Posted: 7/30/2005 4:36:16 AM EDT
I was in Pep Boys yesterday and noticed these on the shelves...do they work or is it some BS hype? I'm talking about the cleaners that you pour down into the gas tank and mix with fuel. |
Injector nozzles will get varnished up and the spray pattern will turn from a fine mist to a drip if it's real bad. If you use the good gas IE Shell Gold or supreme or whatever the gas company calls it..fuel system cleaner is included in it IIRC. It can't hurt to use some. I've used the STP version before. |
My dad tried it with his p/u when it was hard starting. Worked. |
I agree on the seafoam. Would that warrant a +1? My favorite seafoam moment is after its introduced into the brake booster vacuum line and allowed to sit for 5 minutes, then the vehicle is restarted. It cleans the buildup out of the intake, heads, valves, etc. Wow. Just when I thought the show was over I was driving home, stomped the gas to clear an intersection and successfully threw up a smokescreen that stopped traffic. I laughed til I cried and it took me about 1.5 miles to stop laughing. |
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Has anyone used a fuel treatment that you dispense via the schader valve under the hood? I have a 99 Camaro that now is hard to start and emits black smoke when first started. I checked the fuel presure and it drops off after several mins. I want a good cleaning of the injectors before I go all out and replace them. |
Is that a good moment or bad? Sounds bad to me. |
| The wife's Mountaineer was starting hard - the throttle had to be held slightly open to get the engine started. Fuel pump was working, so while I was waiting to get the car hooked up for a diagnostic thinking the O2 sensor was bad, I dumped a bottle of injector cleaner / fuel dryer (I think it was STP brand) into the tank and the vehicle is running normally now for over a week. |
Sure, they are the best way to clean injectors. In tank solutions are better than nothing but many of them end up doing very little. I have the BG fuel injection setup at the shop. It consists of a guage, manifold w/reservoir, pressure regulator, atomizer, and some adapter fittings. Basically there are two ways to do it. Vehicles with Schrader valves it goes through the valve. Vehicles without Schrader valves get hooked into through the fuel rail using the adapters, it's a more difficult setup on some cars, but works the same as the Schrader method. The tool is well designed for this job, it is pressurized and uses a special solution to clean injector nozzles and valves. Then a solution is added to the tank. That system cleans the injectors better than anything I've seen. We can also 'Atomize' the throttle body/intake manifold as an 'Induction De-Carb' service. This removes the hard carbon buildup that settles in your intake runners and throttle body. It also cleans the valves. I wouldn't recommend doing this more than once every 12-18 months, depending on mileage and driving conditions. The ultimate would be a de-carb and a fuel injection service, but ask your shop if they have the right equipment for the job. You don't want some fool spraying carbuerator cleaner into your throttle body and charging you $150 for a full injector cleaning and de-carb service. |
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BG Products 3 part fuel injector cleaner is what we use and its popular. 1 can of additive for the gas tank. 1 aerosol spray for cleaning carbon deposits. 1 can that you have to use with a tool from BG products to clean the injectors. Its hard as hell to keep it in stock because it works. |