[Omelette]

Yo, I got a question for all the fellow azera owners out there who have GDI engines. I've never owned a car with a GDI engine and undertstand that it can potentially cause carbon build up problems on intake valves. Right now, I am at relatively low mileage and want to know how to maintain it before too much carbon builds up. I am curious of how bad the build up is, ways to slow it down or prevent it, and products that y'all recommend for this. I understand there are spray products for cleaning them and that some mechanics will clean them for you, but I was curious of what works and other maintainence tips. Thanks for any help I can get

 

[grcauto]

Don't waste your time. Just service it when needed.

 

[DarrenBach]

I'm approaching 160,000 miles and haven't done anything different with my GDI and it still gets excellent mileage. Use top tier gas and keep your fingers crossed!

 

[Drewd]

Only thing I would recommend on a GDI engine is considering a quality oil catch can. Not the baloney ones you find on Ebay. I use a Mann Hummel Provent oil separator which has safety features that repainted coffee cans on Ebay don't. Other than that drive normally. Not sure how top tier gasoline is supposed to help as the intake valve is not bathed in air/fuel mixture in a GDI engine.

 

[Omelette]

Cool, I'll just keep changing oil regularly, drive safely and hope for the best.

 

[DarrenBach]

Not sure how top tier gasoline is supposed to help as the intake valve is not bathed in air/fuel mixture in a GDI engine.

How about keeping injectors clean? Dah! I didn't think I needed to explain!

 

[Omelette]

Darren, I can see your confusion. GDI stands for Gasoline Direct Injection, meaning that the gasoline is injected underneath the intake valves. That is why it has a carbon build up problem. No matter what gas you use, it can't clean the valves because it is injected underneath them, It never has a chance to touch them in the first place.

 

[DarrenBach]

There is no confusion...I have the GDI and am familiar with the design. I'm talking injectors not valves.

 

[Omelette]

If you are talking about keeping the fuel injectors clean, yeas the gas will help. But usually with these engines the major problems aren't with the fuel injectors, but more so with the intake valves. Regular injector enggines clean the valves when they inject gasoline on top of them, but the GDIs don't do that. Therefore, they tend to carbon up much faster as the valves aren't being cleaned any longer. The intent of my original question was specifically to maintain the cleanliness of the intake valves, I'm sorry if i caused any confusion with the way I worded my question.