Hi everyone, Could I please get some help on how do I clean the inside of this engine? I really don’t want to damage anything as I have no experience in cleaning engines. I discovered this buildup when I took off my plastic intake manifold to clean it up only to discover how bad the engine is on the inside. I’ve attached some photos and looks like it’s caked up all the way around (top, bottom, around fuel injector) including behind the intake valves. Car was running fine just a bit rough running at low speeds (hence why I’m now cleaning the EGR and manifold intake). Is walnut blasting the only option? I don’t have access to equipment or the time to do it right now but I do have a can of Intake valve spray cleaner that I can soften some of it up but I’m really not experienced enough on how to clean this other than a basic wipe on the foremost part of the engine (I’m not prepared to muck around too deep inside for fear of me accidentally damaging something) - I don’t even know where to turn the crankshaft to close the valves on the Prius or if it’s even safe to do that on the Prius. How bad is it to cleanup? Should I just leave it alone and let it be? All 4 cylinders are pretty much the same in buildup.
Hi all, Or can anyone confirm if the carbon buildup is not an issue to affect engine as it is port sided injection?
It's not good but very common on these gen3 engines. It is worse with oil burning which is also common on our engines with low tension rings. The cylinders will also carbon up. If the car is pinging on low battery take offs it is very damaging and a likely cause of head gasket failures. Carbon in the cylinder and the face of the valves causes pinging (preignition) when hv battery assist is low (weak hv battery with low capacity at low charge indication). Solution with oil burning? Revised rings and pistons - effectively an engine out rebuild if the engine has not shown early hg symptoms like occasional severe rattles on morning startups. A rebuild would include machined head if still in tolerance. A revised intake manifold and egr valve is best as well. Walnut blasting is best done by a pro as it can cause damage if not done properly. Blasting alone does not solve root causes so serious owners would go with a pro rebuilt engine like Hybridpit offers. Usually after a hg blows or a hole is created in the block. Most are not proactive enough to spend thousands up front so they just live with it or sell the car.
What do you mean by low pinging on low battery take offs? I didnt have oil burning until recently about 6 months ago. I didn’t know about the EGR issues this had either. Will be doing some regular cleaning from now on. I was planning to do an engine flush to remove the carbon likely formed on the pistons. Likely I will not be spending money on a huge overhaul on the engine. But what can I do to keep this running steady and prolong the head gasket issue? (Aside from OCC and regular EGR cleaning) Also should I attempt to clean what I am comfortable with in the engine intake and call it a day? Would the carbon do some damage eventually if I did leave it like this?
hi Mendel, Sure has done some high KM, was given to me by family member that said a 2nd hand engine had been put in at 500k body km. They were not sure how many KM the 2nd engine had done I’d assume it was quite a bit considering the carbon buildup, did not have oil burning up until about 6 months ago so hopefully the EGR clean will sort that out.
