Is BG44K Engine decoke any good

obi_waynne

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A3 1.4 TFSI 150 COD
I've decided to try some BG44k engine cleaner to help loosen the carbon deposits in my engine. It's not too bad but definately black and sooty.

I've just filled up the tank so I'll be reporting back on my conclusions and watching my MPG and the general drivability of the car.

This is in the A4 2.0 TFSi engine and I'm getting 31.5 mpg as my average at the moment.

Anyone else tried it?
 
Yes - used it in the Peugeot (BG244 is the diesel variant, although I expect the similarities outweigh the differences). Not that it had a coking problem but I like to assess some of these products.

NB - I NEVER use OIL ADDITIVES, flushing agents are probably OK but I AVOID all others.

For an engine with no problems anyway I'm not sure why I tried it, but I did. And no harm was caused.

I have also run it through the BMW in Feb 2011 (the BG44K for petrol engines this time) simply because it had been a low mileage car for its age when I bought it - such cars often coke up more than ones that are driven harder and for longer. In this case it did quieten down the engine under hard acceleration, not that it was noisy anyway but it did seem a little bit sweeter after treatment. The CO also came down from 0.05 to 0.012 afterwards. So, perhaps it does work?

What I am presenting is very subjective opinions - with a badly coked up car I imagine that the results would be more spectacular. Or perhaps not noticeable - perhaps it doesn't work after all. All I can offer in defence is that I'm a very sensitive driver and notice tiny changes in a car's performance or handling. Then again, perhaps I EXPECT to notice a difference because I know I'm a sensitive driver.

The primary active ingredient of the BG products is polyetheramine, which is acknowledged to be very effective at removing carbon deposits. It's the same stuff that fuel companies add to their fuel as part of the retail additive package for forecourt fuels. But it's in MUCH higher concentration as a consumer additive.

Lexus reportedly uses this stuff at every service.

Not a good reply really, is this? I am not a biochemist but I can't see how it would do any harm.

You pays yer money, and, heck, well, you know the rest, don't ya? :) :) :)
 
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I did get to do 200 miles in my car yesterday with the BG44k in it and do a thorough decoke! Usual MPG showing on the trip computer is 32.4.

The MPG average going up was 32.6 and on the way back I got 34.8! Let's see how it does in normal driving though this was at 3000rpm both ways! It's too soon for me to commit either way though. I need to get through this tank and see what it's like so I'm using full throttle a lot and high RPM to give it the best chance to work. They say it should take at least 3 days to work (Use the full tank over at least 3 days) so I'm guessing it's still working with the car parked up.
 
The BG44K is reported to work better if you use low revs and drive gently whilst it's in the fuel system. I think the idea is to get the carbon deposits 'wet' so that they can be dissolved by the stuff.

Save the thrashing until your 3/4's way down the tank.
 
The BG44K is reported to work better if you use low revs and drive gently whilst it's in the fuel system. I think the idea is to get the carbon deposits 'wet' so that they can be dissolved by the stuff.

Save the thrashing until your 3/4's way down the tank.
Doh! I wish I knew that. I did look online for some tips. I do have a second tin to use anyway if I've blown it.

(The car is actually a petrol Yugguy and for a Quattro doing 0-60 in 7.2 seconds the MPG is nothing short of phenomenal! I'm aiming at 37 mpg average though as this is what it's listed at so I'm going to see how close I get with just fuel system cleaner. I may also need to clean the intake via the vacuum line on the manifold so will start a separate thread for this as well.)
 
Still not got through the tank and am doing mainly short journeys now. About 1/3 of a tank to go and a typical run last night yielded 35mpg! So that is quite an improvement already. If it settles around that I will be very happy. Power is sharper and throttle response is also a lot keener.
 
Still not got through the tank and am doing mainly short journeys now. About 1/3 of a tank to go and a typical run last night yielded 35mpg! So that is quite an improvement already. If it settles around that I will be very happy. Power is sharper and throttle response is also a lot keener.

I might do mine then when I get it back; I will have to keep the revs down anyway while i'm running it in!
If your tank is anything like mine, it seems to take ages coming down when the tank is full, but once it gets to a 1/4 of a tank, then it seems to be a race to reach the empty! Weird :)
 
It's pointless doing it on a clean engine. This stuff cleans off the carbon deposits that build up sapping power and cleans the injectors. Yours will hopefully be in tip top condition when you get it.

My tank also goes down slowly till you hit the last quarter.
 
