fuel injector cleaner

Status
Not open for further replies.
sorry i should have clarified. i'm talking strictly the fuel INJECTOR cleaners. i know fuel system cleaners work, but there are also injector cleaners on the shelves. just wondering if these are a marketing ploy or what because from everyone's opinion on here they aren't strong enough to do much
 
The really cheap ones are useless at best.When you can pay $2.00 for "injector cleaner",you have to ask yourself,whats in it? and What is it really going to cure? Piece of mind for the cheap,mainly.I wonder though how with todays 10% ethanol in gasoline,which is a very good cleaner itself,how much more cleaning you really need?
 
I really don't understand the marketing approach. What cleans the "Fuel System" must also clean the "Fuel Injectors" - they are making "newbies" think they must run a "Fuel System Cleaner" as well as "Fuel Injector Cleaner".....but yes, under most circumstances they are typically the same thing, maybe just higher concentrations....


I know in my early days of MSDS surfing, I was looking at the various MSDS for the "Gas Treatments" (i.e.: STP red bottle, Gum Out white bottle, Super Tech red bottle, etc...) and they were almost all the same formula(s); typically high doses of kerosene (jet fuel! is how STP likes to market it).

Then, STP has the "Fuel Injector AND Carburetor Cleaner" so, I took a gander at that....and of course, Gum Out, and SuperTech have their own bottles too, to "follow the leader" lol....and yea, again, the composition was about the same.....in fact, almost IDENTICAL to that of the "red bottle" - again, largely kerosene....

The STP Black Bottle though, that has a little bit more "Oomph!" - at least more so than the red bottle....

Basically, the "Fuel System Cleaners" are typically in larger bottles (or larger concentrations) than the fuel injector cleaners, which are usually in smaller bottles.


Much of this is purely marketing....our fuel isn't as bad as it used to be....so the majority of people probably don't even NEED these chemicals in their tank every fill up, but the companies still market them the same way.


And now the new fad is the "Ethanol Treatments", Lucas, STP, Sta-Bil, etc....all have their own line of product(s)
smile.gif




Personally, I'll keep on using my MMO and/or TCW-3 (if I forget the MMO)...
 
Quote:
our fuel isn't as bad as it used to be

No its worse in some ways, thanks to the ethanol content its hygroscopic. Moisture is one thing the injectors don't operate well with, they show seat corrosion much more than years ago.

I do a lot of marine injectors, they have issues now that were unheard of before ethanol just because of the high moisture environment they operate in.
The damper the climate e.g. states with high humidity the worse the problem is.

http://www.fuel-testers.com/marine_boat_ethanol_problems.html
 
I notice that many inexpensive fuel system cleaners contain 'petroleum distillates' as the main ingredient.
Are they any good at cleaning?
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Quote:
our fuel isn't as bad as it used to be

No its worse in some ways, thanks to the ethanol content its hygroscopic. Moisture is one thing the injectors don't operate well with, they show seat corrosion much more than years ago.

I do a lot of marine injectors, they have issues now that were unheard of before ethanol just because of the high moisture environment they operate in.
The damper the climate e.g. states with high humidity the worse the problem is.

http://www.fuel-testers.com/marine_boat_ethanol_problems.html


Is the (gasoline) sulfur content higher as well (than years ago)?
 
Quote:
notice that many inexpensive fuel system cleaners contain 'petroleum distillates' as the main ingredient.
Are they any good at cleaning?

Kerosene and Naphtha based cleaners have only minimal cleaning effect. IMO better to buy a coffee at Dunkin, you get more for your money.
Originally Posted By: Caliberguy
i was told by mechanic that Berryman B12 is great for car fuel system. and change your fuel filter yearly

B12 is a powerful chemical cocktail and is very good on varnish but seems to have only limited effect on "white" corrosion and carbon. IMO better suited to carb engines, it works really well.
On FI engines OEM fuel filters are generally more than adequate for 30-50K.
Carb engines with small inline or bowl inlet filters can benefit from yearly changes.
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Is the (gasoline) sulfur content higher as well (than years ago)?

From what i read sulphur has been decreasing steadily since 2000, maybe someone else has more info.
 
Forget the foreplay and just go for it.

Get a good system cleaner and do it all. A Techron cleaner [get the strong versions], the Redline product, Gumout Regane are very good.

The Berryman B-12 is a very strong solvent, and has a lot of useful properties. But I consider it a second choice.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Forget the foreplay and just go for it.

Get a good system cleaner and do it all. A Techron cleaner [get the strong versions], the Redline product, Gumout Regane are very good.

The Berryman B-12 is a very strong solvent, and has a lot of useful properties. But I consider it a second choice.


^This, +1.
 
The only worthwhile products that go in the tank contain high levels of PEA detergent. All the others are worthless, actually you get NOTHING for your expenditure.

The only products you should consider are over 50% concentration of PEA:

Chevron Techron Concentrate Cleaner
3M Tank add cleaner
Gumout Regane Total
Red line SL-1

There are also a number of car branded versions that contain high levels buy you really have to look closely at the label.

PEA is a detergent that is formulated to interact with heat and carbon to clean the deposits without leaving its own residue behind in the process, most all other solvents and detergents fail in this regard. Most solvents simply do NOT work. The few that do have such high levels of chemicals that damage rubber and plastic you NEVER should use them, ever!

Also solvents will always have the potential to cause damage to rubber and plastic in fuel systems while PEA never causes this situation, it is completely safe for all parts of the fuel system no damage is ever caused by PEA...except to carbon deposits of course.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: pbm
I notice that many inexpensive fuel system cleaners contain 'petroleum distillates' as the main ingredient.
Are they any good at cleaning?


petroleum distillates (kerosene, stoddard solvent, etc.) is being used as a carrier. carrier itself does minimal (almost nothing) in terms of providing additional cleaning power.

You can do a bit of experimentation: get a small bottle (about 6oz) of K1-kerosene and add that to your fuel tank and see what happens? (bet ya feel the engine no longer idles rough but does nothing to clean)

Q.
 
Amazon has a 15 oz bottle of redline but I cant find how much that treats, its 10 bucks for the bottle. How much does it treat?
 
Originally Posted By: countryboy9799
Amazon has a 15 oz bottle of redline but I cant find how much that treats, its 10 bucks for the bottle. How much does it treat?

Redline has information about the 15oz. bottle on their site.
 
Looks like the whole bottle for 20 gallons, it would probably be fine to use the bottle in a 15 gallon tank too? Might have to try it. Thanks
 
Originally Posted By: countryboy9799
Looks like the whole bottle for 20 gallons, it would probably be fine to use the bottle in a 15 gallon tank too? Might have to try it. Thanks


Oh gosh yes. I routinely put a full bottle of Redline or Amsoil PI in my 11 gallon Saturn tank.
 
I go through a few 12 oz bottles of B 12 a year. I use it in my mowers and blowers as a spring tonic. I just put a 1/2 bottle in the tank of my latest old Ariens snow blower in hopes it will clean out any varnish.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top