CRC GDI Intake Valve Cleaner Spray on Hyundai

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Apr 17, 2004
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Texas Hill Country
Car is a 2011 Sonata with 2.4L GDI engine.

It now has 45k miles and would ping badly on 87 octane, less on 89 and none on 93 octane.

I have ran various fuel system cleaners through the gas tank with no improvement.

Car gets 3750 mile oil changes with Valvoline 5w30 synpower.

I called around a few indy shops to get a price to have the GDI cleaning done. Prices ranged from $99 to $149, and none of the shops really explained what was done, or the service.

Anyways, I bought a 13 dollar bottle of CRC GDI Intake Valve cleaner from Amazon, decided to try it out. I bought the stuff because it had decent reviews, and it had a permanently affixed straw to the bottle. I was worried about blowing a plastic straw into a running engine!

Had my wife hold the throttle around 1500-2000 RPM's while I sprayed the can of cleaner into the intake.

Car sputtered a little bit but never stalled, and there was no smoke out of the tailpipe or unusual sounds.

Reading the instructions says to shut the car off after spraying in the whole bottle for one hour, and let it heat soak.

Then restart the car, and take a spirited drive.

I followed the directions exactly and never had any smoke or unusual sounds out of the engine.

So, I'm happy to report that I have burned two full tanks of Sams Club 87 octane fuel with almost no pinging at all.

Temperature has been around 100f the whole time. I can recall one time it pinged very slightly at a low speed in the past two tanks of gas. Other than that nothing.

I am not recording timing or anything with an OBD2 scanner, but I can feel the ECU is pulling timing on the 87 octane fuel, and it runs much better on 93, but I'll stick with 87 its not a Maserati.

I'll continue to dump a bottle of Techron into the fuel tank every 3750 miles, as per Hyundai recommendations, and I'll continue with the 3750 mile oil changes (severe service).

This motor is a dirty pig, but its nice to have it well sorted and running on regular fuel. Sams Club is not top tier, but it is a brand new station and they move a lot of gas.

CRC recommends to use their product every 10k miles in a GDI application. I think I might buy it once a year.
 
Good to hear. I have a Hyundai with a turbo and am thinking about using it. I am not sure if it can be injected and go through the turbo. Does anyone know?
 
Originally Posted By: walterjay
Good to hear. I have a Hyundai with a turbo and am thinking about using it. I am not sure if it can be injected and go through the turbo. Does anyone know?

I would unclamp the hose closest to the throttle body, insert the straw, and re tighten the clamp and spray from there.

You could spray through your turbo, but I think you'd only clean the turbo impeller.
 
Honestly this is pretty much what I do when I do a fuel induction service. I use a vac line that goes into manifold though , then clean the throttle body separately. Sounds like you have a good maintenance plan with your 2.4L, short OCI on syn is best for this and the 2.0T engine. If you are a DIY guy and dont use a dealership , I would advise to call the dealer periodically to see if your Sonata has any available updates. Hyundai/KIA regularly releases updates or "logic" improvements for various modules and systems. Some can be minor others are a huge benefit. As long as its under warranty it should not cost you a dime. Important updates are for the ECU and TCM modules which modify/improve engine performance,efficiency and transmission shift behavior.
 
I don't have any pinging driving around town. I think it does on 87 octane in the mountains though, I still don't 100% know what pinging exactly sounds like so I can't say for sure.

I need to head out of town into the mountains with some 87 octane then turn around and fill with 91 and see if it changes.
 
Ford and GM both make a pour-can additive designed to de-carbon and de-gunk intakes. I haven't held a can in years, but it's probably just seafoam or Berryman's B-12.

It works best when a LOT is going in QUICKLY.
So much so, that when the end of the can is near, it's supposed to *ALL* go in at once so it kills the engine (flooded) and then let sit for 1-2 hours.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I don't have any pinging driving around town. I think it does on 87 octane in the mountains though, I still don't 100% know what pinging exactly sounds like so I can't say for sure.

I need to head out of town into the mountains with some 87 octane then turn around and fill with 91 and see if it changes.


