Bert whitaker

A friend has a 2007 C230 with 96,000 miles on it. I'm thinking of buying it after he lets his son use it for another year. I have a couple of questions though, which I will try to make brief and not belabor things. I understand that there is a lot of carbon buildup in the intake manifold because of PCV and EGR gas mixing before the injectors, build up that can start to obstruct the movement of the swirl flaps, sometimes causing breakage of the actuator rod.



1) is there a way of checking the movement of these swirl flaps by reaching under the hood while the car is off and moving that actuator rod to see if it moves freely? Or do I have to have it running and rev it a little bit well I watch whether the lever turns the cam?



2) is there a way of avoiding this carbon buildup through the use of top tier fuels or regular carburetor cleaner spray every couple of months or is it just unavoidable?



3) if the actuator rod ends up eventually or is already broken, I think the only thing I can do is replace the Armature with a new metal one and try to clean the intake manifold. Is that ridiculous compared to just buying a new one? Would I just use spray carburetor cleaner and a brush or what



Thank you for your wisdom, oh wise ones