)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system

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Wed 17 Apr 2013 18:25
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - Armitage Shanks {p}

With the price of petrol where it is, and rising, I am thinking of having my engine cleaned internally by this "System". Reports seem to be favourable, in the main, mentioning improved consumption and smoother running ie all the thjings you hear about additives and other snake oil! Has anyone had this work done and what do they think of its benefits, if any?

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Wed 17 Apr 2013 18:56
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - Collos25

And if it does not work do you get your money back,snake oil salesmen are alive and well.

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Wed 17 Apr 2013 19:08
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - Archie

Interesting to note that there are no before and after photos of the combustion chamber in their blurb to show how thoroughly it's been cleaned. It's not difficult to do these days.

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Wed 17 Apr 2013 19:47
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - MrEckerslikefromRamsbottom

Regular oil changes - and you engine will last longer than the bodywork...

Unless it's one of these newfangled cars with a chocolate timing chain which breaks as soon as the car's out of warranty, in which case the engine will need more than cleaning.

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Wed 17 Apr 2013 20:15
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - bathtub tom

If it does to the engine what it's done to his hands, then no thanks. I don't want mine Tango'ed.

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Wed 17 Apr 2013 23:52
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - focussed

Personally, I would not go near it with a pole, barge for the use of.

Over the years, in common with many posters on this site I have seen so many of these so-called miracle cures for engine problems that exist only in the mind of the seller of the "miracle cure"

Snake oil is about right.

Take it round the back lanes and give it a good ragging up to the rev limiter will do it more good.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 10:48
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - madf

Personally, I would not go near it with a pole, barge for the use of.

Over the years, in common with many posters on this site I have seen so many of these so-called miracle cures for engine problems that exist only in the mind of the seller of the "miracle cure"

Snake oil is about right.

Take it round the back lanes and give it a good ragging up to the rev limiter will do it more good.

No, no, NO

You are all wrong.

Put some in your tank and apart from better fuel consumption you will become extremely attractive to the oppsoite sex and win the lottery and become famous..

Worth the price.. for muppets.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 13:09
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - BenG

This stuff might be mroe than just snake oil.

I seem to recall it had a good review from Edd China on Wheeler Dealers and also was tried in Car Mechanics magazine and the journo was happy with the results.

There are a few positive reviews on the motoring forums as well, e.g:

http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/10866-terraclean-diesel/

I'm considering trying it myself on my diesel Seat Leon. Costs about £100 IIRC so not the end of the world if it doesn't make a big difference. I guess the benefits will depend on how dirty your engine is to start with...

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 14:17
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - Armitage Shanks {p}

Well I am going to try it. I have emission figures from an MOT 2 weeks ago and I shall book it into the same test station to get the measurements after the treatment and will post the results here when I have them. The garage that does the teatment said that a local haulage firm had had one of their trucks treated; I rang the transport manager and he said improved fuel consumption but loss of power - don't know he measured the latter - driver's impression perhaps. Another very big lorry fleet in the area is also thinking of having one lorry done and if it is effective there is a big fleet of vehicles which could be treated.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 15:06
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - bathtub tom

>> The garage that does the teatment said........................................

Remember Mandy Rice-Davies?

"He would say that, wouldn't he".

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 15:10
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - Armitage Shanks {p}

NO BT! He said that a local haulage frim had tried it on one of their trucks; I rang their transport manager and HE said one had been done and he he had noted better fuel consumption but an apparent loss of power. (As I said in my latest post)

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 17:15
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - unthrottled

He said that a local haulage frim had tried it on one of their trucks; I rang their transport manager and HE said one had been done and he he had noted better fuel consumption but an apparent loss of power. (As I said in my latest post)

Unlike passenger cars, power and economy are pretty much synonymous in big trucks because the engines tend to work quite hard. So if power was down, economy would also be down.

Carbon in the combustion chamber doesn't tend to cause problems for diesels.

Have you ever noticed that all these products are aimed at addressing problems that you can't verify for yourself...? :)

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Fri 19 Apr 2013 11:18
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - Robin the Technician

And having seen some of the most heanous bad practice work done by Edd China, I would not let him use said snake oil on my rusty bike!!!

Robin the Technician - I fix, therefore I am

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Fri 19 Apr 2013 11:19
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - Robin the Technician

And having seen some of the most heanous bad practice work done by Edd China, I would not let him use said snake oil on my rusty bike!!!

