Revive turbo cleaner - Anyone used it?

ibizacupra

Jack-RIP my little Friend
Jul 25, 2001
31,333
19
glos.uk
I have been maybe lucky.. that 3 times tried it its made a marked difference every time.
more than one treatment may be required for very heavily clogged.. you then at that point have a decision to try again or remove and clean it by removing it etc..

its worth a punt as a non invasive product which requires no skills or tools to administer.. and build the treatment into the service schedule will keep things clean.
 

Seatmann

Rough around the edges
Sep 16, 2010
5,568
9
Scotlanda
For anyone interested, get your hand on the vnt lever and see if it's sticky and crunchy. Mine was really crunchy feeling and I could hardly push it all the way down, took off exhaust downpipe, filled turbo with Mr Muscle oven cleaner, worked the vnt lever now and then over a couple of hours, bolted the exhaust back up and drove. The whole thing is super smooth now, the lever feels perfect and the boost is great, lot more pick up and general power.
 

rsrich

Newbie
Aug 23, 2006
208
0
www.turnpikeracing.co.uk
I've used revive on a cdti vectra at the weekend with sticking variable veins diagnosed by a tech2 vaux specialists.

Didnt make a jot of difference, gonne have to take the turbo off for a clean at a turbo specialist. A bit dissapointed because i read allot of good things about it.

I got my Revive starter kit from Bennets (car parts supplier) for under £50 incl VAT

Some four tonnes of product (approximately 5300 applications) have now been shipped, with negative reports of it having no discernable effect literally in single figures. There are a few possible reasons:
1,Inaccurate diagnosis of the problem, so the vehicle fault is not actually due to the VNT vane mechanism
2, Fouling of the vane mechanism has become so bad that it is essentially siezed, or indeed has mechanical issues causing it to sieze. (the recommended action of operating the actuator, where possible, with a manual pump during the application would indicate how siezed the mechanism may be)
3, Non-ideal conditions of application - starting with a cold engine gives the material the best chance of success, as it minimises excessive evaporation as it passes through the system. It is still effective to a degree when applied to a warm/hot engine but generally this is considered to diminish the benefits due to excessive evaporation. Obviously there are instances when it is impractical to have the engine cold, and this is not always possible.

If you are having the turbo removed to have it cleaned, it would be very interesting if you could possibly report back the condition of the vane components and overall mechanism as you find them
 

Cupra Kid

Has a TDI!!
Oct 13, 2005
3,380
1
Chesterfield, Derbyshire
I'm gonna weigh in here, just shot a treatment of this through my 110 tdi toledo to cure a limp mode issue which I was certain was down to sticking vanes. 3rd gear full acceleration and then limp mode.

Followed the instructions by carrying out two 250ml shots into the air intake with the engine cold and was surprised that there was no audiable or visual effect. Went away and left the two shots to do their job for ten minutes and came back to do the third and final shot.

About halfway through the final shot the engine must have hit temperature and suddenly grey smoke poured from the exhaust in one huge massive stream, I finished the treatment and took the car for a hard drive as described in the instructions. Smoke (which I assume was vapour and contaminents from the engine) continued to pour from the back of the car so much that it looked like a blown turbo, however with more power becoming available I pressed on. Ten minutes later the smoke faded and I was going right round the rev range in third gear with a lot more grunt than has ever been available since I bought the car.

My kit cost £36.50 in total and solved a problem which when over taking could cause safety issues. Turbo problems are never cheap to solve but at that price its less than an hours labour for a mechanic to diagnose what you are pretty sure is the problem and if its not then at least you have a clean intake, engine and turbo and can focus your attention elsewhere.

I'd reccomend it, after 90k my car was ready for it!
 

shnazzle

Glass-Half-Full Member
Sep 9, 2011
3,483
6
Northumberland
Sorry to be thick but...how do you get this into the intake?
I think somewhere it said after the MAF...which puzzles me even more
 

Cupra Kid

Has a TDI!!
Oct 13, 2005
3,380
1
Chesterfield, Derbyshire
If you find your MAF, just past the airbox, there will be a pipe leading from it to the turbo.

You disconect this pipe at the MAF end and fire the product in there so it goes straight into the turbo
 

shnazzle

Glass-Half-Full Member
Sep 9, 2011
3,483
6
Northumberland
If you find your MAF, just past the airbox, there will be a pipe leading from it to the turbo.

You disconect this pipe at the MAF end and fire the product in there so it goes straight into the turbo

Oh lol. Didn't think it would be that obvious. I wasn't expecting any kind of disassembly...hence my question
 

Pakman

Pakman
Nov 22, 2011
142
1
I've used revive on a cdti vectra at the weekend with sticking variable veins diagnosed by a tech2 vaux specialists.

