Recently picked up a 2017 EXL from a dealer. Coming from a Hyundai Genesis, my wife and I love the room and the creature comforts of this Pilot. It barely has 30K mi on it, and I am preparing for a slew of maintenance items (due at 30K) including changing out the oil & filter, transmission fluid & filter, and rear differential oil.
Reading about GDI engines and various posts on this forum has pretty well convinced me that routine injector cleaning and periodic intake valve cleaning is a necessity. While there are many good fuel additives to help clean the injectors (Seafoam, etc), I am not entirely convinced that spraying a solvent such as CRC GDI IVD Intake Valve & Turbo Cleaner is very effective, or won't destroy or degrade the catalytic converter.
While researching intake valve cleaning options (that don't involve the costly procedure of blasting the intakes with walnut shells to clean out the carbon), I came across a video of a couple mechanics down south who were using a system developed by Ford engineers called ATS Chemical 3C Intelligent Induction Cleaner. In the span of 15 minutes, it injects a powerful carbon solvent into each of the intakes, then siphons out the emulsified carbon deposits.
Sounds like a great idea to me, because it probably wont contaminate your oil and/or trash the catalytic converter. My biggest issue is trying to find a shop here in Denver that has one of these devices and offers induction cleaning service. Most mechanics here want $800+ to tear the engine down and spend hours blasting each cylinder with walnut shells.
Does anyone in this forum have any experience (good or bad) with the ATS Chemical 3C Intelligent Induction Cleaner? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Especially where you found this service (at a Ford dealer maybe), and how much they charged you.
Reading about GDI engines and various posts on this forum has pretty well convinced me that routine injector cleaning and periodic intake valve cleaning is a necessity. While there are many good fuel additives to help clean the injectors (Seafoam, etc), I am not entirely convinced that spraying a solvent such as CRC GDI IVD Intake Valve & Turbo Cleaner is very effective, or won't destroy or degrade the catalytic converter.
While researching intake valve cleaning options (that don't involve the costly procedure of blasting the intakes with walnut shells to clean out the carbon), I came across a video of a couple mechanics down south who were using a system developed by Ford engineers called ATS Chemical 3C Intelligent Induction Cleaner. In the span of 15 minutes, it injects a powerful carbon solvent into each of the intakes, then siphons out the emulsified carbon deposits.
Sounds like a great idea to me, because it probably wont contaminate your oil and/or trash the catalytic converter. My biggest issue is trying to find a shop here in Denver that has one of these devices and offers induction cleaning service. Most mechanics here want $800+ to tear the engine down and spend hours blasting each cylinder with walnut shells.
Does anyone in this forum have any experience (good or bad) with the ATS Chemical 3C Intelligent Induction Cleaner? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Especially where you found this service (at a Ford dealer maybe), and how much they charged you.
