This may be covered, but I cannot find it.
I did the Sea Foam treatment, with accompanying smoke. I hope it is carbon and oil burning and not just the Sea Foam.
After the smoke cleared, I ran it up and down the road a little, revving it up to red line in first (limited space) and all seemed fine.
This morning, check engine light is on. Suggestions, besides turning it off, which I don't know how to do?

 

I've done the Seafoam a half dozen times or so. I've gotten the check engine light twice. I think I even gotten it later, like you, the next day. Assuming the engine is running OK, I would drive the car and not worry about it. After three or four times of driving and shutting the engine off, the light will go out.

Always did for me. Does it run better?

 

I think it is a little better, especially at low speed throttle response.
I see you have the BSH catch can. Seems like a good idea. Comments?

 

I don't know if the BSH catch can is really that helpful. I don't collect much oil, but it fills up quickly in the winter with water. It collects alot of condensation when it's cold. Can be a PIA, but I empty it every week in the winter when I check my oil.

I plan on walnut blasting the intake tomorrow and have a new valve cover to install too. I'm planning on taking off the BSH catch can and see what happens. If the walnut blasting goes well, I might just do that each year and forget about the catch can.

I'm anxious to see what the valves look like. I bought a camera to look inside before I start. It should be interesting.

 

I will be interested to see what you find.
The dealer did the walnut shell blasting under warranty, about 5000 miles ago. I did not see any difference. They told me that I had fault codes when I went in for my last service, about a year ago. I had not seen any problems.
My fuel mileage is not as good as it used to be. I do not connect that with the walnut shells, because it came on over the past winter, but they could find no reason. It is not a lot, only 1.5 to 2 MPG on my normal rounds, but I cannot featherfoot it enough to get it back to what it was. That is why I decided to try the Sea Foam. Since I have just done it, I cannot comment about the mileage, but I will be paying attention.

 

the catch can is not going to do a whole lot unless you cap the passenger side pcv line running into the intake manifold.

 

Yes, I have the passenger side PCV capped. I just don't get much oil in the can. Does that mean I don't have much blow by in the engine? I drive thirty miles each way to work and get the engine up to temperature. My MINI has 70k miles on the clock and this is the first time I am doing the walnut blast. I have to wonder if I don't have much oil in the can is because I drive the car at operating temperature versus short trips that don't get up to temp.

 

well i do know that if you have the passenger side caped then you shouldnt need the walnut blast done unless you have never done it. the passenger side pcv line is the one that causes the carbon build up in the intake, if it capped then no more crap is getting in there. as to the rest of what you said i cant speak on to much. im not that mechanicaly inclined haha.

 

Catch can placement (hot vs cool spot with good airflow) can make a HUGE difference in what you catch....

 

Placement of the can. That makes sense. I would suppose a cooler spot would make more oil settle out of the air?
I did have the walnut blast done about a year ago, but did not put the can on, as I did not know it existed. I plan to do so soon.
I am hoping to keep from having the valves get dirty again, unless I am too late already.

 

My guess is the smoke show temporarily fouled up your O2 sensors/cat until it has time to be evacuated from your intake system / vac lines and completely burned off.

IMO nothing to worry about.

Motor on.

 

Hope that is right. I have only driven about 25 miles in two trips since the 'fogging'. I am certainly willing to give it time. Since it seems to run OK, that is the cheapest anyway.

 

Did someone really just say that preventing carbon build up on a direct injected vehicle can be 100% achieved by blocking the pass side PCV hose? wow....... You are incorrect.

 

+1

 

Well, OK, but don't keep us in suspense. What is the cause, if it is not the oily mist from the breather? I do not pretend to know the cause, but I cannot believe it comes from the air from the air cleaner, so what is the source?

 

The cause is just that. Direct injection. Fuel gets by passed the valves unlike in most vehicles fuel is what's helping keep them clean.

 

Well, its not just that... but that is "why it happens" for the most part.

