Advocate/despise fuel injector cleaner?

OK_Titanic · 10-25-2004, 06:49 PM

OK fellow Titanites,

I must say that ever since I've started perusing this board, I've gotten quite an education on oil, cleaning, parts, etc., but I don't believe a debate has ensued yet over adding fuel injector cleaner.

I will say that for years I added it to my Chevy S10 on almost every fillup and it purred like a kitten for over 120K miles until I traded it in on my Titan.

So tell me - Love it? Hate it? Does it actually work? Or is it only so much crap and I was lucky not to toast my engine?

Weigh in with your advice and opinions.

Let the beatings commence!

garo1 · 10-25-2004, 07:05 PM

I personally think it's a waste of money. I drove my '89 Mustang GT for 12 years and over 200K miles and never once did I add anything to the fuel to clean the injectors. As far as that goes, I have never used any fuel additive for the purpose of cleaning the injectors and nearly every vehicle I've owned has been fuel injected and zero problems. I feel that the detergents in the fuel is enough. Just my $.02.

schud · 10-25-2004, 07:23 PM

The manual specifically recommends against the use of fuel additives.

(BOOMER SOONER!!!!)

lizardking · 10-25-2004, 08:00 PM

No need for it with new engines and fuel.

HDRocketman · 10-25-2004, 10:04 PM

OK Titanic, My 88 S-10 now has 215k - never any injector cleaner, still runs great. I've actually read recently that FI cleaner does not do anything for injectors.

smoothTitan · 10-26-2004, 12:31 AM

older vehicles that running pretty bad maybe a mis here and there could benefit from some injector cleaner but as far as new vehicles i would say no.

*calgary_redneck* · 10-26-2004, 08:44 PM

Store bought fuel injector cleaners are a complete waist of money. Gasoline at the pump contains injector cleaners which do a pretty good job but sometimes an injector cleaning is still necissary on higher milage machines which requres the injectors to be purged and run on a high consentration of injector cleaner and gasoline usually from an injector cleaning unit that you will find at many dealers and service stations.

GETSOMZ28 · 10-26-2004, 09:09 PM

I use Lucas fuel injector cleaner on occassion (every 10K or so). It is a well liked product by folks on bobistheoilguy (just stay away from their other products)

smoothTitan · 10-26-2004, 10:26 PM

the best i have seen is some stuff called sea foam. man that stuff does wonders on my riding lawn mower.

pciley · 10-26-2004, 10:44 PM

"Octane Boost"/Fuel Injector Cleaner burnt my secondary O2 sensor on the right (passenger) side. Part retails for $137. I was not very happy.
Won't use again. Manual says to stay clear, PROBABLY a good idea. Just one more way for the service dept. to void your warranty (though it would be kind of hard to prove without a fuel sample from when the FI cleaner was used)

phillipyang · 10-26-2004, 11:09 PM

don't use it, waste of money and just another way for those companies to gain another 2-5 bucks from you.

Brons2 · 10-27-2004, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OK_Titanic

OK fellow Titanites,

I will say that for years I added it to my Chevy S10 on almost every fillup and it purred like a kitten for over 120K miles until I traded it in on my Titan

That's way too much solvent in your engine. That will dilute your oil over a 3000 mile oci. You can use fuel injector cleaner occasionally, not every tank! I don't think it does much anyways.

QShip · 10-27-2004, 06:30 AM

I use Sea Foam in my 91 Q45. It goes in the crankcase, fuel tank and vacuum line. Works great.

I just added a bottle to the gas tank in my Titan. I'll do it once a month.

GETSOMZ28 · 10-27-2004, 08:08 AM

I have used seafoam also with good results (on a 105K mile engine). However, I dont think you would need it until you rack up some serious miles (over 75K). Todays engines stay much cleaner longer. I have seen teardowns of LS1 engines with over 75K miles with almost no visible wear.

Just remember to change you oil 500 miles after using it!

TYTAIN · 10-27-2004, 08:43 AM

Nissan doesn't recommend any oil additives or fuel additives but some people won't listen and will continue to use them. I guess they know more than nissan engineers. It's in your owners manual as plain as day. As many have said the fuel is much better than years past. When fuel injection first came out, stopped up injectors were a big problem. Not anymore the oil companies have the needed additives already in place for clean fuel.