Aah! Well the engine is brand spanking new, I was merely thinking of cleaning the fuel injection system; which apart from a few new additions like larger fuel lines, new bigger injectors, twin fuel pump system, bespoke fuel rail, fuel filter! Actually now that I think about it! There's not a whole lot of original fuel system left! Best leave it well alone! :)
 
I just achieved 37mpg on a typical run that would only previously return about 31.4 so I'm actually quite impressed. MPG figures are now beyond the manufacturer claims, at least on urban.

I just wonder if a second can of BG44K would yield any further gains?

Overall the throttle response in sharper, engine noise seems a little quiter and it pulls really well not that it was lacking before but it's like switching to super unleaded in terms of extra oomph!

I do recommend this stuff but will be keeping an eye on motorway consumption and see if it lasts.
 
Those engines are known for coking up there valves quickly,

Some people employ water injection to combat it but only a small spray, maybe something to look into in the future waynne :)
 
Yup - the one drawback of FSI engines and one I would have thought they could easily solve.

Nope - already looked into it. The two solutions proposed are injecting various mixes of water/methonol and alcohol injection (incidentally bio fuels like alcahol are not good for FSI engines for some reason) and an oil catch tank but both have failed to clear up the issue although they offer a bit of relief from the problem.

Nitrous injection does apparentely help but is quite expensive long term.

I'm happy to run some decoke through the engine via a tank of fuel and I'm looking at intake cleaning sprays at the moment as well. (I have some Ecotek power boost spray to try, just trying to work out how to get it into the valves though.)
 
(I have some Ecotek power boost spray to try, just trying to work out how to get it into the valves though.)

Feed it in downstream of the MAF is the normal process with this stuff. It'll have to it the valves in any case, regardless of the fuelling arrangements.
 
I'm thinking of using the vacuum line on the intake but I don't want to throw any error codes in the ECU.

The trouble with a turbo is the air pressure, you can't take off hoses like a NASP engine and not expect to throw an error code.

I'm kind of at the point where I'm thinking "suff it and just do it, let the garage clear the fault codes for me at the next service".
 
Don't drive about with fault codes present. There shouldn't be any pressure differential anyway - the turbo will be stationary when the engine's not under load.
 
Do fault codes affect the engine then? I thought they were just little notes stored for service time? I understand that an ECL light or engine warning light is a major thing that should be investigated but most minor error codes do not cause the ECL to come on.

Interesting, the instructions say to run the engine at 2000 rpm so I'm guessing it's not actually under much boost there.
 
Do fault codes affect the engine then? I thought they were just little notes stored for service time? I understand that an ECL light or engine warning light is a major thing that should be investigated but most minor error codes do not cause the ECL to come on.

Interesting, the instructions say to run the engine at 2000 rpm so I'm guessing it's not actually under much boost there.

At 2000rpm there will be no boost at all because there's no load on the engine. The same would apply at 7000rpm with no load. But still best if you can to go in downstream of the turbo to avoid flushing oil from the turbo bearings.

I'd still avoid driving about with minors logged, but there shouldn't be anything to log.
 
Might get some for mine, does it just go into the fuel like Redex does?
 
I used the funnel from an old petrol container and it worked well. I'm not one to rave about products but I'm really liking what this stuff has done for my engine.
 
Given that the TFSi and also the unblown FSi are known for dirtying their intakes it's nice to get a positive report of such treatment. I ran a couple through the 528i when I first acquired it and it made no difference at all. In all probability because the BMW engines aren't using state of the art direct injection - it's more traditional setup with 6 injectors each firing sequentially onto the back of the inlet valve pairs.
 
I did get to do 200 miles in my car yesterday with the BG44k in it and do a thorough decoke! Usual MPG showing on the trip computer is 32.4.

The MPG average going up was 32.6 and on the way back I got 34.8! Let's see how it does in normal driving though this was at 3000rpm both ways! It's too soon for me to commit either way though. I need to get through this tank and see what it's like so I'm using full throttle a lot and high RPM to give it the best chance to work. They say it should take at least 3 days to work (Use the full tank over at least 3 days) so I'm guessing it's still working with the car parked up.

I bought my 2007 A4 2.0 TFSI in 2010 with 36,000 and just a couple days ago the idle revs above 1200rpm. I had a similar problem with my previous car (Mk3 GTI) and car before that (Mk2 GTI), which was resolved with RedX and cleaning the throttle body inlet and butterfly, which was covered in oil deposit.

I shouldn't tell you what mpg as it may not be the best advert for "gentle" driving. I have had the readout show 40mpg after a gentle (constant 65mph) 100 miles down the motorway.

I am guessing 44k is better than anything I can buy off the shelf at Halfords?
 
My local garage are now offering the full BG range and the full intake clean process as well. By all rights this is a must on direct injection engines that have an exhaust gas recirculation system.
 

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