After taking some training at Honda.. and learning about their new DI Accord.. having hands on time with it.. running diag... talking to an engineer... Asked him how they plan to avoid the carbon issue... Turns out its a lot of things that work to prevent the buildup... Things that Mini did not do in the jump both feet first on DI systems.

First, its not just an issue from the PCV system.. on the surface this seems to be a nice scapegoat..

But the real issues are things that frankly can't be corrected without a major redesign.. this is why the n18 engine changes came out in 2011.

Things like piston crown design. The angle at which the fuel is injected into the head.. Fuel timing.. valve timing, all come down to preventing the buildup. BMW's change to dual VANOS on the intake and exhaust ports to control tumble and swirl and fuel sequencing is the main "fix" for preventing carbon buildup.

I've read that the dealer can reflash the PCM so it can "soak" the valves in a little extra fuel during the swirl process - at the cost of about 1mpg..

If that does not work.. and the catch-can is not really a fix.. along with the PCV block.. then its doomed to only slow down the carbon buildup and not prevent it.

Personally.. I'd do everything I could to slow the issue down.. including a 5K sea-foam treatment with the fogger kit. That said.. don't be surprised if it causes a MIL to come on with a code for the O2, MAF, or misfires.. I'd run the car for an half an hour after the fogging.. and then manually erase the codes and keep driving the car. Top Tier fuels might help as well.. I would never run bargain 87 no-name fuel in the car.

 

For the most part I was tryin to explain it as briefly and least technical as I could lol, I do thank you for the added intel a couple notes in there I wasn't to familiar with.

 

So, it is essentially blowback caused by valve timing and piston shape putting fuel on the intake side of the valve, which then partially burns and carbonizes?
If the fogging treatment really works, and I think it does after some preliminary driving, then I hope that the 5000 mile interval will keep me from having to have the walnut shell performance again.
Sorry BMW couldn't do any better, but, as a past BMW motorcycle mechanic, I am familiar with their attitude. It must be right because German engineering is always right.

 

Yup... That's it in a nutshell.

BMW was not alone in having carbon issues.. A lot of the early DI cars had it. The only company who got it right was Ford...

Some of the problems Audi had made BMWs issues look tame.

 

OK, now I have gone about 70 miles in four different trips. After 50, the check engine light had not gone out, so I decided to do what I thought I had read to reset it, which was to disconnect the battery for 30 seconds. Well, there is either something else wrong, or that is not the correct proceedure, as the light did not did not go off.
Suggestions?

 

That is not enough to clear the light, you'll need to run a generic OBDII scan tool to erase the code.. (But first get the code, and write it down..)

 

OK. Thanks. I have access to an OBD tool.

 

The codes I get are: 1497 and 2096, which I can't find a key for. Perhaps my technique is wrong. The directions tell you to plug the reader in and turn on the key. I get an error message, so I started the engine and turned it off, but did not pull the disc out. Then I got the codes above.
With some shame, I admit that the vacuum hose fell off the valve cover. I did not push it on as carefully as I needed to. The light went out four starts later. I did the OBD tool after that.

 

P2096 Post catalytic converter fuel trim , bank 1 - too lean which could be just a result of the other code you listed, 1497.

The 1497 is a vac leak behind the throttle, maybe at the valve cover. If you are not noticing any odd sounds it could just have a tiny crack in it. A common issue, throws code usually when vac at highest demand during braking.

Could try spraying brake clean around valve cover ( cold engine ) see if idle changes to check. But that sometimes does not always work.

Check the intake tube between the turbo and air box too. Sometimes the clamp end at the Turbo gets worn, slips with oil blow by and eventually doesn't have enough material for a decent friction fit. Replacing the hose and clamp would be that fix.

Lastly, have timing chain deflection measured by your dealer. Enough slack will break the top chain guide and even cause the chain to slip a tooth on the cam gears throwing that code. ( Alters timing of the valves for open/closed position )