Evan..... I never look for problems that aren't there. That is a good way to get grey hairs and that is about it.

My personal gut feeling is any smog motor (with a dry intake, which is about everyone now) can benefit from a catch can or separator until the design engineers can come up with a valve overlap scheme or secondary injection to induce gasoline with cleaning additives into the intake tract (most all name brand gasoline has additives in them just for that).

What fry's my bacon is, the engineers know what is happening with a GDI engine and choose to ignore it, leaving the cure and / or repair bill to the end user and that in my opinion is bull****te, plain and simple.

Your new Transit should not exhibit any issues for at least 50K miles, maybe more depending on driving habits and duration of trips and the best insurance against any issues is forget about the Ford recommended change intervals on your oil and change it every 5K miles with a new filter and use top tier oil and I don't mean a 10 minute quickie oil change place either. You have no idea what those clowns are putting in your vehicle or even if they actually changed the oil and filter. Do it yourself or take it to a Ford dealer or competent garage with a real ASAE certified technician.

What attributes to the buildup in the intake tract more than anything else is a cold engine with dirty oil that never reaches operating temperature, especially driven in a cold climate like up here in the Wolverine State.

Some of my issues were self induced on the Transit I suspect. I believe I fouled the MAF sensor but despite that I'm pretty sure the intake is pretty cruddy inside. It's got 77K on the clock.

My Focus is at no issues, but I know it's coming because it's a dry intake GDI which is the worst case scenario. I'm into preventing it before it occurs and rebating whats already occured if I can. It only has 27K on it.

You can buy 'catch cans' on Flea-Bay or Amazon and installing one is pretty easy. I just happen to be using a compressed air coalescing filter that will pull off everything but blowby gases free of any contaminates and the filter I'm using has a replaceable primary element so I can change it if it becomes clogged.

I get a kick out of the..."Ask an Engineer your Questions" at the top of the page. I cannot get a straight answer from my BIL who is a Powertrain Engineer in Product development at Ford in Dearborn.

I wouldn't worry about it until you have an issue. ( and you may never have an issue), it depends on many varibles such as oil change intervals and driving habits and the climate you live in). However, I would entertain buying the Ford Extended Premium Warranty, something you can do anytime up to the time your base warranty expires. Thats what I did with the Focus. The Extended Premium Ford warranty covers all internal parts and external parts (excepting consumables like filters) with a $100.00 deductible per repair. That is chump change plus it covers rental cars.

You will find the toll free number in your owners manual under 'Warranties' and you can do it on the phone, no need to visit a dealer.

I know a person with a Mini-Cooper GDI that just spent over 500 bucks having his cylinder head removed from the engine and the intakes blasted with ground walnut shells to remove the hard carbon In his case, the hard carbon was so severe, the engine ceased to run. Bet he wished he had an extended warranty....

Sort of like a lottery ticket. Everyone is a winner until the number is picked and then no one but one is the winner. Everyone else looses.

 

Sidecar;


Thank you very much for taking the time to deal with my questions--my anxiety level has gone down with your answers. I am a fanatic on oil changes and of the generation where 3000 miles was the change point. My climate is the opposite of yours, extremely hot.


Getting a straight answer out of anyone is getting increasingly difficult and is increasingly sad since most people do not have knowledge enough to know that a problem exists much less how the problem might be solved.


Hopefully your explanation of the situation will help some people avoid a critical problem.

 

And just to be 100% clear, Evan, your engine does NOT have GDI (which means gasoline direct injection) so you have no extreme carbon buildup potential... Your port injectors will squirt detergent gasoline onto the intake valves. So make an effort to use top tier fuel and that will make a difference.

Also, I have not noted any trend for Ford Ecoboost engines (the 3.5 has been with us since 2011) to get badly gunked up, so I would not be that concerned about buying an Ecoboost. (I love the idea of the Edge Sport with the 2.7 Ecoboost.)

Good luck,
George

 

Thank you all; I'm going to sleep well tonight.

 

Some GDI engines seem to be more prone to hard carbon than others with no plausable base line.

Strictly my opinion but a seperator / catch can isn't a bad idea on any motor with a PCV system that puts the vapor back into the intake tract, GDI or not.

Stuck my nose in a Cummins ISX-C this afternoon that was in the shop for a 'tuneup', overhead adjustment, and accessory drive check and the ATA hoses were off so I took a look in the intake runner, not bad really. Just a nice even coat of hard carbon, looked like graphite and shimmered in the glow of the trouble light. I've seen them much worse.

