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Fuel Injector Cleaner: Does it really work? - READ ONLY

22 messages,  Last post on Mar 24, 2003 at 2:53 PM

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Messages Page 3 of 3

#13 of 22 Only if you've maintained your fuel injection by zueslewis

Feb 23, 2003 (4:30 pm)

system from the start would continuing to add cleaner do any good.
 
Buying a used car and dropping in fuel injection cleaner is a huge waste - diluted cleaner simply cannot clean dirty injectors.

#14 of 22 re:scottc8 luck? by vidtech

Feb 23, 2003 (6:21 pm)

your car has only 68k miles on it.I doubt any serious deposits in your injectors has taken place.Let us know when you get more miles on your vehicle whether your expensive dealer supplied snake oil has benefitted your fuel system.my wheels have 170000 miles on it.never had a dealer touch the fuel system.i always used gasoline without alcohol and there are cleaning agents in the gasoline to begin with.if buying high priced injector cleaner at the dealer makes you sleep better at night then continue using it.

#15 of 22 I'm not about to look up the reference, but! by fleetwoodsimca

Feb 23, 2003 (9:30 pm)

I recollect Consumers Report doing an article on injector cleaners in the not-so-distant past. That was what caused me to buy a case of 12 GUNK brand bottles. That must have been around three years ago.

#16 of 22 Maybe I've been just lucky... by isellhondas

Feb 24, 2003 (8:11 am)

Because I've owned a lot of fuel injected cars, some with lots of miles on them and I've NEVER had a plugged injector.
 
Not that I was aware of anyway.

#17 of 22 I haven't gummed one either by swschrad

Feb 24, 2003 (6:29 pm)

but injector cleaner and a toothbrush sure makes the outside shine

#18 of 22 vidtech by scottc8

Feb 24, 2003 (6:59 pm)

You could very well be right; luck, or too early to tell. I plan on keeping this car at least 150k miles, so we'll know in a couple more years.
 
BTW, what is it about alcohol? We get 10% ethanol in Colo. due to air pollution requirements. The only problems I ever heard about it was that it would loosen the gunk in older cars' tanks and lines and cause problems. Supposedly it's more of a solvent than straight gasoline. Wouldn't that tend to keep things cleaner? Or is that what fouls up the injectors in an older car that hasn't run alcohol blends before?

#19 of 22 little likelihood any recent (8-years) car hasn't seen ethanol by swschrad

Feb 24, 2003 (10:47 pm)

it's widely used, although not universally, even where MTBE is a big mixer for gasoline I would still expect to have some ethanol in the fuel supply.
 
now, if you're burning the old lawnmower gas in the car twice a year, that's not going to do you any favors. better to mix it with Sta-Bil at the end of season and leave it for the one-lunger.

#20 of 22 by q45man

Feb 25, 2003 (3:10 am)

Generally a power balance test [performed with diagnostic computer] will show if each cylinder is generating the same power at 1200-1500 rpm.
The variance in the shut off rpm drop tells you if the same amount of fuel is reaching each cylinder.....ultra smooth [as brand new idle] or shakey unmaintained one?
 
Really depends on injector type and internal design [pintle, disc, multihole, etc] as to the clogging time and characteristics.

#21 of 22 A little over a month ago... by fleetwoodsimca

Mar 24, 2003 (10:53 am)

I mentioned that Consumer Report Magazine had stated some time back that GUNK brand of injector cleaner was about as good as they get, among those readily available to the public, and that the GUNK worked well enough to make it recommendable. Since then, I've paid attention when in auto parts places, and I do not see the GUNK brand available anywhere. Does any poster out there still see the product for sale? If so, where?

#22 of 22 so... by the_big_h

Mar 24, 2003 (2:53 pm)

I put in a bottle of Chevron's Techron Fuel System cleaner in the tank a couple weeks ago. I am currently running on the first full normal tank of gasoline since the 'cleaner' tank. Gas mileage SEEMS to have picked up a little, idling remained the same, power feels the same.
 
I will post gas mileage result after the next refuel...

Messages Page 3 of 3

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