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Carbon cleaning & cylinder 4 random misfire code - advice?

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gti2015

Passed Driver's Ed
My car is a stock 2011 GTI with 75,000 miles.

Just wondering when you all have had carbon cleaning done and how much your shop charges? My mechanic suggested it and said it would be about $900.

Also - I have a cylinder 4 intermittent misfire code that my mechanic discovered. The check engine light isn't on and he said that as long as it still passes emissions and my check engine light is not on, then it isn't anything to worry about. He said it may be the injectors but wouldn't know until they were taken out and checked/cleaned if needed.

Thanks for any advice!
 
FF_animal

FF_animal

Ready to race!
Just had the girlfriends carbon cleaning on her gli at 70k and it was much needed. Also had the cylinder 4 misfire and really rough idle on cold start along with CEL flashing randomly due to misfires. Get it cleaned at this point as it will only get worse.

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G

gti2015

Passed Driver's Ed
Thanks for the help. Is $900 a fair price for a carbon cleaning?


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P

pamatt

Passed Driver's Ed
Hell no. It should be no more than 300-600.
 
N

NJBoostedGTI

New member
I take my 2012 GTI to the VW dealership and they charge $800. But the last two times I went there I needed a software update and they charge $300 to do it then since its already gonna be apart.

Declined the first time, second time I agreed to get it done but there was a miscommunication between us two so they didn't do it and I still have my cylinder misfire, extremely rough idle on cold starts, cel flashing every once in a while, sometimes it stays on and the days later goes off again. Since there was a miscommunication though they said they'll charge me the $300 to get it done which I plan on doing once I get my taxes cause I have to do my timing chain as well.
 
ferrariF601

ferrariF601

Ready to race!
Slowgti08 said:
I paid 850 for the carbon cleaning and a new manifold.


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isn't there a service bulletin for the faulty intake manifold until 120K miles; that's what i thought
 
sterkrazzy

sterkrazzy

Autocross Champion
ferrariF60 said:
isn't there a service bulletin for the faulty intake manifold until 120K miles; that's what i thought
Click to expand...

My dealer wouldn't tell me without certainty that they'd replace the manifold under warranty without looking at the car first. Then they told me if I wanted a carbon cleaning while they were replacing it that it'd be $550. I paid about $750 (for a new manifold, carbon cleaning, and 1 new injector) by taking it to my regular mechanic, but I didn't like what the dealer told me and I have a mechanic that's done all the work to my car and I trust him a whole lot more.
 
N

NJBoostedGTI

New member
sterkrazzy said:
My dealer wouldn't tell me without certainty that they'd replace the manifold under warranty without looking at the car first. Then they told me if I wanted a carbon cleaning while they were replacing it that it'd be $550. I paid about $750 (for a new manifold, carbon cleaning, and 1 new injector) by taking it to my regular mechanic, but I didn't like what the dealer told me and I have a mechanic that's done all the work to my car and I trust him a whole lot more.
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Yeah, I've gotten my intake mani replaced twice from the dealership, first time they said it'll be 350 since they're doing the intake mani paid for by Volkswagen otherwise it would've been 800 or 850.
 
S

suspiciouspackage

Ready to race!
The shop I went to quoted me for $450. Chemical cleaning followed by walnut shell blasting. I went ahead and replaced all 4 fuel injectors just because preventative maintenance. All in all, ~$750. I'm super picky with shops and try to avoid dealerships like the plague unless it's warranty work. I read up a lot of reviews on the shop and look for vouches from forum members. If I went to a shop closer to me, they were charging $900 just for the blasting.

And just for reference, I made a trip, 310 miles both ways. Before the cleaning, I was lucky to break 28mpg going 65mph. After the cleaning, rough estimate has me doing anywhere from 36-39mpg, same speed.
 
G

gti2015

Passed Driver's Ed
k.ramirez said:
The shop I went to quoted me for $450. Chemical cleaning followed by walnut shell blasting. I went ahead and replaced all 4 fuel injectors just because preventative maintenance. All in all, ~$750. I'm super picky with shops and try to avoid dealerships like the plague unless it's warranty work. I read up a lot of reviews on the shop and look for vouches from forum members. If I went to a shop closer to me, they were charging $900 just for the blasting.

And just for reference, I made a trip, 310 miles both ways. Before the cleaning, I was lucky to break 28mpg going 65mph. After the cleaning, rough estimate has me doing anywhere from 36-39mpg, same speed.
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Cool, thanks for the info! How many miles were on your car when you got the carbon cleaning? I will call my shop Monday and get the details on what their carbon cleaning would involve - should it include shell blasting too or is just a chemical cleaning good enough?
 
S

suspiciouspackage

Ready to race!
gti2015 said:
Cool, thanks for the info! How many miles were on your car when you got the carbon cleaning? I will call my shop Monday and get the details on what their carbon cleaning would involve - should it include shell blasting too or is just a chemical cleaning good enough?
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87k miles. I had the intake manifold replaced a couple months ago and I had the dealer take pictures of the valves. They offered just a chemical cleaning and I wanted the whole 9. Chemical clean will be good enough but it won't be the best. Think of it this way. Just a chemical cleaning is like getting your car washed. Walnut shell blasting is getting your car detailed. Just a more deep and thorough cleaning. Some places offer it, some don't. It all depends on whether or not they have the equipment. My dealership didn't have it and were just going to do the chemicals.
 
slowgti08

slowgti08

Ready to race!
gti2015 said:
Cool, thanks for the info! How many miles were on your car when you got the carbon cleaning? I will call my shop Monday and get the details on what their carbon cleaning would involve - should it include shell blasting too or is just a chemical cleaning good enough?
Click to expand...



Make sure they do a manual walnut blasting not a chemical cleaning. Chemical cleaning does nothing. in order to really clean the valves it has to be manual scrubbing.


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Boscogn

Boscogn

Go Kart Champion
I got quoted $750 with new manifold 600 without

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