Should a 10-year-old car have carbon deposits cleaned?
3 Answers
10-year-old cars need carbon deposit cleaning. Intravenous carbon cleaning: Cut off the fuel supply, connect the carbon cleaning agent to the engine fuel injector, and use the cleaning agent to soften the carbon deposits in the engine so that they can be burned and discharged. However, this method is only suitable for slight carbon deposits and is not very meaningful for vehicles with severe carbon deposits. Disassemble the engine intake manifold for cleaning: Remove the engine intake manifold, scrape off the stubborn carbon deposits, clean it, and then reinstall it. This method has the best and most obvious effect. Drive more long-distance or high-speed: When the vehicle is in a hot state, almost no carbon deposits will be absorbed. At the same time, the high-speed running engine can discharge some carbon deposits. Therefore, cars that often run at high speeds are fuel-efficient and easy to drive.
When it comes to cleaning carbon deposits in a 10-year-old car, my repair experience suggests it depends on the specific situation. Have you noticed the throttle feeling sluggish recently? Does cold starting sound like heavy breathing with severe shaking? That’s mostly due to carbon buildup. Last time, a Bora owner saw a direct 1.5L/100km drop in fuel consumption and much smoother acceleration after cleaning the throttle body and intake manifold. But if you frequently drive on highways with the engine running freely, carbon buildup is less likely. If the car runs fine now, why bother cleaning it? Mechanics often exaggerate issues—as long as maintenance is up to date, some minor problems in an old car really aren’t a big deal.
Last week, I took my 10-year-old Toyota for maintenance. The mechanic pointed at the blackened piston tops in the endoscope and asked if I wanted to clean the carbon deposits. I asked what the benefits would be. He counted on his fingers: the throttle would feel lighter, fuel consumption would decrease, and it would be easier to pass the annual exhaust emission test. It made sense to me, so I spent 800 yuan on walnut shell blasting cleaning. On the way home, I could definitely feel the engine sounding clearer, with more power at light throttle. Carbon builds up quickly in city traffic jams, so after the cleaning, he also suggested I take a monthly highway drive to let the engine breathe freely. The money was well spent!
