Mark: Hey, it’s Mark from Top Local, we’re here with Bernie Pawlik of Pawlik Automotive in Vancouver; Vancouver’s favourite and best auto service experience. Bernie your audio’s a little loud, I can hear myself.
Bernie: I’ll turn it down.
Mark: So we’re going to talk about a 07 Lexus GS350, you were doing some motorvacing and spark plugs, what’s that all about?
Bernie: Alright, well so this vehicle came to our shop actually for a few services, one of the rear strut replacement which were leaking but that’s not really the subject of our discussion today, but it also was due for some maintenance service. The spark plugs were due for replacement based on mileage and also we had recommended a motorvac fuel injection cleaning which we usually do at the same time so that, that’s what’s up on this vehicle.
Mark: So struts aside are some of these other services the equivalent of a tune-up since we don’t really do that anymore.
Bernie: Yeah, these are, you can say this is a tune-up, I mean there’s nothing to tune up on a modern vehicle, everything’s electronically controlled which is fantastic, you just hop in your car, you start the car and away you go, I mean electronic fuel injection and electronic ignition really made that happen you know a couple decades ago but you know with modern cars it’s even, even more sophisticated yeah, this is, this is what we need to do for a tune up. The spark plugs have a certain lifespan, they generally last quite a long time on, on most vehicles and which is a good thing because there’s a lot of, it’s a lot of work to take the spark plugs out on these vehicles so they do have a very long lifespan but they do eventually wear out. These weren’t essentially worn out but you want to replace them before anything happens, you want a seamless driving experience and the engine smooth all the time, it’s critical.
Mark: So what about Motorvac? What is that, what benefits is that service provide?
Bernie: So the Motorvac it’s basically a brand name for a machine; Motorvac is basically fuel injection cleaning machine. How it works is it, you basically disconnect the fuel system in the vehicle, we hook the Motorvac machine up to the, directly to the engine, it has its own pump, it has its own gas and we add a very concentrated cleaner. We run it for about approximately half an hour, sometimes a little longer if the vehicle hasn’t been done in a long time and also a couple additional services we do as long as it’s reasonably accessible we clean the throttle plate as well which gets gummed up so I mean basically what it does is it removed carbon deposits from the engine, it cleans the fuel injectors, any gummy deposits; when you clean the throttle plate there’s deposits that build up as well so it allows the air to flow into the engine much better and also if there’s a lot of carbon deposits on the valves it, that can actually store fuel. We don’t see the problem very often but in the past the engine, they wouldn’t go up hill because there was so much carbon deposits on the intake valve that the engine would actually absorb the fuel that was being injected into the engine, but the Motorvac will remove all that and basically restore performance like back to like new.
Mark: Can every engine be Motorvaced?
Bernie: Sorry Mark can you repeat that, I got a couple audio issues.
Mark: Can every engine be Motorvaced?
Bernie: Um, no. Most engines can, the exceptions really are carbureted vehicles which you can Motorvac it but it doesn’t make sense because it’s easier just to pour combustion chamber cleaner right down the carburetor and let it sit overnight and almost no cars have carburetors anymore, so, like none do, only vintage cars at this time. The other, this machine we have does diesel so we can do diesels, the one engine that it won’t do is gasoline direct injection. Now that is basically similar to a diesel because it’s injecting fuel like a diesel directly into the combustion chamber but what happens is you still get carbon deposits on the intake valves but this machine won’t do anything about it because it sprays fuel directly into the combustion chamber so it’ll clean the injectors but you miss the benefit of cleaning the valves so those are one type of engine that we won’t do. Interestingly enough on this Toyota, there’s a couple unique things about this; it actually has a duel fuel injection system and has gas and direct injection and port fuel injection. The port injection is the one we can do the motorvac with and it’s been years, for many, many years and a lot of manufacturers are getting away from it to do gas direct injection but that’s a subject for another discussion.
Mark: So do you have any pictures of this Lexus?
Bernie: Yeah, I’ve got some pictures and we can talk about the fuel system as well but let’s just share a few photos here. Here’s the Motorvac fuel injection cleaning machine, it looks a little dirty, we use it a lot and it tends to get a little grungy around the shelf. This is a dual, I said it’s a dual machine, it will do diesel and gas and essentially you can see some hoses on the left side, these, actually this is the diesel, the gasoline side, these hoses hook up to the vehicle, to the fuel system and inside this machine this pumps in a variety of things, so that’s the unit. Here’s a photo of some spark plugs and these are the plugs that were removed from the vehicle. I didn’t actually look at to see how many kilometers were on it but these are the electrodes and there’s a lot of carbon deposits on these, so these plugs have been in there a long time and very, very good time to change them, they’ve, the owners really got his money’s worth out of these and finally there’s the Lexus engine. This engine is unique in that it uses, it uses gasoline direct injection and port injection as well, so that’s the engine and I believe I’m back.
Mark: Yep, so how does that work with dual injection like that?
Bernie: Well, how it works is the, and it’s all computer controlled, the vehicle will use the different fuel injection systems depending on engine speed, engine load, you know, going down the highway at higher speeds the port injection systems isn’t really working at all, the idle is kind of a mixture between the two and it varies different throttle openings and different times, it’ll use the two systems. It’s not just unique to Lexus, there are other Toyota vehicles that use it as well but it seems like a really good idea; extra complicated though, you’ve got to, you know two fuel systems so there’s a lot of extra stuff that can go wrong, of course being Toyota probably not a lot will which is a good thing.
Mark: So overall how would you rate Lexus vehicles?
Bernie: Very highly, really reliable vehicles, not a lot goes wrong with them, I mean they’re not bullet proof but you know really not a whole lot goes wrong with them and a very nice option for a luxury car, reliable luxury car.
Mark: So one thing I wanted to ask was about the Motorvac service, what, we sorted of touched on the benefits, it’s cleaning things, but how am I going to notice that in my car; what’s going to happen after I’ve had that done?
Bernie: Excellent question, so here’s some of the things that our customers notice because I do ask them frequently, how’s your car run; better fuel economy, the best report I had a 30% increase, better throttle response, you push the gas pedal down, it just responds faster and quicker, smoother idle, better start up, a lot of times a Motorvac is really good for taking care of subtle issues where the car just doesn’t quite, you know people come to us and go it doesn’t quite feel like it did when it was new and the Motorvac is often great at doing that because the vehicle computer will compensate for all sorts of little things like there’s a little too much carbon here or the injectors aren’t quite injecting the fuel, the computer will add some fuel, do a few things to mix it around but by actually removing all those items it will, it will, like the Motorvac will actually restore like new engine performance so it’s a great thing to do. Those are some of the things and to be honest I’ve had you know, one in maybe 10 customers tell me I don’t notice any difference, but it’s quite rare and almost everyone reports back, you know a noticeable difference to like wow, that’s fantastic.
Mark: So there you go, if you’re looking for service for your Lexus in Vancouver, the guys to see are Pawlik Automotive, you can call them at 604-327-7112 to book your next appointment, they’re busy, give them a call or check out their website at pawlikautomotive.com. Thanks Bernie.
Bernie: Thank you Mark.
