Terraclean? Is it worth getting done?

I've only read positive reviews about it, but it's mostly been people's perception rather than hard facts. The consensus is that one definite way of removing the carbon build-up is by walnut shell blasting, but that is quite a bit more expensive.

My S3 is just over 55k now, so starting to think about doing this too. Would be interesting to find out if anyone has more info on Terraclean.

Edit: I know this may be blasphemous link here, but this looks promising - http://www.bmwforums.info/general-bmw-chat/8771-terraclean-treatment-review.html

I had mine done a couple of months ago, instant improvement, I can highly recommend it. I also had a carbon clean 3 days ago from Cuppa, I felt more of an improvement from that

Terraclean cannot work as advertised on TFSI engines. Anyone who says otherwise is selling snake oil.

rossdagley said:

Terraclean cannot work as advertised on TFSI engines. Anyone who says otherwise is selling snake oil.

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First time I'm hearing this - care to expand on this?

A quick update for all who are interested in this - I went to VAG Tuner show today (organised by Audi Tuner Magazine) and got chatting to @Cuppa, who was manning the Engine CarbonClean stand with his mental S5 on display... What I found out is that Engine CarbonClean is a competing service to Terraclean, but goes about addressing the carbon build-up issue a bit differently. Instead of injecting a chemical cocktail into the fuel system CarbonCelan system injects hydrogen into the intake, just after the MAF sensor. The idea is to break-up carbon deposits naturally by getting the built-up carbon in the deposits to react with the injected hydrogen gas and exit the intake system naturally without using any abrasive chemicals to get rid of the build-up. The great thing about this approach is that it not only cleans areas past where fuel is injected, but the whole air intake passage, including the turbo! Terraclean, does not do this and this, I believe , is the reason for @rossdagley 's comment earlier.

I have been thinking about getting a carbon clean done on my car for some time now and asked about getting my car done on the day and luckily the guys managed to squeeze me in! The whole process took about 30 minutes and involved a connection of a pipe for hydrogen to the intake pipe and three sessions of revving the engine for a couple of minutes, every 10 minutes or so.

Before I talk about the results: My car has done just over 56k miles and has been running on VPower for all of it's time with me as the owner, with oil changed between every service. Even with all the modifications it started to feel a little sluggish and I begun to think more and more about getting this done. I assume that individual results will always vary depending on condition of each engine.

My results:
- A puddle of dirty liquid out of the tailpipe and a large amount of black residue ( I imagine that that's carbon deposits being thrown out by the reving of the engine)
- Engine noise changed from the typical tappetty TFSI and (what I can only describe as) booming sounds, to a more crisp-sounding engine with the signature TFSI sounds present, with lower overall noise volume.
- Power delivery - I couldn't wait to get going on my 2 hour drive home and all I could think of is how well it drives now. The power and torque delivery is much smoother now, with the engine revving more freely, with the car feeling more eager under acceleration. I'm thinking about getting my car on a dyno again some time soon, just to see if overall power figures have been affected.
- Can't comment on economy yet - I spent most of the way home playing with roll-on acceleration, so that destroyed any chance for an economy run A little play with a BMW Alpine B7 that was sharing a stretch of motorway with me, also did not help matters.

Overall, I would say that the effect is well worth the price of this service and based on what I found out, Engine CarbonClean is a service that is definitely worth considering when looking at dealing with carbon build-up, especially if you consider that this is a fully mobile option!

Here are a few photos from today:

As well as our S3 we have an R56 MCS, both have around 70k miles.
The Mini was driving awful, quite hesitant on part throttle, down on power and the mpg was down too.
We had it walnut blasted by Mini and the difference was night and day. It now drives as it should.
The Audi shows non of this tbh so, with this in mind, I wouldnt consider it necessary

Thanks for the feedback Mark and leshkin.

Given our service is mobile, we have multiple agents in different parts of the country and multi-car discounts available for three or more vehicles at same time/place then some regional mini-meets may be in order for forum members to take advantage of the multi-car discount.

Post up if interested and we can see if we can get something arranged.

I have been looking into this and was interested getting my A3 carbon cleaned with hydrogen from a company here in Northern Ireland. However, someone mentioned to me about the sooty deposites just being deposited further down the line in injectors etc. I'm not up to scratch with the mechanics so could anyone shed some light as to whether this is true?

Cheers

I have my s6 booked in next week it has done 150k now so will defo test if it works I will keep you posted if you like

Wow! Please take a picture of what comes out of the exhaust when this is being done!

No problem when it's done I will post them on

leshkin said:

Wow! Please take a picture of what comes out of the exhaust when this is being done!

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Nothing came out of my exhaust when I had mine done

I'm up for it if anyone else is in the London or Warwick or Kettering areas and fancies getting a group discount for a few of us clubbing together........

Had mine at terraclean today and it run loads better also pulls stronger mid range but had nothing come out the exhaust I would certainly recommend it

What sort of prices are we talking to get an engine Terracleaned. And does size and fuel type matter to the process and cost?

Fuel type doesn't matter mine cost £126 due to the size of the engine but I think up to 2ltr it's 90 or 99 but you get discounts for more vehicles if you want the details of the place near me let me know

Cuppa said:

Thanks for the feedback Mark and leshkin.

Given our service is mobile, we have multiple agents in different parts of the country and multi-car discounts available for three or more vehicles at same time/place then some regional mini-meets may be in order for forum members to take advantage of the multi-car discount.

Post up if interested and we can see if we can get something arranged.

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Hi I was wondering if there was anyone near me in Slough who could do a carbon clean on my 05 DTM 90k. If so how much would it cost? Thanks

WozzaDTM said:

Hi I was wondering if there was anyone near me in Slough who could do a carbon clean on my 05 DTM 90k. If so how much would it cost? Thanks

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I'm interested in this. I live in west London!

Ianski68 said:

I'm interested in this. I live in west London!

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I reckon we could get a group thing going on & get a nice a nice touch on the price. I'm gonna try get hold of cuppa & then get some prices, maybe if we could get at least five cars we could go from there. I'll keep you posted & likewise if you get hold of carbon clean. Cheers fella

Will do

WozzaDTM said:

I reckon we could get a group thing going on & get a nice a nice touch on the price. I'm gonna try get hold of cuppa & then get some prices, maybe if we could get at least five cars we could go from there. I'll keep you posted & likewise if you get hold of carbon clean. Cheers fella

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You have PM

What's the price of a carbon clean on a 1.9tdi? Thanks

Hi,

Im near Slough and am interested in getting this done on my car. Did you manage to get a group together?

cheers

Nothing much meterialised but I may still be up for it. Going to pull off egr and shudder valve along with manifold and clean by hand in a few weeks.