If it is the SC coating, probably the only way to get it out is to use one of those pyrolyzing ovens, where the item is heated up to ~400 C in a vacuum. This breaks down anything organic and pulls it off as a gas. Anything inorganic left can be blown out as dust.

If the DFIC were steel it could be cooked in a higher temp furnace to ~600 C, but this would melt the aluminum. In any event, don't throw it out! I'm sure it can be cleaned some how.

 

Wow, that would work for sure. The bad is, I can only think of a couple of universities that have 1, near here anyway.

 

That would be my 3RD AFTERMARKET IC and would put me directly in the DOG HOUSE. My mistake was my announcement that I was done modding the car and then proceeded to buy rims, tires, shocks and stripes.

I wonder what kidneys are going for these days?

 

are science projects..... So if M7 and team can't get it done with standard tricks of the trade, you may not have a choice, as the science projects may cost more than a replacement, with no guarantee of success.

I'd worry more about where the stuff came from, or it may just trash anything you put on the car next!

And what were you thinking?!?!?!? Done with Mods? Only way I'd say that is if my wife was extorting me... Say that or no fun in bed....

Heck, then I'd say anything!

Matt

 

"I'd worry more about where the stuff came from, or it may just trash anything you put on the car next!"
That & what is it? If you knew what it is, you may be able to figure out where it came from. This could be an "X" file.....

 

IT's a conspiricy by VAG car owners to keep the 1.8 T and 2.0 T motors on top! They sneak out at night, especially GTI owners who have been programmed by subliminal messages from their FAST when it's on their bed-side table at night, to monkey-wrench on Minis! Quick, everyone, get locking hood pins!

Matt

 

Hey, Doc, I think you're onto something...... Makes sense... VAGs with bags... they ARE out there spreading Doom & Gloom to unsuspecting Mini owners..... Under the cover of darkness. Do you think hood pins are the answer? Locking hood pins? Voodo? Desperate times take desperate measures.

 

Possibilities / theories -

1) SC coating - Peter says NO.
2) During DFIC production - Peter says No and no one else has had a like problem so I can't see this option.
3) when I installed the DFIC - very doubtful. I have searched my garage for a like substance - nothing.
4) Car has been out of my sight once - dealer for alternator and battery replacement.

 

Yep! remember this was a father and son project. Pretty nice little car for a 16 year old.

Pulls really nicely, sounds great and the recent suspension/tire set-up is really nice for daily driving.

 

1 Absolutely NO - not from the pic I saw & now +1
2 A big MAYBE
3 If the material came from anywhere it came through the SC & got ground up - filtered by the SC OR the material was droped into the outlet horn then filtered by the SC. Since the air box was untoched, it's not likely the material came through the SC. If the material was in the outlet horn it was already close to the consistency that you discovered. This whole, #3, scenario doesn't work for me, but it's logical.
4 Do you wear glasses? - installing a battery & alternator should not require removing the IC, BUT one never knows what the dealer does ( could be part of the VAG with bag conspricy - also coulden't leave out the glasses bit )

So.... Back to square 1 or the "mysterious material" drama continues or the VAGs attack Barts Mini or will this be the 4th IC for Bart... Stay tuned as the adventure continues..

In the 6 months the IC was on the car did the car run the same? Did the performance degrade over this period of time?
This kind of thing drives me nuts. There was a friend that put 7, that's right 7 top loaders in his Mustang in less than a month, all with broken front main shafts. Turned out that the front sub frame was bent from a stump he hit ( at a party & the bud lite was on ). You couldn't see it till the engine was removed.

 

Bart,
It just hit me ! I recently had a problem with my ITG filter-- it rotted away, looked like erosion had gotten hold of it at the flat end. If you touched it, it would fall into dust, I gave it back to Pete and he gave me a new one. I never checked the inside but the filter is gray Now, wild guess scenario: filter dust get sucked through the intake, heated to a molten state by the SC, float around through the IC until cool enough to stick to aluminum ie. IC outlet? How about them apples? ? ? I know it’s a long shot, but did you get the Gray ITG filter with your "minspeed" CAI? Now, I need to go check my own DFIC. Darn.

 

Some filters are better than others

 

I will look at this !!! thanks

 

The boost guage just started to indicate less boost - gradually! Was the performance off or was the boost guage off ? Appreciate how subtle it would be. I have gradually gone from 14.5 lbs of boost back to 10 lbs of boost. basically reverting to stock MCS performance.

I am going to inspect the ITG filter. And await Peters DFIC cleaning.

 

you win a cookie!!!!

 

I love cookies.....With beer .

 

Just spoke w/ peter - the IC is uncleanable so it looks like IC #4 for me

ITG filter is fine so it was not the culprit. Doubtful, I will ever know what or how it got there. In time this will be a distant memory.

 

now you get to put the MFE into service mode, and pull of the intake to the SC so you can see all the stuff from the inside and that a look at the rotors. At the price of ICs, it's worth the hour or two of work just to check for sure.

Popping on the new IC will only be a tiny bit of time....

Sorry to hear that it's not cleanable though....

Matt

 

Sorry to hear. That really sucks, Bart.

This may be inappropriate in your time of sorrow, but if you get the clogged DFIC back, let me know as I would like to experiment with it.

 

Cripes, that's BS. It is cleanable! Take it to a machine shop where they have ovens for heat treating metals. Have them bake it at 500 C for a day or two, and that junk inside will be white powder. Of course, the black paint (it is painted black, isn't it?) will be gone, too, but that's a small price ...

 

Peter is going to slavage the end tanks and have a new middle installed to keep the replacement price down. Peter is going out of his way to help me out which I very much appreciate.

 

We discussed the oven route but they felt that would not do it. I don't recall the issues but this puppy was serverly clogged. At least with a new core I know I will be getting true DFIC performance.

 

Well, OK, they're probably wrong about the oven route, but I can't argue with the core replacement being the best way to restore the thing. Hope it works out for you.

 

My manufacturer use vacuum brace ovens and did not wan't to take a chance
of contaminating the oven with plastic God know's what...

I will cut the core in two so we can see the contaminants...sorry Partsman

peter
M7 tuning
562-608-8123

 

That is definitely cool. It doesn't surprise me that Peter is going out of his way to help you out.
I still have your stock core(in pieces) here to experiment with.

Yes you will, as long as you figure out what happened before you put the new one on.