Nissan Almera Gti

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Why this super decoke could transform your car for the better CAR: Nissan Almera GTi YEAR: 1998 OWNER: Alan Anderson

Regular readers may know that our project Almera GTi generally performs well but sadly runs out of breath all too easily before it even gets a sniff of the rev counter’s red line. As the Nissan’s performance was generally a bit below par anyway we wondered if the engine was a bit coked up. The reason that we half suspected this was because the previous owner admitted to ‘driving for economy’ and slipped this high revver into top gear as soon as possible.

A QUICK REV A DAY KEEPS THE MECHANIC AT BAY

In the main it’s a fairly sound practice although rather counterproductive to do this religiously. Indeed, on many occasions, it’s more economical to use a lower gear allied to a lighter throttle plus it’s also easier on the engine!

An occasional race to the red line does no harm at all either…

With all this in mind, we thought we’d try out TerraClean again. We first tested this ‘super decoke’ on a BMW 3 Series a few years back with very good effect.

TerraClean originates from a group of ‘green’ Canadian physicists who, on behalf of the Canadian government, were attempting to create an emissionfree internal combustion engine.

The project was canned due to costs but upon stripping a test engine, they discovered it was incredibly clean and coke-free as a result of the special fuel and so TerraClean was invented.

It’s been marketed in the UK for a couple of years by Randstad Ltd, a leading automotive supplier for more than 30 years – and endorsed by Wheeler Dealers’ Edd China.

Epsom Salts for engines is nothing new, but TerraClean has dragged such a practice into the 21st Century. By tapping into the engine’s fuel line and running the engine on TerraClean at set revs, it removes carbon, tar and varnishes from many internal components (including fuel injectors, injection pumps, combustion chambers, valves, manifolds and oxygen sensors etc), giving increased performance and economy together with reduced emissions, it’s claimed.

TerraClean is said to be suitable for all types of engines, including classics, where their engines may not get hot enough, even on a run, to properly purge themselves.

Our TerraClean was carried out by Essex-based Eastwood Service Station near Southend, Tel: 01702 522165. And for specialists, it’s a good business aid. A petrol machine kit costs around £2300 and it would easily pay for itself in added work generated and not to say goodwill because the vast majority of drivers will instantly feel the difference after a thorough service or tune up. The actual cleaning process takes only 40 minutes or so, although the job can be quite lengthy depending upon how easy it is to tap into the fuel line.

IT’S A QUALIFIED SUCCESS ON OUR GTI

As on our similar aged BMW 323i, the TerraClean treatment on the Almera GTi certainly did what it said on the tin (aerosols actually) but it wasn’t such a total success as before because, while improved, the engine still bogs down near the rev limit. TerraClean technician Ricky, who carried out the work, believed the problem is a fuel system fault and suggested replacing the aftermarket cone air filter with the standard factor air box before looking further at the injection system.

Red line reservations apart, our Nissan’s engine is a lot more responsive and zesty and the service – RRPs start at £108 (cars up to 2000cc) and go up dependent upon engine size – represents very good value and certainly worth having done if you were considering any performance tuning simply because returning the engine to ‘as new as possible’ standards may be all that’s needed to satisfy your go-faster needs. So before you splash out on expensive tuning parts that may also affect your insurance premium, why not try to get the most out of what you’ve got first of all?