The elephant in the room (carbon build up)
 

Want to know your opinion and your experience on both carbon build up on intake valves and what you did about it. Any 50k or more miles long time owner here that can explain if you have felt the lost of power from carbon build up? I been researching and now I am worried. I did not know my new 1LE was direct port injection only and not port and direct like many manufactures are doing today. I saw a guy on facebook group with carbon build up only at 19k miles. Yes I know about the oil catch can but this only helps a bit. Are you guys worried about longevity? Thank you.

Catch can and do some CRC IVD spray every 5,000 miles and you should be fine... I have a GDI Hyundai 2.4L with no catch can and 81k miles with no issues...

You'll get some build up but it doesn't seem like the LT1 has issues with it, it's a good excuse to drive it at high rpms every once in a while... ;)

I don't think you need to add a catch can either, it may cause warranty denials.

I run a catch can for peace of mind, and it'll definitely not be the main reason for my future warranty denials, if any :laughabove:

Agree. Know a few folks with high mileage c7 Vettes. Zero issues. I am also on my 3rd 5.3L v8 vehicle (Tahoe) with direct injection which gets tons of very hard miles. Zero issues. Know some commercial users as well, incl police duty vehicles. Sure as heck they dont run catch cans...Just enjoy your car, make sure the temps get up to full operating, change oil frequently, dont let her sit long term with empty fuel tank, give her hiway runs, etc.
Or best: track her regularly :)

This seems to be an effective cleaning detergent-active method that can be applied

I read about the BG Service, but don't have first hand experience with it.
BG Products in general are pretty popular where I am stationed these days...

What do you think?

Videos and information in the below links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qsule4-n7M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjp_mLavgDU

https://www.bgprod.com/blog/gdi-solved/

https://www.bgprod.com/services/gaso...air-induction/

GM dealers offer detergent based cleaning service, that wont affect the warranty. About $150.
However, when I spoke to a mechanic at a local dealer, he said they only did it once to a very high mileage commercial fleet Silverado. Other than that, he said they don't see valve coking being an issue on their customer vehicles, fleets included. But if it made somebody sleep better at night, why not...Ive had my car for 3 yrs now and it pulls as strong as it ever did. But as I said above i maintain it well and also pay attention to what quality fuel goes in it (personally i am partial to Sunoco only for all my vehicles).

Use this product: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siRwcnj8-OE

https://www.amazon.com/CRC-05319-Int.../dp/B00PHNQKR2

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....AC_SL1500_.jpg

How often do you use it and did you see a real performance benefit? Could you actually see a difference looking at the top of the valves with a boroscope camera?

15k not easy miles. no catch can. m1 5w30 x 3 and 0w40 x 1 (most recent, has 5500 miles on it). looks all right to me. intake ports had very little oil residue on them. 18 1LE.

Nice to see a RL pic of an SS valve vs some goodness where sourced pix scaring the crap outta ppl.

Good video by that cleaning product manufacturer though. And honest! The guy is up front that quality of oil (and zero doubt change frequencies of same), quality of gasoline and driving habits have a lot to do with gunk. And not only on the valves btw. Use recommended oil and change it frequently, use only top tier gasoline, never shut the engine before it reaches full op temps, etc and everything will be just fine. PS i know, i am repeating myself like a broken record. By cant stand when folks make mountains out of molehills :)

Guessing no SS 1LE (except for NickyRacerBoy and he’s had some required motor work) likely has more track miles than mine. I’m at 31k, 12k+ have been on track miles driven at advanced/instructor pace, many with non-DOT slicks. I don’t have a catch can, and have never had any issue with blow-by/oil in the intake. My motor is stronger than ever. I’ve used Motul 5w40 and top tier 93 octane (marathon/Sunoco/shell). Spend $ on tires and brake pads, catch cans aren’t needed in our cars.

I have not, I have 3 Hyundai's with GDI engines... My 2012 with 80k miles just got the CRC treatment, seems to run/idle smoother... My 2016 with 25k just got the CRC treatment, wife says it seems "more peppy and makes it up the hill easier"... The most recent is my daughters 2019 with 8k miles... Cleaning went well, after the hour heat soak it started smoking like a bad diesel, after a while the CRC stuff burned out (I'm guessing it dissolved a lot of carbon and was smoking due to the "dirty" CRC stuff burning up... Honestly, it scared the hell out of me because this was my daughters brand new (9 month old) car... It didn't throw a code and after a while no more smoke...) I plan to do all 3 at their next oil changes as well... Overall, for the $12 a can, the stuff gets good reviews and seems safe for the engines and the cats, so I'll keep using it...

That is GREAT to see actual pictures... I have a Mishimoto on my 2SS, but it only has 240 miles on it (can went on at about 60 miles). I'll probably do some CRC every other oil change down the road as a precaution...

I change my oil VERY often (never more than 3k miles and I use full synthetic in all my cars (going to use M1 0W-40 ESP Formula in my 2SS only)... I think oil change frequency is very important to keeping carbon buildup to a minimum... On my 2SS I'm going to do a 500, 1,500 and 5,000 mile oil change (maybe 4,000 just because 4,500 is a weird number and 5,000 is too long in my mind...) I do all my maintenance myself so it is just the cost of the materials... I have about $55k into my 2SS, I"m not going to skimp on an $80 oil change...

Once again, my motto has ALWAYS been "Fluids are cheap, major components are NOT!"...

pulling the intake manifold requires an honest 15 minutes of work.