 

The 2010 Transit PCV valve in in the same location as the focus, behind the intake. The hose going to the valve cover is the inlet for the PCV system. It allows filtered fresh air into the crankcase to help purge the vapors from the crankcase through the PCV valve. The valve itself in mounted into a plastic oil separator bolted to the front of the engine block.

 

'

It's a 'better idea'.... Right...lol

Actually, it is a little better. You can actually remove it without pulling the intake just takes some finesse.

Plus, you can buy the valve and molded hose as well, unlike the mysterious Focus valve and hose that exists nowhere....

Either way, it's a crappy design and if I'd have know the 14 Focus was a GDI coker, I would have bought a GM product or a Toyota with a GDI engine that don't carbon up.

 

Flip...Out of curiosity, what info do you have that the Focus 2.0 GDI engine is a "coker"? I have seen no trend of complaints about this engine although I have not looked very hard. Funny but I was going thru some car brochures to throw out the irrelevant ones. Found a 2012 Focus brochure and they clearly refer to their GDI engine. I might have picked up the brochure because a friend was considering one but don't think I ever read it.

I do prefer the Toyota design with an extra port injector. What tech is GM using that makes their GDI engines less problematic? I have heard that some mfrs time their cam to let some of the vaporized fuel back past the intake valve to clean it. Not sure how legit that is though.

Honda is coming on line with a bunch of GDI engines and I have to believe that they have to be doing *something* better these days.

George

 

I don't actually, I'm being sarcastic. The Focus has varible cam timing so maybe, just maybe is has the necessary overlap. I still want to put on the filter.

At least the filter on the Transit will be a no pull the intake scenario. Via hemostats, long needle nose pliers and appropriate cussing...

Gm Uses varible cam timing too. Nissan uses the secondary injector. Not sure if it's just one in the intake squirting a small amount or what.

My puzzlement is why you can't aftermarket a PCV valve for a GDI Focus, Rock don't list one, nether does Auto Zone. Both list the molded hose but no valve....

It's a mystery valve...bit alas, Ford will replace it at 60K, I presume no charge.

Gonna have to drop in my friendly Ford dealer and accost the parts guy....

 

A little update on the Transit. Saturday it was nice out and I had some time (which is rare this time of year as I'm getting farming equipment ready for the field, cleaning the yard and working in the garden but, I fiddled with the Transit...

First I pulled the MAF sensor and cleaned it with CRC MAF cleaner and reinstalled it. That was easy. a small flat blade screwdriver and 2 screws and it comes right out. Pull the Molex connector and spritz and reinstall. Then, I inserted the packaged curved straw that came with the Sea Foam carbon and top engine cleaner per the directions, setting it 1/2" from the throttle plate. I had my wife start the van and warm it to normal operating temperature. When it was warmed up, I had her hold the rpm at 1400 (as recommended on the Sea Foam can and commenced spraying the sea Foam through the straw, into the intake tract. It took about 5 minutes to empty the can (my finger got pretty tired holding the spray top down btw).

Soon as the can was empty, I had her turn the engine off. I immediately disconnected the NEGATIVE battery cable to allow the computer to do a hard reset while I changed out the plugs for a new set of Autolite fine wire's. All the plug wells were dry except for number 4 which had some oil in it, indicating a leaking valve cover gasket that I'll have to replace next week. All the plugs I pulled were VERY clean from the Sea Foam. I trplaced all the plugs, replaced the negative battery cable and had my wife take the van out for a WOT run down the road.. I watched and the amount of smoke that came out the tailpipe was amazing. She went down the road in a cloud and came back in a cloud and went down and back again (no smoke). The bumper above the tailpipe was coated in black soot (I presume carbon from the engine, intake and cat. I had to wipe off the bumper and back windows.. It was everywhere.

The cart runs fantastic, idles smoothly and is much more responsive now (if a Transit can be responsive...lol). Next week, I'll replace the valve cover gaskets and the PCV Valve (which is, in the same location as the Focus (on top the oil seperator under the intake, but you can actually get in there to remove it (you cannot on the focus). I'm gonna put the new PCV in but splice into the line and add a catch can / filter anyway.

I'm sold on Sea Foam. it works. I'll be 'douching the Transit' at least every other oil change now.