# Terraclean vs walnut blasting



## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Hi all,

Thought this may be if some interest to you guys.

Over on the DS3 owners club website, one of the guys had his engine terracleaned at around 40k miles. He still felt that the engine was hesitating somewhat, so went to a ds3 specialist for advice, and they recommended walnut blasting.

Anyhoo, the specialist took before and after pics, and unbeknownst to me, the walnut blasting can be done without removing the head. Anyhoo:-

After terraclean










After walnut blasting.










Cool eh?

Cooks

Sent from my D6603


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## bigmac3161 (Jul 24, 2013)

The thp engines that are in ds3 RCZ minis and god knows what else. Some difference


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Yeh it seems to be in a few cars alright. I thought terraclean would have been a bit better than that, but I suppose nothing will ever beat blasting the carbon away. 

Cooks 

Sent from my D6603


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

Guy over on A5OC got involved in carbon cleaning. While I can't imagine the physical results are as striking as walnut blasting, a chap did stick his high mileage V8 on a dyno and did a before and after to see what effect the carbon clean had on peak output. Seemed to regain all the lost horses that were being choked by the carbon build up. 

Not sure how it compares with walnut blasting in terms of efficacy, but I know costs are vastly different...isn't walnut blasting into the many hundreds, whilst a carbon clean is just under £100...


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## bigmac3161 (Jul 24, 2013)

Some in Peugeot RCZ forum got quoted £1600 for walnut blasting


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

bigmac3161 said:


> Some in Peugeot RCZ forum got quoted £1600 for walnut blasting


:doublesho

Ouch...and could it really be x16 more effective....not sure I could justify that sort of cost...


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## possul (Nov 14, 2008)

Considering terraclean is used as an alternative fuel which on newer petrol engines are all direct injection it's not surprising.
He should of been given proper advice and been offered a engine carbon clean which is sprayed directly into the inlet manifold, thus cleaning away dirt /sludge before the valves.

Ive just done it on my car (cylinder head off) and it cost me £130 in parts (labour is free)

Walnut blasting is very popular with bmw I believe


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

A lot of guys were getting walnut blasting done on their 335is. I'm sure a few good companies were doing it for around £400.


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## Bod42 (Jun 4, 2009)

Sadly it seems to be the case that any Direct Injection engine will need Walnut blasting at some point in its life. That includes a shed load of engines these days. 

Some fuel cleaners are very good but Possul is right, none of them will help on Direct Injection cars. I for one do use Redline fuel cleaner in my cars but don't bother in the VW or other Direct Injection cars I've owned as the fuel never gets near the area you wish to clean.


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## donfresh (Feb 23, 2016)

whats the difference in the process of teraclean and walnut blasting? 
how do they work?


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## possul (Nov 14, 2008)

Walnut blasting is virtually like sand blasting the cylinder head ports.
Inlet manifold is removed, engine is timed up to top dead centre and then blasted to clean.

Terraclean is basically running the car on a "special" fuel so only cleans after injection 
(inside the cylinder)

Carbon clean is sprayed into to the inlet manifold so much better suited imo for this type of job


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## Wrigit (May 2, 2007)

thinking about getting this done on my 530d as its getting on for 115k now, anyone has any recommendations for walnut blasting around Wiltshire / south west that would be great.


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## EliteCarCare (Aug 25, 2006)

Terraclean is a complete waste of money, avoid it. To get it done properly as above the head does need to come off.

Alex


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

EliteCarCare said:


> Terraclean is a complete waste of money, avoid it. To get it done properly as above the head does need to come off.
> 
> Alex


I was going to sat the same...proper snake oil remedy. Steer well clear.

If you want your engine sorted properly its going to need to be stripped and done properly.


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## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

wasnt so long ago folk were singing the praises of terraclean on here

personaly i dont see how it can much at all


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## Starbuck88 (Nov 12, 2013)

steveo3002 said:


> wasnt so long ago folk were singing the praises of terraclean on here
> 
> personaly i dont see how it can much at all


On older engines it'll work very well, such as the likes of the old Jag V8 Ed used it on in wheeler dealers.

With direct injection being the norm now basically it's become a bit useless.


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## sshooie (May 15, 2007)

A colleague has just had his 120k diesel Mondeo done, he reckons it's a massive difference, I reckon it's the placebo effect.

He paid £100 and tbf I'd probably have a punt @ <£50 for my 530d with 80k


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

Found the post about my mates 2008 S5 4.2 V8 with 56k miles on the clock:

"+21bhp
+20ft-lb across the range
Engine is significantly quieter as other mentioned but still sounds epic under load
The pull is alot smoother across the whole range whereas before it pulled noticeably harder after 3k revs"

Has pictures of the before and after dyno read-out, so a fairly objective look at how carbon cleaning can improve the output on a car with carbon build-up.

Worth the £99 before I would spend £££ on a full strip and walnut blast personally.


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## sshooie (May 15, 2007)

DrEskimo said:


> Found the post about my mates 2008 S5 4.2 V8 with 56k miles on the clock:


Care to share...?


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

sshooie said:


> A colleague has just had his 120k diesel Mondeo done, he reckons it's a massive difference, I reckon it's the placebo effect.
> 
> He paid £100 and tbf I'd probably have a punt @ <£50 for my 530d with 80k


100%



Starbuck88 said:


> On older engines it'll work very well, such as the likes of the old Jag V8 Ed used it on in wheeler dealers.
> 
> With direct injection being the norm now basically it's become a bit useless.


Funnily enough isnt Ed China a brand sponsor of Terraclean...???


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

sshooie said:


> Care to share...?


I did...in the rest of the post...?

The quotes are his post.


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## Starbuck88 (Nov 12, 2013)

nick_mcuk said:


> 100%
> 
> Funnily enough isnt Ed China a brand sponsor of Terraclean...???


Yep.

This was a few years ago though, is he still the sponsor now?


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## Bod42 (Jun 4, 2009)

From my research after owning a direct injection engine.

Fuel Cleaners - Useless
Terraclean - Useless
Carbon Clean - Good results for the money
Walnut Blasting - The best but expensive


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## donnyboy (Oct 27, 2005)

Terraclean have a tool for direct injection engines - http://www.terraclean.net/product.php?id=2


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## sshooie (May 15, 2007)

I'm interested in the walnut blasting now lol...


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## Harry_p (Mar 18, 2015)

Starbuck88 said:


> On older engines it'll work very well, such as the likes of the old Jag V8 Ed used it on in wheeler dealers.
> 
> With direct injection being the norm now basically it's become a bit useless.


I recently removed the inlet from my 260,000 mile, old fashioned port injected BMW and the head inlet ports and valves were as clean as the day they were fitted. I would not be rushing to get the car tetracleaned.


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## sshooie (May 15, 2007)

^^ Show off ^^


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