Robin the Technician - I fix, therefore I am

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Fri 19 Apr 2013 15:49
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - Armitage Shanks {p}

I think he seems to be lucky that things come apart well for him, nothing jams or sticks and no skinned knuckles but what actaul bad practice have you seen, out of interest! The snake oil is done by a machine which can be operated, in accordance with the instructions, so one doesn't have to be a top tech to do it SFAIK

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Fri 19 Apr 2013 22:24
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - Robin the Technician

I once saw him replace a set of front discs, calipers and pads on a car he was working on for Wheeler Dealers. All went well until it was time to refit the pad retainer cross pins - instead of fitting new ones or cleaning the old ones, he just hammered the severely rusted old ones in!!!! No lubricant, nothing!!! Destroyed his credibility that did. Also he never takes a gearbox apart...even if its a simple sychro hub - nope, lets get a reconditioned one for stupid£££

I could go on but I don't want to make grown men cry.

Robin the Technician - I fix, therefore I am

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Fri 19 Apr 2013 23:40
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - bathtub tom

>> Also he never takes a gearbox apart

I baulk at them. Did a motorbike back in the '60s, never since.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 15:33
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - craig-pd130

@Armitage - I don't know if the Duratec petrols still have this, but I had a couple of petrol Mondeo mark 1s in the 90s with the Zetec motor.

These had a loom plug in the engine bay which allowed you to alter the ignition timing according to the grade of fuel that was available locally.

If you removed the plug, the timing was retarded to suit 91 octane fuel. With the plug in, timing was advanced for minimum 95 octane fuel.

I found mine actually used to 'pink' audibly a little on standard unleaded, so I used to run on 97 octane super (which was only a couple of pence per litre more expensive at the time). This used to give me an extra couple of mpg as well as eliminating the pinking in both Mondeos.

My 10 pence worth is, for the extra three quid per tankful, you could easily afford to run 3 or 4 tanks of premium fuel through to see if that works.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 16:10
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - Collos25

I have an aquaintance who is the transport manager of a very large haulage company and he would not allow any extra aditives put in his trucks it invalidates the warranty he gets umpteen phone calls a week from snake oil salesmen trying to sell him such rubbish.Sounds like one has fallen for there glib patter and is try to justify the spend on this worthless expensive junk.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 19:06
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - injection doc

i was involved with some testing of fuel system cleaners some years ago so as an independant party we took the car to a rolling road and took all the BHP & emission readings readings.

hooked it up to a forte fuel system cleaning system, very similar to terra clean where the fuel system is bypassed and the vehicle runs on the cleaning fluid, run for 40 mins and then straight back on the rolling road . The atmospheric pressure was the same at time of test, so was the ambient temp and the plugs and vehicle settings were not touched.

The BHP increased by 12 BHP and the HC's dropped an increadable amount ! infact i will look up the documents and get the acurate readings. these were varified by 3 adjudicators.

But i must also add that this was at a time when fuel quality was very poor and fouling of valves and injectors , along with poor quality oils and breather systems contributed to highly fouled up injectors and inlet valves whereas these days fuel is much cleaner.

The best ever results were achived by removing the injectors and having them ultrasonically cleaned & the inlet ports decarbonized with a sand blaster with walnut husk & olive stone grain. 20 BHP gain on the rolling road.

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Fri 19 Apr 2013 08:59
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - Armitage Shanks {p}

Re problems one can't verify for oneself, Holland and Barrett sems to make a good living selling vits and supplements to the worried well. Are they beneficial or not, we shall never know as any testing would be expensive and, probably, inconclusive.

I shall post the before and after test results here on Tuesday and my bet is, thati if there is any difference at al,l it will be within the +/- % age error of the test equipment ie no proof one way or the other!

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Fri 19 Apr 2013 12:11
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - BenG

I'm fairly sceptical as I've used a few cleaning products in the past, like Millers Diesel Power, Powerboost from Ectotek and BG244 diesel fuel system cleaner, with no apparent effects.

Best way to test Terraclean would be with averaged multiple before and after dyno power runs, coupled with emissions testing. Have they done this?

The system purports to clean both the fuel system and the combustion chambers / exhaust valves/manifold/turbo.

However, since it's injected with the fuel I'm sceptical about whether it will do anything for the inlet system, especially for a diesel where the fuel goes straight into the cylinders, so might not be any help clearing EGR-valve-induced contaminants in the inlet which are known to clog up diesel intakes...

