Removed the intake manifold on my 617.952 and found all the intake passges clogged with a carbon goo with a similar consistency to chewing gum. Not being a diesel mechanic I have never encountered something like this before. Is there any sort of home remedy that can clean this out? I can think of things like a hot tank on a professional level, but I don't know what approach would work at home. I have never seen anything like it.

IMO, just give it to a machine shop to hot tank it.

Or you can let it sit in high purity bio diesel.

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1998 Ford Escort ZX2 5 speed - 279,000 miles My Daily

1992 Mercedes 300D 2.5 202,000 - Pure junk
2000 Mercedes E320 Black - 136,000 miles - Needs repair

Don't forget to grease the screw and threads on the spring compressor.

Yup, hot tanking it is the best/easiest/least messy way to deal with it and you don't have to do any scrubbing. A bath in a 50/50 mix of ammonia and hot water works well but is stinky and messy. Never tried the bio-diesel for clean-up. Might be worth a shot.

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“Whatever story you're telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, "and then everything burst into flames.”
― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now

Scrape out what you can, it'll make the job a lot easier. Get a big tub and soak the manifold in a strong concentration of degreaser, it'll soften the crap so it comes out pretty easy with a bottle brush. Wear gloves, it makes a mess. If all else fails, Kerosene works well.

When you're done, disable the EGR system if you want to keep it clean.

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'11 Honda Accord EX - "The Daily" 73K
'91 560SEL - "Delta 88" 193K
'91 350SD - "Jest-D" 176K (Sold 12/20/20)
'94 BMW 525i - "The Red Car" 181k

cons/pros to disabling? how would you suggest? plug it up or run it under the car?(rust prevention? )

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1978 300D

What I've done with this is to buy a big plastic tub from HD. The manifold has to fit entirely inside or you'll make a huge mess for which she'll never forgive you. Wear your oldest, expendable clothes. High cuff chemical resistant gloves, with a pair of thin nitrile gloves underneath. Use a bunch of small paint brushes and disposable cloth rags. The best brushes to use are the cheap ones they sell for applying solder flux, the steel handles do double duty as scrappers. Buy a bag:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Steel-Core-1-2-in-x-6-1-8-in-Horsehair-Bristle-Shop-Acid-Brushes-144-Piece-75841/308076784

Gasoline is the best solvent, but very dangerous. The advantage is that it's cheap and really cuts the crud. It evaporates quickly, which helps with cleanup. Mineral spirits also works. The good news is that you only have to do this every 150K miles or so.

You won't be able to dump the spent cleaning fluid anywhere, so the best bet is to stick it under the deck until it evaporates. Gloves, clothes, hat, rags, brushes, all bagged and trashed.

a bag of oil soaking dust/dirt can take care of that spent black fuel.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

I went to an engine shop and had them hot tank and media blast it for me.

$35 was money well spent.

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Huius auctoritatis est, quod latine dolor facit me respice.

I recondition w123/w126/w124/w140/r107/r129/ steering boxes!


1984 300D "Elsa" odo reset 6/2011 111k
1983 300TD "Mitzi" ~268k OM603 powered
1995 E300 "Adelheid" 262k [Sold]

I’ve used a plumbers torch and air compressor at the same time. Cleans it out like a mofo and fast

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1995 e320
1994 e320
2004 Jeep wj overland
2001 Ducati 748
2004 Honda shadow aero

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“Whatever story you're telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, "and then everything burst into flames.”
― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now

2x fire if you’re wanting to DIY

I used one of those trigger operated propane blow torches for weed killing.
Worked very well. Obviously you’re gonna wanna stay up wind

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Current fleet
1992 300D "IceBerg"
1984 300D "Blues Mobile"

1978 300CD "El Toro" Gone on to be born again

My machine shop will absolutely NOT put a part that grungy in their hot tank. I am sure many others will refuse as well. The chemicals are way expensive to buy and dispose of properly, and every other aluminum part put in after will turn black. If a majority of the black gunk was removed prior, I imagine a shop might take on the final cleaning job. I have heard that oven cleaner works well, though I have never tried it.

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All Diesel Fleet (well mostly)
'04 S211 E320 wagon
1984 300TD 629,000 miles
1985 R107 300SLD TURBODIESEL

For Sale: Diesel EGR Delete/Block-off Plate Kit
1985 CA emissions 617 owners- You Need This!
Sanden style A/C Compressor Mounting Kit for your 616/ 617 For Sale + Install Inst.
F.S. Accessory to run condenser fan & compressor clutch together
Sanden Instalation Guide (post 11):
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/367883-sanden-retrofit-installation-guide.html

Yes, I wonder where people find these machine shops that take on all the small and dirty jobs. Certainly not in SoCal. Minimum charge is $250 for anything, and getting dirty is extra.

I don't see why the engine degreaser cannot just be sprayed into the Manifold.

I don't know about places like Autozone but NAPA used to carry gallon cans of cleaning solvent.

For small Turbo Parts we used to use Carburetor Dip to clean off the Carbon but that was back in the 1970's when stuff was more toxic. Not sure how well the new dip works.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I had my filthy OM617 block and head hot tanked at a SoCal local machine shop, no problem.

Also, that "members mark" degreaser from Sam's Club works insanely well at getting filth removed. I ran it in my parts washer and while it was a messy job, it cleaned insanely well.

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Milan Brown 1979 240D, rebuilt OM617.952 turbo diesel, rebuilt 722.315 transmission (my only daily driver)

Instagram: @maximed93