This poor-running Porsche Panamera was the first service car to benefit from our latest investment in workshop equipment: a mobile Nederman dustless media blaster. Arriving in the JZM Porsche service workshop with terrible running and a string of fault lights showing, a PIWIS check directed our diagnosis towards the intake. Stripping the intake manifold from the engine, we soon found the valves to be clogged almost solid, following a life sitting mainly in London traffic.
The only way to fix this problem would normally be to strip and clean the heads and valve train – quite an expensive process. We could have used our high-power blast cabinet to great effect but would still have had to strip the heads off. Talking to our equipment suppliers, we came across the dustless Nederman system, using crushed walnut shells.
Turning the engine to top dead centre on one cylinder so the valves are closed, the machine blasts the backs of the valves with walnut shell media, simultaneously removing waste products. The shells are combustible, so any small fragment which manages to find its way into the combustion chamber will just be burned off without damaging the engine. The results were terrific and we will find many more uses for the new blaster!