i was wondering if any of you guys remove the secondary shutter valve to clean the carbon at regular mileage intervals? i know by using the higher rpm bands does this process..but just wanted to know if that is helpfull or even necessary? i have seen these valves even on agressive driven rx8's and they still look like they build up quite a bit of carbon

 

I've asked myself this same question and still unsure.
For me... any preventative maintenance you can do will only help the longevity of your car.
My car has roughly 45K miles on it and the SSV has a little carbon film on it.
But it still moves freely and I can easily remove it unlike one SSV I worked on where it was REALLY tough to remove because of all the sludge in there.

So while I wouldn't call it a necessity, I may say its a good PM to perform.
Maybe checking it every 50K miles

 

I thought about this some more while in the shower....
While this may be a good PM measure, I may not recommend this to all.
Since there are a lot of items to remove to get the SSV out, this might be too much for some.

If you can remove/replace the water pump and thermostat, you can remove the SSV.
Mainly because the process to remove the SSV is the same as the water pump and thermostat (together) with the addition of a couple more items.

 

I think if you run a catch can vented to atmos. that you won't get any sludge building up on the SSV .

 

Good point.
I think come spring time when I remove/clean my SSV I'll install a catch-can and monitor the build-up.

 

would vented to atmosphere be one end coming from the oil filler neck to catch can and a filter on the other end of the catch can instead of running the second line to the intake?
**i just read a article about most of the mainstream catch cans are not very effective without baffles **may be another discussion**

this is mostly for the DIY people that are somewhat handy with technical installs/repairs. i have noticed those ssv's getting pretty gunked up and if you have the ability to access it even though its somewhat of a pita. would it be a good idea "x" of miles to clean it out? especially since doing a seafoam from the maint ports wouldnt be very effective on the ssv correct?

 

Yeah... the hose from the oil filler neck connects to the catch-can and the "output" of the catch-can has a filter (instead of routing it back to the intake).

Like I mentioned above... I would like to see how bad it gets with a catch-can installed.
But at 45K miles without a catch-can, my SSV is still pretty free.

You'll never hit the SSV going through the maintenance ports.
Even going through the UIM won't be sufficient enough to get it clean since the valve will be closed when you do, so you're only hitting 1/4 of the outside of the valve.

 

Correct

yes

SSV (ant the rest of the intake) gunks up because oil/water mist from the crankcase mixes with fine dust from the intake creating sludge . Vent your crankcase to atmosphere and you take away the main issue .

 

a lot of factors can influence this - climate , garaging , driving habits , how old the motor is etc

 

Ohio climates such as winter and 90 degree summers, no garage, drive between 3500 and 4K RPM (high RPMS during acceleration), original motor...
My car gets a little abuse

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by gregs
would vented to atmosphere be one end coming from the oil filler neck and a filter on the other end instead of running the second line to the intake?
Yeah... the hose from the oil filler neck connects to the catch-can and the "output" of the catch-can has a filter (instead of routing it back to the intake).

the hose that runs back into the intake...is that used to save oil? or is there another reason it runs back in?