VVT-i oil filter flush report

For some reason I don't understand, the unfortunate photo hosting moderators deleted the entire album.
To hell with them, download the entire file, in Word format: Report on flushing the oil filter VVT.doc

Theoretical digression.
The VVT-I system (hereinafter referred to as VVTI) has long been installed on all Toyota engines. Its essence is to shift the valve timing in such a way that the engine produces maximum power throughout the entire rev range. With the correct operation of the VVTI at the bottom and at the top, the engine produces more power than the same engine with the disabled / faulty VVTI.
This VVTI is very important, to the extent that when it malfunctions, the brakes disappear on some machines, and some spontaneously gas and strive to crash into the wall.
For the Prius, with its Atkinson cycle, VVTI is of course paramount. Also, VVTI works with constant starts / stops of the engine, its inadequate operation leads to the fact that the car stops stalling or twitches when stopping / starting.
The VVTI system consists of the VVTI valve, through which the board. controls the movement of oil in the VVTI system and the sprocket on the intake camshaft, which directly changes the duration of the intake phase depending on the pressure and direction of oil movement in the VVTI system. There is a mesh filter in front of the VVTI valve so that any valve does not stick. Between these elements - of course - thin oil channels. For details about VVTI, see the Avtodata website, it is well written, with graphs, diagrams and drawings)).
When using bad oil or an untimely change, dirt from the oil is deposited on the filter mesh, clogs it completely, the oil stops flowing into the VVTI mechanism, it freezes in the middle position, like the car does not have VVTI, and the Prius twitches at start / stop, consumption increases, decreases dynamics. Also, deposits can be in the valve, jamming it in one position. They can be in the cavities of the VVTI star mechanism, limiting their movement and. thereby disrupting the valve timing. All this leads to the same shaking.
Please note, I'm not claiming that this is the only reason for the 1NZ-FXE's St. Witt's dance, but one of many, which, apparently, should be devoted to a separate FAQ-style article.
Now - what to do with it. Everything is as usual, dirty - clean, broken - replace.

Practical part.

Cleaning the oil strainer.
This is what the correct filter looks like, we will strive for this result:

Devices and materials.
For parsing, we need keys / head for 10, a hexagon for 6 (purchased at Avtomag for 19 rubles). I also have a kind of bit-holder, like a screwdriver, it also helped.

To clean the varnish deposits on the grid, I used this household chemicals - the Shumanit grease remover (Israel), it costs about 250 rubles a bottle, by the way, it’s a terribly effective thing, it removes carbon deposits from the stoves at once, your wife will thank you for it.

Instead of Shumanit, you can use such a Russian remedy, it also works well, but costs 5 times less.

Those who wish can, of course, wash with kerosene or carb cleaner, but KMK, their efficiency is much lower.

Working process:
In the 1nz engine, the filter is located on the left, below the cylinder head cover, immediately below the VVT-i valve.

To access the filter, we remove the air filter housing, disconnect all kinds of wires, tubes there (wires to the VVTI valve, to the gasoline vapor disposal valve and the fuel tube), so as not to interfere with unscrewing, remove them to the side.

Unscrew the filter with a hexagon. Tightened very tightly, it is worth spraying with Vedashkoy. Having unscrewed, do not lose the washer-gasket, it is tricky there. It’s not a fact that it’s right to reuse it, but I don’t have another one, but the old one works fine.

We get the filter. It is made in the form of a mesh in a plastic case, inserted into a metal bolt, removed together. Sometimes (as they say) the mesh remains in the hole, then remove it from there with tweezers. This is how I had this filter (view from both sides).

As you can see, the filter is very heavily polluted, even water practically did not pass through it, which means that the VVTI mechanism practically did not work. By the way, an indirect way to determine the operability of the VVTI is to remove the connector from the VVTI valve with the engine running at idle, if the speed has not changed, then the VVTI does not work. If they have changed, it means that it can work .
In general, we put the filter in a vessel and fill it with shumanit, leave it for 20 minutes.

After, we wash off the eaten dirt with water, we look at the result.

And to the light:

As you can see, the result is already there, about 50% was washed off. We repeat the procedure with shumanit for another 20-30 minutes. We wash. The result is a 100% clean filter.

It can be seen through the light that the mesh has been completely cleaned, inside and out.

Now you can dry and install in place. Tighten as much as it was, check if the engine is running for oil flowing, you can check it in a day. Everything was fine for me the first time. A week later, I did a control check, out of curiosity, if anything had accumulated. The result is an ideal condition (see first photo).

The valve also belongs to the VVTI, I could not remove it, it firmly stuck there. Because the new one costs 1500 rubles, and the old one seems to work, it was decided not to touch it yet. There is infa on the Internet, how one motorist had to break off an electromagnet from a valve, and pick out the valve itself with a special device welded from a screw in order to replace it with a new one. They also write that fuel oil and resins can accumulate in the housing of the VVTI sprocket, limiting the range of adjustment of the valve timing. I'll climb there some other time when I buy a cylinder head gasket.
While I’m thinking of washing all the oil channels with Shell Helix Ultra Extra oil, they write that it actually cleans well. And with the help of slow flushes before changing the oil, on which you can drive 100-200 km (I saw one at Liqui Molly, Lavr).
Results:
Earned VVTI. At the bottom, I didn’t notice a change in traction, at the top - a noticeable increase in power by 10-15% (according to sensations). After 80 km / h the dynamics became better. The car began to drive at a speed of 90-100 km / h with a flow rate of slightly less than 5 l / 100 km. It used to be over 5 l/100km. It began to stall (otherwise it completely stopped earlier.) Well, and an unexpected side effect - the shaking stopped at the start-stop on a hot one, it stalls and starts up very smoothly. In fairness, it should be noted that it shakes very occasionally, but I think this is due to candles, coils, dirty injectors. Everything has its time.

I hope this creation will be useful to someone.
Sibirsky_Kot.