Sounds like marbles in a can.
 
Originally Posted By: Thax
Honestly this is pretty much what I do when I do a fuel induction service. I use a vac line that goes into manifold though , then clean the throttle body separately. Sounds like you have a good maintenance plan with your 2.4L, short OCI on syn is best for this and the 2.0T engine. If you are a DIY guy and dont use a dealership , I would advise to call the dealer periodically to see if your Sonata has any available updates. Hyundai/KIA regularly releases updates or "logic" improvements for various modules and systems. Some can be minor others are a huge benefit. As long as its under warranty it should not cost you a dime. Important updates are for the ECU and TCM modules which modify/improve engine performance,efficiency and transmission shift behavior.


I had the car in the dealer for two recall services, and asked them both times for ECU updates and they ignored me and said it was not necessary and there were none for my car.

I do not like my Hyundai dealer chain, but they are so close to my home I just take it there for recall work.

I am not under warranty, but I do have 10 year 120k mile engine warranty per Recall.
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Ford and GM both make a pour-can additive designed to de-carbon and de-gunk intakes. I haven't held a can in years, but it's probably just seafoam or Berryman's B-12.

It works best when a LOT is going in QUICKLY.
So much so, that when the end of the can is near, it's supposed to *ALL* go in at once so it kills the engine (flooded) and then let sit for 1-2 hours.


Yes - the old GM TOP ENGINE CLEANER (old name) was very well known to be an aggressive cleaner. It is NOT seafoam or B12. Seafoam is basically so outdated and so inferior to today's cleaner I don't know why people still use it.
 
I use Amsoil's Power Foam since the GM or Mopar products are a smaller can. Same purpose. A good hour soak after ingesting into the intake when the engine is hot, closed hood after for heat saturation.
thumbsup2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: GMBoy
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Ford and GM both make a pour-can additive designed to de-carbon and de-gunk intakes. I haven't held a can in years, but it's probably just seafoam or Berryman's B-12.

It works best when a LOT is going in QUICKLY.
So much so, that when the end of the can is near, it's supposed to *ALL* go in at once so it kills the engine (flooded) and then let sit for 1-2 hours.


Yes - the old GM TOP ENGINE CLEANER (old name) was very well known to be an aggressive cleaner. It is NOT seafoam or B12. Seafoam is basically so outdated and so inferior to today's cleaner I don't know why people still use it.


I too, was a fan of the old GM TEC- I believe it was mostly butyl cellosolve. Worked well on every car I tried it on
Steve
 
Originally Posted By: Thax
Honestly this is pretty much what I do when I do a fuel induction service. I use a vac line that goes into manifold though , then clean the throttle body separately. Sounds like you have a good maintenance plan with your 2.4L, short OCI on syn is best for this and the 2.0T engine. If you are a DIY guy and dont use a dealership , I would advise to call the dealer periodically to see if your Sonata has any available updates. Hyundai/KIA regularly releases updates or "logic" improvements for various modules and systems. Some can be minor others are a huge benefit. As long as its under warranty it should not cost you a dime. Important updates are for the ECU and TCM modules which modify/improve engine performance,efficiency and transmission shift behavior.


I had the car in the dealer for two recall services, and asked them both times for ECU updates and they ignored me and said it was not necessary and there were none for my car.

I do not like my Hyundai dealer chain, but they are so close to my home I just take it there for recall work.

I am not under warranty, but I do have 10 year 120k mile engine warranty per Recall.
Anybody done this on a 2019 Santa Fe? Can I just spray in air intake without damaging anything?
 
Anybody done this on a 2019 Santa Fe? Can I just spray in air intake without damaging anything?
You need to put it in after the MAF sensor just like every other thing in the world, apparently. Either brake vacuum line or at the throttle body.
 
Anybody done this on a 2019 Santa Fe? Can I just spray in air intake without damaging anything?
I have a 2019 turbo santa fe.
I use crc through the gdi hose on the intake manifold.
Make sure the rpms are up when doing this to distribute the solution.
Its good stuff.
 
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