Fuel System Cleaner

This article reads like a STP advertisement. FYI Premium fuel from some stations contain a "cleaner".

I think a bigger issue to consider is the instability of ethanol blended gasoline. Ethanol is an alcohol and thus absorbs water [ hygroscopic ]. 100% gasoline has a shelf life in the 1-2 year range (depending on many factors I dont recall), and ethanol blended gas (E10 aka 10% eth) is in the few month range (90 days by some "experts" for Phase separation to happen).

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

http://media.channelblade.com/Boat_Graphics/TemplateSites/DTS/DealerLibraries/241/ethanol.pdf

 

As far as your "hesitates briefly before idling back to normal", I wouldn't worry about this. It is my experience that any internal combustion engine that sits for extended periods of time without operation has a harder time starting the first time.

I dont use cleaners in any of my vehicles. I do use stabilizers for vehicles that sit for prolonged durations and thus have aging fuel. I also avoid ethanol as much as possible, but its hard with only one station here locally that does not add ethanol.

Ethanol also reduces gas milage because it has less energy content than gasoline.

Ethanol is used to increase the octane of the gasoline. This does not mean that 93 octane E10 is >93 octane, it means that without the ethanol it would be ~91 octane (just guess). So if you buy 93 octane non-ethanol then they use other methods to increase the octane.

One last point; 93 octane fuel has slightly less energy content than say 89 octane fuel, thus less milage.

 

As mentioned, most of the major brands of Premium have a detergent additive. I have been working on cars since before fuel injection was common place. Injectors used to clog up and a cleaner was needed. There are some very stong potent cleaners but these are not for the non-shop situation. The best one over the counter is a brand called 44K. One can in the gas tank is all it takes. That is if needed. If not needed, it won't hurt anything. Not affiliated but a happy consumer.

 

I think you are referring to BG44? I heard it's pretty strong and effective. Commonly used by repair shops.

I also believe detergent is not required on modern gasoline, which is formulated with a high detergent content. I used Chevron's Techron and Gumout in the past and neither made much difference. Maybe older cars with over 90k miles may see some benefit.

 

BG is the company name and 44K is the product, we are talking about the same stuff. Techron and Gumout are no where near as strong as the 44K product as far as the injector and carbon buildup cleaning. I have actually seen 44K loosen up enough carbon buildup on the inlet valves that it coated one side of the spark plug. (Not on a Ferrari)

 

I am not a chemist or an engineer.

However, all of these types of products and chemicals are required to have a Material Safety Data Sheet and a CAS Number. The MSDS contains a lot of information.

You can Google search a product or chemical for its MSDS and CAS number.

This information will tell you what is actually in the brand of cleaner you prefer.

Most of the underlying chemicals have common names like naphtha, mineral spirits, kerosene, or Stoddard solvent.

The "active" ingredient may have a technical chemical name as well, which can be confusing.

The difference between different brands may also be the percentage of the "active" chemical used in the total mixture. The percentage range will/may be listed in the MSDS.

I think using these cleaners have made my car start easier and run smoother. I use a cleaner and/or fuel stabilizer every two or three fill ups depending on how much I drive the car.

Jerry
DRG

 

I use a bottle of the Techron stuff in all my high performance cars once every 3-5K thousand miles.

Personally I swear it works. Everything just seems to run better and smoother after throwing it in. Maybe it's all in my mind. Maybe not. Either way, works great in the 360 IMO.

 

best cleaner is good quality fuel (I prefer Chevron) and driving the 360 daily. Its amazing the difference in how great my car is running after 2 months of daily driving.

 

This one is made by Chevron, so it should be safe to use in our cars.
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In my opinion, unless you are using the cleaner in every single tank since new, you are wasting your money. And even then, I still think you are wasting your money.

If you want your fuel injectors cleaned out properly, they need to be removed and sent to a shop that specializes in cleaning injectors.

Have a read of this article, where they actually tested the fuel system cleaner, to see if it works. http://www.importtuner.com/tech/impp_1106_fuel_system_cleaners/viewall.html

 

Speaking strictly from experience with Techron, I think this stuff is truly made for high performance cars.

If you stick it in some 8 year old Hyundai SUV, I don't know what magic it's gonna do for you, but in the 360, I feel a difference.

 

Used Techron in my Mondial t (89) recently. Car seems to run much smoother with it added. Just an FYI.

 

Agreed Ernie. Inneficient injectors and gummed up valves cannot be repaired by using an Additive. If there is a mechanical defect it needs repairing.

 

Clearly you're not familiar with the Rislone product line. They offer 6, 8 or 12-cylinder rebuild solutions in a can. Amazing non-results...

 

wow! Must get me some of that! My wife's cooper s has just dropped compression on cylinder 3, I'm suspecting the common burnt exhaust valve issue, but I think I'll stick a can of something in there and rev the crap out of it rather than pulling the head?

 

Ask and ye shall receive. I'm only seeing a 6-cylinder formula, though...
http://www.restoreusa.com/Engine_Restorer.html

 

Agree. In Corvettes the fuel senders sometimes go crazy and the fix is a couple of tanks of Chevron and a bottle of Techtron. A buddy of mine had a older Honda for his daughter, would not pass smog, told him to try the above, and passed smog....
Lastly, all the major car manufacturers use Chevron gas in their EPA test cars...must be a reason.
Had someone else swear that they got better mileage in their big suv using Chevron., compared to Costco gas, my theory was that the timing was more advanced with better gas- thus more efficient.