Do fuel system cleaners and things of that nature really work? Is there any negative effect to using this stuff?

I used to hear that Chevron Techron fuel injector cleaner worked. I also read a lengthy article that illustrated that if not used regularly and correctly it did not.

I once had my 86 IROC (when I was 18) injectors cleaned at the dealer many many years ago and that actually made a difference but I think they used some type of high pressure thingy they hooked up to the injectors themselves.

For soluable desposits fuel injector cleaners work. But injectors also pick up insoluable junk in them. Each injector has a little timy screen in it to pick up debris that is in the fuel, and if the cleaner cannot solubilize the little bits of junk, it remains. The fuel injectors have to be disassembled to clean the screens.

There are two types of injector service, one, like the delaership offers, is to pump the cleaner through your injectors to clean out the deposits. The other involves you pulling your injectors completely off and having them disassembled, cleaned, and tested for spray pattern, flow, and efficiency. I had the second injection service option performed on one of my cars with great success.

For soluable desposits fuel injector cleaners work. But injectors also pick up insoluable junk in them. Each injector has a little timy screen in it to pick up debris that is in the fuel, and if the cleaner cannot solubilize the little bits of junk, it remains. The fuel injectors have to be disassembled to clean the screens.

There are two types of injector service, one, like the delaership offers, is to pump the cleaner through your injectors to clean out the deposits. The other involves you pulling your injectors completely off and having them disassembled, cleaned, and tested for spray pattern, flow, and efficiency. I had the second injection service option performed on one of my cars with great success.

Was the disassembly option expensive, sounds like it.

$25 bucks a pop, not to bad for a four cylinder. I had 12 of them done for my 86 XJS, however, so it was very expensive. It was worth it though, very noticeable improvement. Probably not necessary for a car with less than 100k on the clock.

Wow, that is not bad at all, I would have thought much more!

http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=171397

This is a nice article by the "Unabomber" of the s2ki forums.

Sea Foam. A lot of people swear by this stuff.

I swear by the Lucas products. I use the injector cleaner about every 3rd tank full. I work in the Diesel industry and we have our injector pop tester resevoir filled with that.

The best fuel injector cleaner I found is Toluene. The commerical cleaners are a joke. Like posted in the link they are mostly kero with some detergent. I have heard good things about Techron and would imagine its because it contains solvents. Solvents like Toluene, Naptha, Benzene, Xylene are the only things strong enough to clean carbon deposits. If you want some strong injector cleaner just take a ride to your local paint store. A gallon of Touene to a tank full of gas will work wonders.

I usually use the big bottle of Chevron Techron concentrate at the next fill up after every oil change. However, i'll probably also try out a gallon of Xylene next time.

Could be complete false-causality - no telling what other factors were involved - but before my last trip to Knoxville from Atlanta, the only thing I did (aside from upping the tire pressure a bit, whicch I always do before a long highway trip) I dumped a small bottle of Lucas fuel injector cleaner in my tank. When I checked my mileage at my next fill up, it came up at 26.8 mpg. The best I'd had before that this year was back in March, at 24.8 mpg. In between, I was getting from a low of 20.7 to a high of 23.6, including other highway trips from ATL to K-ville.

thx for the link bomber...looks like the Redline stuff is the way to go.

Some fuel injector cleaners can harm your fuel filter if it's paper. This can cause the paper to actually come apart after a while.