Particulate on Valves - HELP!!

I am replacing water pump, front crossover pipe and heater manifold pipe (rear crossover pipe).

Finally got the air intake manifold totally off and I find this when I look down the air intake channels to the tops of the valves.

I have been careful not to get crud down there, but maybe not careful enough?

I am very concerned about what I am seeing.

Keeping in mind that the valves are in various states of open/closed, I don't just want to try to blow this out, so what so I do??

How do I clean all this up, looks like tar...

Sorry about the photo quality, the phone is not cooperating...

That's the way they look, especially when untreated.. I saw this on many threads when people had the intake off, and in person when I did the pump/x2 crossovers. It's not great, but I don't think it's overly harmful- I think it's just a symptom of the EGR in these engines. I know of 2 ways to get it out:

1. Regular treatments of BG44 misted into the intake
2. Walnut blasting

I've been doing #1, with some marginal improvement..

I wouldn't be scrubbing in there now- as you mentioned some of those valves are open. I'd give it a quick vacuum in each hole in case you brushed anything in there, and keep moving.. I've seen a lot worse- yours are pretty clean!

MP

I am most concerned about the loose particulate, I should have been much more careful to clean before I opened anything up. This old dog just learned a new trick!

This particulate is sitting between the air intake and the valve covers - the clearance is so tight, I'm not sure it's even possible to get in there to vaccuum before it comes apart - so I can't be the first person to ever see this. I'll have to check the clearances when it all gets back together again.

And based on where it is, it must essentially be "heavy" dust - I don't see how any true "gritty" particulate could ever get there.
It's very fine and soft to the touch.

I was thinking about a good vaccuum and then a very gentle touch with a long handle Q-Tip wetted with carb cleaner to collect any loose particulate.


As far as the deposits, I do treat from time to time, looks like I need to be much more aggressive.

I use the Lucas fuel injector cleaner, I see that BG44 is a fair bit more expensive - is it worth the extra cost?
I have no problem with extra cost, as long as it works....

Fuel injector cleaner won’t clean the valves, and neither will anything else you dump in the fuel tank… the 5.0 is direct injected. You need to run something through the intake and down the valves.

Are you taking the intake off? I know you can just tilt it to work on the front bits, but you might want to take it all the way off to verify all is clean. Then you can get a vacuum in there to suck everything up. We're only talking a few minutes to get it off, and then you can have the pleasure of pouring all the oil out of the intake (no, I'm not kidding)!

MM is right, you have to have the cleaner misted into the intake while the truck is running.. This is the only thing my dealer does for me, as the first time I had it done by an Indie shop and it started throwing codes- probably from all the gunk.

MP

Intake is completely removed. Only a few drops of oil. Will vaccuum and clean as per above. Will investigate having the intake misted after its all back together from this project Thanks.

Since you have access I’d strongly recommend cleaning the valves. Use a top engine cleaner like Delco (I’ve used it to very good effects but it’s pretty brutal to read the label…). With time and care you will be able to make a vase improvement and remove plenty of the crap that’s there. I use the engine cleaner, a small pick and scraper and it makes a big difference. Just take your time.

I bought two of these some months ago and I have been meaning to use them: https://www.crcindustries.com/products/gdi-ivd-174-intake-valve-cleaner-11-wt-oz.html

Has anyone else here used this CRC product? I'm very interested, but wanted to get some input prior to using it- I've seen the back of my valves and wonder if there are any drawbacks/dangers to this..

I’ve used the CRC stuff (it came in a GDI cleaning kit) with no negative effects. I’ve also used the Berryman kit with no side effects. Now I can’t tell you how good they work cause I haven’t inspected the back of the valves, but I figure it’s better than not using anything.

CRC kit:
CRC GDI Service Pack, 1 Kit, 05320 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GSZJL2...abc_XS8GJKT62Z862HGRZYD2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Berryman kit:
Berryman Products 2640 4-Step Professional Air & Fuel System Maintenance Kit, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MTHN1Y...abc_JV8YKF9HEFHNR0NXGP28?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1