Didnt make a jot of difference, gonne have to take the turbo off for a clean at a turbo specialist. A bit dissapointed because i read allot of good things about it.

I got my Revive starter kit from Bennets (car parts supplier) for under £50 incl VAT

I have to say, if your car is particularly sooted up then it won't work. the idea i think is that you run this through at certain intervals to prevent it happening... personally when i used it before i wanted it to fix it. i do need to start using it again; now that i havea new Turbo in the car
 

Shifty1978

Guest
I'm not very good mechanically. I have this issue in 3rd gear if I get to 3k revs with my Leon which have only had a few weeks.

Ran VCDS and there is a thread in that forum where the vanes or possibly MAP sensor are the issue.

Went to local non-franchise Indi today who has done work on VW's of mine in the past - his costs have always been very reasonable.

He mentioned he had a product that "Cleans the turbo out - costs £40" so could be this stuff. he reckoned with labour though would be £100 inc VAT. Is there much labour involved in this process? Is it particularly tricky to get to the pipe, any special tools required?
 

Cupra Kid

Has a TDI!!
Oct 13, 2005
3,380
1
Chesterfield, Derbyshire
if your including VAT that sounds fairly reasonable, but you could save yourself £50 by doing it yourself.

Its very straight forward, all you need are some decent pliers to take the intake pipe clamp off.
 

Shifty1978

Guest
Stupid question where do you spray it in then? Pipe? He mentioned something about vacuum and drawing it back out I think?
 

rsrich

Newbie
Aug 23, 2006
208
0
www.turnpikeracing.co.uk
I have to say, if your car is particularly sooted up then it won't work. the idea i think is that you run this through at certain intervals to prevent it happening... personally when i used it before i wanted it to fix it. i do need to start using it again; now that i havea new Turbo in the car

There are degrees of "sooted up" to consider - if the problem of sticky or lazy vane mechanism is left to deteriorate unchecked, then it can reach the point where the vane mechanism becomes effectively seized, either by sheer soot build-up or because of corrosion effects seizing the vane pivots where they come through the backplate. At this point it is of course likely that the treatment alone may not be effective. However, even quite severely restricted vane movement due to soot binding is generally succesfully treated.

There is a video to show the actual procedure for anyone unclear how it is administered:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAJSOsIbqyc&feature=player_embedded

http://www.cleanmyengine.co.uk/
If you wish to find somewhere local to do the treatment, Use the "Find a garage" tab to locate a garage near you that uses the product.
 

Pakman

Pakman
Nov 22, 2011
142
1
There are degrees of "sooted up" to consider - if the problem of sticky or lazy vane mechanism is left to deteriorate unchecked, then it can reach the point where the vane mechanism becomes effectively seized, either by sheer soot build-up or because of corrosion effects seizing the vane pivots where they come through the backplate. At this point it is of course likely that the treatment alone may not be effective. However, even quite severely restricted vane movement due to soot binding is generally succesfully treated.

There is a video to show the actual procedure for anyone unclear how it is administered:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAJSOsIbqyc&feature=player_embedded

http://www.cleanmyengine.co.uk/
If you wish to find somewhere local to do the treatment, Use the "Find a garage" tab to locate a garage near you that uses the product.

Well, I know people who have had success and others who haven't - I underwent several methods and three cleans but alas I had to replace the turbo! Best of luck though, it is a real pain
 

joshy514

Fleet Air Arm by ability.
Mar 2, 2012
1,836
4
Gloucester
www.seatcupra.net
I have been maybe lucky.. that 3 times tried it its made a marked difference every time.
more than one treatment may be required for very heavily clogged.. you then at that point have a decision to try again or remove and clean it by removing it etc..

its worth a punt as a non invasive product which requires no skills or tools to administer.. and build the treatment into the service schedule will keep things clean.

Is this what you were talking about earlier bill? I think I'm going to try it, can't hurt can it?! If not ill take the dp off and spray mr muscle in it, if not then ill disassemble the whole turbo and clean it properly.
 

Pakman

Pakman
Nov 22, 2011
142
1
It didn't work well for me but it is good to use and include in your service as a preventative measure and works well in that capacity but not when it becomes too late
 

Craig_swansea

Guest
Mr muscle in through the port where the pipe to the underside of the egr bolts worked a treat for my 110 tolly tdi!!! the egr was caked in muck too so it was a clean and an egr blank whilst at it! best £10 ever spent on any car!!! think i will get the inlet manifold off at some point to clean it and reassemble though.
 
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