Ecotek power boost engine energizer

T

thespringfield

Member
Hi all,

I have bought a tin of this liquid foam that one is supposed to spray into the engine via the air intake in order to remove carbon and varnish deposits from the "valves, pistons, combustion chambers, sleeves, exhaust manifold and silencers."

The accompanying literature mentions that if one wishes to use the air intake as an entry point, then the air filter must be removed. It also mentions that the user can alternatively spray the contents into the engine via the "turbo/supercharger intake, vacuum servo or crankcase breather".

Has anyone used this stuff before, and if so, what do you think is the best way of spraying it into the engine? Ideally I would like to avoid removal of the air filter if at all possible.

Many thanks,
M
 
Ecotek PowerBlast

What a small world it can be! I actually used this product today, but not for the first time... nor (probably) the last!!

Having purchased my '02 plate TDi in the New Year with 69k under its belt, it was a fair bet that there would be some carboning up of the internals of the engine (cylinders, valves, injectors and manifolds) so...

The green foamy liquid has to be injected into the air intake system, where exactly is not critical (on a diesel), it is only necessary to gain access somewhere and preferably after any in line sensors (must be after the air mass meter on a petrol engine).

I removed the bonnet. The air filter is in front of the offside wheel behind the bumper. Trace the black plastic intake pipe to the sensor unit at the top before the pipe curves back down and disappears around the back of the engine. The sensor unit is connected inline by a clip on either side. Clamp the clip on the engine side of the sensor unit and slide it off then, insert a small flat bladed screw driver to open a small gap in the air intake/sensor unit connection (the pipe has a rubberised connector so it is pliable).

Connect the 2 tubes supplied by Ecotek tightly together inline with sellotape or similar (a single length of tube isn't long enough) and insert a couple of inches into the gap created on either side of the screw driver. Withdraw the screwdriver and the tube will be held in place. The canister of PowerBoost will sit on the chassis member just in front of this location with the nozzle just at the right height to connect to the other end of the tube!! Take care to keep the canister clear of the pulley belt.Then, follow the instructions on the canister...

After this the engine needs a blast... I left our village in a cloud of white smoke but that soon stopped. I'm now having second thoughts on whether the engine really needs remapping...

To complement the PowerBoost, you might also like to try a can of ACP fuel cleaner (try ebay) in a 1/4 tank of fuel. It does the same thing for the whole fuel system AND deep cleans the injectors in the process - probably the single most important part for good combustion!

Hope this helps.
Martin;)
 
Thanks for your guidance on this. I got the job done today. Even managed to get the missus to do something useful for a change and hold the revs for me.

That is indeed one big cloud of smoke! The neighbours were watching in awe from the windows (or they may have just been agitated and confused at the noise and smoke that was interrupting their quiet Saturday afternoon)! Took her for a run afterwards as advised and I'm feeling good about the engine having had a good clean. Also I've started using BP Ultimate now and intend to continue with that for about 1000 miles and see what effect it has. I may experiment with Shell or Esso's offerings if I feel it may be worthwhile. Either way, I don't think I'll be going back to supermarket diesel!

Someone on here suggested that the tyical premium diesel costs about 7p per litre extra than regular. So based on that price variation assumption, a 34 litre tankful of premium diesel will typically cost £2.38 (7%) more than a regular fill.

If regular diesel costs £1 per litre and premium costs £1.07, then you could actually be saving money by buying premium. For example if you can get 400miles out of a 34 litre tank on regular diesel and 440 miles on premium, then based on the respective prices allocated for this hypothetical scenario, the normal diesel is statistically costing the equivalent of 8.5 pence per mile travelled, whilst the premium alternative is theoretically costing the equivalent of 8.2 pence per mile travelled. This represents a cost saving of 3.7%.

On top of this there are the additives and detergents in the premium fuels which alledgedly help to clean the engine, improve the performance and reduce environmental harm. So in summary, one might reasonably concur that premium diesel fuels tend to be more expensive at the point of sale but actually work out to be more economical with regard to both cost and benefits when performance is compared between the two types.

All based on my rubbish calculations of course so do your own research. But I am now of the opinion that cheap supermarket fuel is a false economy.
 
martin_j said:
Having purchased my '02 plate TDi in the New Year with 69k under its belt, it was a fair bet that there would be some carboning up of the internals of the engine (cylinders, valves, injectors and manifolds) so...

The green foamy liquid has to be injected into the air intake system, where exactly is not critical (on a diesel), it is only necessary to gain access somewhere and preferably after any in line sensors (must be after the air mass meter on a petrol engine).

Martin;)
Click to expand...

