Is cleaning the INSIDE of your engine the key to cutting emissions?

Is cleaning the INSIDE of your engine the key to cutting emissions?

Engine decontamination – a thorough clean of an engine’s internal deposits – is fast becoming a ‘must have’ treatment. But does it do what it claims?

We all remember additives that claim to enhance a car’s performance by cleaning its internals, but however much we stuck in the fuel tank or threw in the engine our teenage transport never seemed to go any faster, or use any less fuel.

But things have moved on in recent years with companies like Terraclean offering to give your engine’s internals a clean, and now there’s EDT Automotive too, offering a deep clean system for engines that’s been successfully on offer on the other side of the Pond for years.

EDT came to our attention when they arrived with us as an advertiser on Cars UK, and we took a long look at what’s on offer. And it does look impressive – and cost effective.

The EDT system is a bit like a de-scale for a dishwasher, using a bespoke, environmentally friendly liquid solution pumped in to your engine by EDT’s machine to remove the build up of carbon, varnish and particles that just don’t get removed in a normal oil change (particularly a siphon change), producing a pot full of black sludge from the engine at the end of the treatment – all in just 15 minutes.

EDT claim the results of their treatment – which costs a very reasonable £139.00 – improves economy by up to 20%, increases power and torque, makes the engine smoother and lowers CO2 emissions by up 59 per cent and Hydrocarbons by up to 81 per cent. Which has to be good.

We were more than a little sceptical, but then we discovered EDT is being used by a significant number of main dealers (including Ford and Jaguar) and around 1,000 engines are being treated every month. And the positive testimonials continue to grow as the number of dealers offering the treatment grows.

That growth looks set to accelerate too as EDT are now starting to sign up independent garages to offer their deep clean for engines too, and they’re doing that on a shared revenue basis with no up-font costs for the garage. Which does make it about as clear as it’s possible to that they have complete confidence in their product.

It seems EDT has a dealer who offers their deep clean on the doorstep of Cars UK Towers, so we’re going to send off our ‘do-fer’, 8 year old Mercedes A Class – that one and all use for errands, and is now a little tired – to have its internals spring cleaned to see for ourselves.

We’ll report back in a few weeks when it’s been done.

Disclaimer: EDT Automotive is a Cars UK advertiser, but this is NOT a paid for article.