20k service at 15k

[cadillacbsc]

I have retired my TTSE for the winter and figured i will do its 20k service now... I have attached some pictures of all three throttle bodies and did the best i can to get clear shots of the intake valves... to me looked like an excessive amount of build up on the valves, also noted a slight oily build up at the throttle valves. I purchased this bike with 13k on it, so i have no knowledge of prior maintenance and fuel used before me. with that said, bike starts, runs and goes down the road great. gets around 55-60mpg and has more then enough power. no codes, no issues... nothing.

does this look normal?
what do you recommend for fuel treatment to counter the deposit build up
or, is this something that should be investigated deeper?

thank you for all input
 

[digital]

If the photos are not deceiving, no, it does not seem normal, that carbon would need to be cleaned and the valves ground. It seems that the valves do not seat properly in the combustion chamber and do not close properly. The best thing to burn carbon and it's not kidding, is from time to time to accelerate and increase the revolutions in each gear change and that causes the carbon to burn.

It is also very possible that the valve seals are somewhat worn and it is burning oil...

From the condition of the valves, it seems that the previous owner of his TTSE has not taken much care of that engine.
What condition are the spark plugs in?

[LarryJa]

At 15k miles, total, the only engine maintenance required would have been one oil change, at 10k.
The carbon build up certainly does not look normal.
My SE had less when I did my last major service at 60k miles, & 9 of the valves needed adjustment because they were too tight.
Your cylinder head needs some attention, but I'd be hesitant to blame it on the PO.
This is quite curious, & please continue to post on your progress..TY!

[STJIM]

Sorry about the late posting.

That does seem like a lot of build-up.  I didn't see nearly that much on my 20K check.

I would add a half container of Techron to a full tank of gas - twice in a row and then repeat every 1K miles until the next oil change.

That should help clean-up the back of the inatke valves.  It is interesting to know what could have caused that much build-up.   

I hope you cleaned the throttle body intakes around the butterflies with a lint free rag and some Gumout, or such.

You can always do a compression check to see how the valves are seating ( or better yet, do a leakdown test ).  I doubt you need to grind the valves - I bet the compression will be normal.

You should be using a Top Tier gas and probably are since most gas available today is Top Tier.   https://toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/

[trophied]

Just got far enough along removing everything to do the 40K mile service and guess what?  Yep, mine look the same through the throttle body.  Oh my,  now what.  I don't relish removing the head.

[STJIM]

You could try first using some direct injection intake valve cleaner.  You spray it in the intake while the engine is running, then let it heat soak for an hour and then restart and take it for a good run to clean out any remaining cleaner and residue.  It's suppose to do a good job of cleaning the build-up on the back sides of the intake valve.  Some DI car engines have a problem with a lot of build-up.  My friend who works at the main engineering office at VW /  Audi in Auburn, Michigan says he has seen some build-up that looks like cauliflower.

Some cars such as Toyota have 2 sets of fuel injections per cylinder - one DI ( injects fuel directly into the cylinder as in a diesel engine ) and the other located in the "conventional" location between the throttle body and the intake valve.  At low speeds the conventional located FI supplies the fuel and at high speeds the DI injector is used.   This helps prevent the build-up.  More cars are going to this.  The new KIA 4 cylinder engine has both type injectors per cylinder.

Why we see build-up on the backs of TT intake valves is a good question.  My guess is that it has something to do with the emission control system - don't blame it on the ethanol in the gas.

Here is a pic of the stuff I'm talking about and pics of a few of the intake valves on my car that I took with my $30 borescope.  It has 70K miles on it.  I sent them to my friend and he says they don't look bad at all to him.

Might be worth a try to see how good this stuff works.   I have a few cans and will try it just before my next oil change.  After using it,   it's advised to do an oil & filter change.