Injecting the liquid directly after the MAF sensor means it will go through the turbo and charge cooler core before entering the engine. I'd check with the supplier to find which is the optimum injection point on an engine with a turbo / aftercooler set up. Its a long torturous route from the MAF sensor to the inlet manifold so the cleaning effect on the engine may be reduced. On the other hand, it may be an advantage to let the liquid clean the pipework, turbo and aftercooler core.

Cheers Spike
 
Is it April the 1st already?? :D

Does this stuff actually work?...I was under the impression a little carbon in the engine can help seals etc...
 
Ecotek website:

"De-Coke
Removing the varnish and carbon deposits that accumulate in the engine’s combustion chambers, inlet and exhaust manifolds, has a number of benefits.

Carbon deposits absorb power by impeding airflow, absorbing heat and creating hot spots. They can also impair valve seating and generally reduce combustion efficiency, resulting in poor running, increased emissions and excessive fuel consumption.

Solution
Rather than strip down your engine to de-coke the combustion chambers all you need to do is apply the Ecotek PowerBoost foam via your air intake with the engine running for 8 minutes and you can remove the carbon and varnish deposits from inside your engine.

[...]

This will give more engine power, crisper acceleration, better throttle response, higher top speed as well as reduced emissions and improved economy.

There is no substitute for a PowerBoost treatment if you want to make sure your engine is running at peak efficiency and maximum performance."

http://www.ecotekplc.com/PowerBoost.htm

I believe it is capable of doing the job stated otherwise the promotional information would be misleading and in breach of the trade description act.
 
Working for bp in Inverness,I can safely say all the fuel supplied up here is from bp,if you buy it from shell,bp,esso,morrisons,tescos,Q8 its all out of the same storage tanks down at the harbour.
its only the additives that make the difference,thats why I use millars when I can remember and use supermarket fuel.
Down south its different,importing fuel from latvia or anywhere else they can save a few pence.
I did read the blurb about bacteria in fuel,its possible but only usually with tanks with wells when fuel can sit and gather rather than be used.
For bacterial growth to affect quality the only normal way to kill bacteria is to steam clean the tank/system.
After all this surely this is what your fuel filter should hold back with the dirt.
Years ago I used red x and used to pour it into the carb to decoke,white smoke enough so I couldnt see the car for about 10 minutes :D
White smoke is usually excess fuel I would be wary doing it with newer cars because of cats on the exhaust,lamda sensors etc
I put 3 litres of veg oil in the fuel tank,then used car as normal now that cleans the fuel tank with a good scouring action and then changed the now black choked fuel filter,job done from the fuel source and use a tot of millars or sometimes two if Im walking past it in the garage.
car appeared to have low soot at its mot this month.

however I would use premium fuel on a fsi engine as your supposed to.
p.s I did above to a 1.4 diesel
 
humps said:
funny you should say that, the ASA didn't agree with their old advertising!

http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/non_broadcast/Adjudication+Details.htm?Adjudication_id=40177

Which, I read the ASA's 'expert advice' didn't think much of the effectiveness of this product.
Click to expand...

Interesting link but it is a complaint from neary four years ago.

I don't realy know the effectiveness with regard to the usage on my engine as I can't see inside it and I tend not to try and judge 'before and after' engine sound and feel because I think that these are not easy or reliable methods of judgement.

I did notice that the ASA did not clearly identify the 'expert or experts' that they sought their 'advice' from and because they are a government-funded organisation does not necessarily mean that their mediation practices are without fault.

In the ASA's own words: "Subjective comments were reported that stated that fuel economy had improved after the product was used."

The complaint was about the use of certain wording within a specific advertisement and not a judgement on the overall effectiveness of the product.
 
Interesting point that Spike made about the point of entry. But presumably the air filter takes out the worst of the dirt in the air intake to the engine so the turbo and after/inter (!) cooler should not have been very dirty; certainly not carboned up. So I don’t think that the cleaning effect on the engine would have been significantly reduced. And perhaps that’s why Ecotek does not specify where it should be injected on a diesel engine; after all, most of them are turbo diesels these days, aren’t they?

My TDi engine was decidedly unhappy doing 30mph in 4th gear (it had just had a full service too! And the oil had been changed – I checked). This was the main reason why I used PowerBoost. It will now happily do 30mph in 5th gear; and gently accelerate - not that I usually drive like this but, I think it does demonstrate a point.

Well, that’s 2 happy users – anyone else actually used it and thinks it was worthwhile? Or, a total waste of time, effort and money.

Not sure about the “rubbish calculations” (thespringfield) on premium fuel over standard branded diesel. I’ve heard this theory before elsewhere. Something worth thinking about though.

Cheers
Martin ;)
 
one of the boys in work is goign to try Premium on his Cupra 170 tdi.
hes going to give it three tank fulls to see if theres enough of a difference.
 
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