Kansas City MINI Enthusiasts

Well, today was the day I finally went after the carboned up intake valves on my Clubman S, I have to say that while they cleaned up beautifully, I can't tell a lick of difference in the way it runs - I guess that's good news but I read so many people that said it made a huge difference for them.....

Here are a couple of before/after pics......









And here's what the inside of my engine looks like at 55K miles, I change the oil once a year or every 10K - those old wives tales about changing the oil every 3K are exactly that.



Oh, and a big thank you to Dimini for spending his Sat afternoon helping me with this job!

Looks good now! The before didn't look too bad either. I've seen some really nasty pics before where you scratched your head and said...where's the valve in that charcoal briquette? Mine had it done at 38k or so by the previous owner. I think plugs are next for me and a torque arm insert. I've been looking at water/meth for the future. Had it preturbo on my talon. I wonder if John or others have pics of their valves after running WI for a while. It is only on for short periods of time and I would expect driving habits would affect the effects of WI on carboned valves.

I hope to get some pictures of the valves during the tear down in the next week or so. I'm going to have the header off...why not reach around and take the intake side off too. I bought the intake rubber band/gaskets just incase.

I've had water meth on the car since 1200 miles and have had it spraying fairly heavy. We shall see...

Dave, was your intake manifold 'stuck' on? A year ago I had the bolts/nuts off and just tried to back it off the head, but it seemed like it was stuck on pretty good. So I assumed gasket and didn't push it any further. Also notice it was plastic for the first time so I didn't really want to mess with it.

There's a hidden bolt......

No seriously, there is a hidden bolt, way down on the side - once you know where it is it's not too hard to take it out, finding it seems to be the hardest part. But no, once all the nuts/bolts were out, mine lifted right off.

There are a number of hoses and electrical connections and control valves and such to remove too....one tip we didn't realize till we had it off - the hard way - the two control valves mounted to the underside of the manifold just mount using rubbers, something like an exhaust system, you can unhook them from the manifold and just leave them there.

Also, the air cleaner has a hidden bolt, on the left end (as you're facing the engine). Other than that it's fairly straightforward, and there is enough room to work once you know where everything is. I took the valve cover off so I could make sure the valves were closed.... rather than guessing.

I can't imagine that the meth makes much of a difference, since most of the time you're not using it , right? It will be interesting to see tho. BTW, you cannot get your head down in there to see the valves, the only way you can tell is to use an inspection mirror, or take a pic like I did.

I haven't looked yet, but I think harbor freight has little borescopes for under $100. If you host a valve blasting day, I'd look at donating one to the club.

I have one already, and the only way to get it into the ports is to pull the manifold back, by then you can use an inspection mirror or just take a pic. I took some vid with my remote camera but it was hard to see as the led light in the end of the scope does not make a lot of light, I think I posted the vid here already. it was like looking down into a coal mine!

I'm not so sure about holding a valve blasting day, I would need a lot more compressor to do that (why I did it at school instead of my shop) and I have no plans to replace mine. I would entertain renting the equipment out to someone who would like to save several hundred bux and DIY tho.

Are you all able to see the pics in my post above? some have said they can't unless they join the forum where I have them hosted, so I'll repost them here just in case....

I think it is time for me to clean my valves. I am getting a somewhat regular stumble and cloud of black smoke when I quickly roll into the throttle around 3k rpm (3rd or 4th gear usually). The previous owner had the blasting done at Baron at 38k and I have 67k on the car now. I'm running a lower volume of water/meth injection and I do not have a catch can installed. I plan to swap out plugs and also remove my Alta AP for a while to make sure it is not the tune or just the age of the plugs (a few years old - maybe 18k miles on them). Tune I run is the mildest on the AP, made for a completely stock car. I am running it with meth, a DoS intake and catless DP.

I think my first step is to remove the intake mani and take a look at the valves. After that, I will check for prices to get the service done, either at Baron or an independent shop.

The intake manifold is fairly easy to remove, you can just take the 5 bolts out and pull it back far enough to see down in there with a flash light.

I'll probably pull it this weekend and see what I can see without a borescope. I have the DoS intake so that is already out of the way and the mani is easy to get to.

I know I asked this back when I had my R53, and the answer was no.

I have an R55 Justa now. So is the answer....?

Still no, different engine......

Minidave wrote:Still no, different engine......

Okay, so N16 isn't an issue

Just the N14/N18's