Carbon Cleaning with Walnut Shells

There are a lot of companies in the market offering seemingly magical solutions to removing Carbon from your engine. At Balance Motor Works we offer Carbon Removal Using Walnut shells. Sounds quaint, but it really works, unlike many of the other methods out there.

Modern direct injection engines, both petrol and diesel, suffer from carbon buildup on the intake ports, and the backs of the inlet valves. In a port injected engine, these deposits tend not to accumulate, because the injector sprays fuel into the port, onto the back of the valve.

Audi RS5 featuring the fantastic Audi 4.2 litre V8 engine
Audi RS5 featuring the fantastic, high revving, Audi 4.2 litre Direct Injection V8 engine

In a direct injection engine, the fuel is sprayed into the combustion chamber itself, and it is the breather system that causes suspended droplets of oil in spent combustion gases, to accumulate to the extent that Performance drops. It might just look like a bit of carbon, but air doesn’t like flowing over rough surfaces, and the loss of both Horsepower and Fuel Economy could be 20% or more.

A picture of the Carbon build up on a 53,000 mile Audi RS4 engine - which incidentally had only 1 month ago had an HHO Carbon Clean!
A picture of the Carbon build up on a 53,000 mile Audi RS4 engine – which incidentally had only 1 month ago had an HHO Carbon Clean!

The idea behind Walnut Shell blasting, is that the media is abrasive enough to remove carbon deposits, without causing damage to the soft aluminium cylinder head.

Walnut Shell Blasting Media
Walnut Shell Blasting Media

The advantages of this medium are many :


-Environmentally friendly, natural, non-toxic; causes no health or environmental hazards
-Long-lasting, re-usable and biodegradable
-Does not produce dust, safe for indoor use
-Blasted surfaces require no drying time

As they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating..

Audi 4.2 V8 – on the left a dirty port, on the right a port after Walnut Shell Blasting
Another Picture of Audi 4.2 V8 Inlet port with port divider in place
Close up of the port – you can see how effective the Walnut Blasting has been – even the guides are clean

Prices for this service vary depending on your engines complexity and number of cylinders. Whether you have a high-performance direct injection petrol engine, like a V8 Audi or BMW 6 Cylinder or a Turbo Diesel, get in touch for a tailored quote.

The fuel savings will soon pay for the work, and the extra power can’t help but put a smile on your face.

If you thought this RS5 looked dirty take a look at this RS4 we’ve recently completed..

Audi RS4 4.2 V8 - this one was even dirtier than the RS5 we did.
Audi RS4 4.2 V8 after carbon cleaning with Walnut Shells
Notice the difference in port shapes between the earlier and later 4.2 V8 engines.

Prices start at £300 (2 & 3 cylinder), unlike other services out there, that alledgedly remove carbon by injecting HHO into the intake, our method is time honoured and works. Yes it’s more expensive because it’s labour intensive, but you will see the results as we take pictures of your engine before and after, and you will notice the difference.

Only Walnut blasting can bring back the performance of your engine and reduce the chance of turbo failure

HHO Cleaning cannot and does not clean the backs of the valves or the ports – it is a total waste of money.

Call us today and get a quote for your car 01273 915045

See more engines that we have cleaned with Walnut Blasting