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Sat 20 Apr 2013 12:54
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - injection doc

I have found rolling road test carried out on before injector clean,then on car clean using a trade cleaner from Injection correction in Seaford in Sussex & third test removing the injectors & ultrasonically cleaning them & refitting.

The test was carried out with 3 adjudicators and nothing else was touched so we didnt even clean the plugs or adjust the Co. All the tests carried out on site the same day.

before clean MG Meastro 2.0EFi with 124008 miles

5500RPM 80BHP HC's 400

3000RPM 58BHP HC's 400

Idle HC's 1000.

On car clean using Injection corrections trade cleaner

5500RPM 92BHP HC's 300

3000RPM 64BHP HC's 200

Idle HC's 450

Injectors removed and ultrasonically cleaned and balanced

5500RPM 100BHP HC's 200

3000RPM 70BHP HC's 100

Idle HC's 300

The test was primarley carried out to see how cleaning the system would reduce emissions and improve performance.

I do have all the figures of BHP throughout the RPM ranges & CO & HC figures and figures in crusie but its juts one very long list of numbers so have chosen the most relevant.

With todays fuels i dont think we would see these kind of improvements other than an engine feeling slightly crisper.

The most relevant issue with injectors is ensuring they deliver equal quantity and a nicley atomized spray. There are certain makes of injectors that are of very poor quality and when they are on a test rig its astounding how different fuel flow rates can be seen from a set of four injectors on petrol cars and this has the same effect as 4 carbs being badly out of balance ! hence our BHP gains on the ultrasonic clean !

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Sun 21 Apr 2013 14:26
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - balleballe

You mention that with today's fuels you wouldnt see these kind of improvements.

When was this test conducted?

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Sun 21 Apr 2013 17:21
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - injection doc

test was carried out in 1991, blimey just realised how time flies !

At least we made the effort to test properly so we understand the product and its effects.

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Mon 22 Apr 2013 15:39
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - BenG

I suppose the cynic might ask why Terraclean have not done a similarly controlled test with their product, or have they?

I.e: Take a sample of modern cars and rolling road / emissions test before and after treatment...

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Fri 12 Jul 2013 11:51
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - jbmid55
My friend, the ultimate petrol head, recommended Terraclean to me, he had used it on his wife's BMW 320d with good results.
I tried it on my BMW530d (2000) with 140000 miles on the clock and a little rough idling. The performance is now considerably improved, it's like a new car again. Idling is smooth, acceleration is much better throughout the power range and fuel consumption is 7% better on a long run and 10% better on general use.
Is it economic? Well it cost £100, you do the arithmetic. Is it worth it? Well I think so, the car feels young!
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Fri 17 Jan 2014 18:23
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - ChadH

Any Chance you could email me that document? it would be greatly appreciated !

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Sat 18 Jan 2014 19:23
)07 Focus 2 litre Duratec - Terra Clean Engine cleaning system - Cyd

I think you'd be better spending that £100 on Shell VMax (or similar super unleaded) at every tankfull instead of ordinary. £100 is enough for about 8-10k miles depending on your car. Also increase the frequency of oil changes and flush the motor at each change.

I've been running my Saab 9-3 Aero 2.0T (with a Maptun tune to 260hp/360Nm) on super unleaded for the last 10k or so. I've also been changing the oil every 4k (with flush) since I bought it (have now done 16k in it - so 5 changes, it only had 3 changes in its first 42k!!). I have had several people comment recently on how smooth and quiet the engine is. And not just passengers - people in car parks who walk past it and simply can't hear it running.
It also drives much better. Noticeably so - and not just because it's got extra power, that tune was applied within weeks of buying it.

This week I did a 100 mile motorway run - 40mpg average came up on the display. Pretty good for a 1600kg 260 horse motor in lane 3 most of the time!! Not that I'm an mpg watcher though!

Also keep the throttle body and turbo compressor clean once a year. I use Wynns Professional Turbo cleaner for both. Don't swamp the throttle body though - apply using an old toothbrush or cloth. This works wonders for response and low speed pick up (diesel turbos too - I do the same with my Dispatch HDi motor). I find the turbo and throttle body stay cleaner using super unleaded anyways.

No need for snake oil - proper maintenance and good fuel is all that's required. Unless you've just bought a car that desperately needs a one off treatment.

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