrors and completely blocked any sight of the road behind me. This went on for about 10 seconds before it cleared up. I drove up and down the highway a couple times then returned home assuming I had completely destroyed the engine, but after a couple oil changes and 10,000kms it seems to be doing fine.

I picked up a simple catch can off amazon, it has some baffling, steel wool and a dip stick! Install was pretty simple I found a bolt on the firewall I could mount the can on keeping it lower than the PCV valve so the hose would not have any high spots for optimal drainage, then the out hose feeds back into the intake.



I've been emptying it every 2,500kms or so.

In the summer it doesn't get a ton, maybe around 20ml of watery oil every 2500kms:



But in the cold winter months (-30c) I get around 50-100ml of milky coffee per 2500kms which smells of gas:

 

[Hyundai Respecter]

as soon as I opened her up the engine lost power, nearly stalling, followed by the most heart wrenching sound I can only describe as dropping a handful of marbles into the engine.

That was likely the engine sucking in all the cleaner that pooled on the bottom of the intake manifold. Be careful. The design of the intake manifold on that engine, the air goes down before going up into the engine, so the cleaner you spray can pool on the bottom, getting sucked up all at once when you WOT. It could potentially destroy the engine. I’ve read about that happening before . Try replacing the PCV valve too, might help a little. Otherwise that’s not a bad car, my mother has the Hyundai version of it (2012 Accent) and it has been a reliable car for her.

 

[KrisZ]

If it’s not a DI engine, these are pretty much a placebo effect and a waste of money. But they do make some people a lot of money for a glorified jar.

With GDI there might be a benefit, but even that has not really been shown long term.

Seeing how much oil and moisture it collected only proves that the PCV is doing exactly what it was designed and engineered to do. The stuff is in vapor form and doesn’t harm the engine in any way. Only damages people’s OCD.

 

[wpod]

How dirty was the intake?