and what brand is the best?

Most fuel injector cleaners are 1-99% kerosene and 0-1% naptha there is a fuel injector cleaner made by chevron that is supposed to be better, i forget the exact name of it but im sure someone will chime in about it. Personally i wouldnt use it too often because it isnt very good for your O-rings as my sister used alot of it and destroyed the injector o-rings on our jeep.

well personally I would recommend against putting ANYthing in your tank except gas.......
Just consider that anything that is SO strong that it will dissolve the varnishes and buildups in injectors, cylinder heads; backs of valves and the like will have NO problem washing away any lubricating (oil) fluids in the engine too. I have watched 2 engines do that and swore never to indulge in that stuff again. You will be burning smoke as a result....... pistons, rings and valve guides will all suffer and all of those are PRIME 'oil burning' sources.

Try some in the garage on a bit of oily metal; sure it cleans REALLY well; but realize how well it removes the oily film.

The best way to clean injectors is to have them REMOVED from the engine and cleaned by themselves; DON"T have them cleaned 'in the car' ........ and accept the dealer's claim that 'that' is the best way to do it.
NO.
it is the easiest way for them to do it is all.
If you are bound to clean them using additives then I guess use the highest grade one that people recommend.... and good luck.

Fiero 308 very negative :P Those products when used properly should not cause any problems, Yes that stuff when poured purely on a piece of metal will clean it well but so will gasoline itself.. these products have kerosene in them which is a petroleum distillate. Also consider that when you pour a few ounces of that stuff into a 10 gallon tank.. its EXTREMLEY dilluted, yes people have had problems when they poured an entire bottle into a 10 gallon tank as its entirely too much. Used properly it shouldnt be dangerous to your engine.. and if the miniscule amount injected into the cylinder on each firing is enough to wash the oil off your cylinder walls then you have bigger problems to worry about.

and yes if you have the $ and time having your injectors removed, cleaned and flow tested is the best way of going about it but not everyone has that time or money so this is a viable alternative for someone not interested in having them perfect.

[This message has been edited by Weponhead (edited 01-07-2005).]

Ya what Weponhead said...and don't forget after their cleaned use 93 Octane and only brand name gasoline (i.e. SHELL, TEXICO, etc.). Stop buying that cheap stuff at the generic stations. Name brand gas is better quality. Although generic stations claim they are selling brand name products, they actually get lower quality gas that does not meet the specs required for sales in brand name station. In my experience, it makes a difference in the long run.

Go to a GM dealership and get their fuel system cleaner. It's going to be the best out there. I've used it for years and have never had an injector problem, and we've been having a rash of injector failures due to the crappy reformulated fuel that's sold in the Milwaukee metro area.

Buy your fuel from a top company, even if it's a little higher in price. Here in Milwaukee, our local GM reps have been looking into our injector problems and found that over 80% of the vehicles that had injectors replaced were buying most of their fuel from Citgo stations. The other 20% bought were customers of BP/Amoco, Mobil, Speedway/SuperAmerica and Shell. Apparently the Shell fuel is the best out of the bunch. We seem to have some very lax 'requirements' about detergent in fuel, and Shell mixes the 'recommended' amount instead of the much less required amount.

Mark

hmm weird thing is around me a single place in baltimore delivers fuel to like 95% of the places where i used to live and probably the places up here "closer to baltimore" too so im inclined to believe its all the same except i know shell that was there, and the chevron that are where i used to live do get different gas...

The ChevronTexaco product is Techron. It is in Chevron fuels and stand alone in bottles at many parts stores. I think they rebrand it as Clean System 3 and use it in the Texaco brand fuels as well. I can't find any definite answer on what CS3 is the same or something else.

Concentration of the cleaners is important. Adding too much of some tank products can kill you injectors/fuel system instead of clean it. If the product treats 10 gallons then add it to 10 gallons. 10 gallons seems like allot of dilution but some cleaners are very strong and require that much to keep them from eating parts they shouldn't.

I don't know what products work or not. I generaly avoid most of them. A tank added product probably won't help really cruddy injectors very fast if at all. The rail injected products may work better or not. It depends on just what is wrong.

------------------
The only thing George Orwell got wrong was the year...

The Ogre's Fiero Cave (It's also at the top of every forum page...)

In today's Milwaukee Journal they say to use a bottle of Techron injector cleaner (not just any cleaner-Techron specifically) every three months. This is from an engineering report from GM engineers. This is from an article on the fuel injection problems we have been having lately.

Techron cost twice as much as the others but is rated the best. If I use any at all It will be Techron.
Don

http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jan05/291186.asp

I did a basic search on google for "Milwaukee Journal" techron and got...

12/10/04 http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/dec04/283160.asp They have a batch of articles about local EFI pluging problems in the last few months.

http://www.aiada.org/article.asp?id=29984

Other articles I've seen about Techron have also indicated it is good product. Even within the oil industry the press about it is good.

I used Marvel Mystery Oil in the gas. Years ago my father told me about it & have been using it since in all my cars. Don't really know if it helps but in all those years it did not hurt anything.

Try BG 44K fuel system cleaner. It is available only through repair shops and dealers. Does a fantastic job of cleaning both injectors and valves. Use every 5,000 miles.

Firefox in regards to your reply about Citgo. I use Citgo and here is why. The Saudis are boycotting American goods. We should return the favor. This is a list of Oil Companies that Import Middle Eastern Oil. They are:
Shell...................205,742,000 barrels
Chevron/Texico....144,332,000 barrels
Exxon/Mobil........130,082,000 barrels
Marathon?Speedway....117,740,000 barrels

Don

I, too, have heard that the only stand alone fuel injector cleaner you should use is the Chevron with Techron product. As Ogre has already stated, it's important to use it as instructed on the bottle...too strong a formulation can do "bad things" to your fuel system, etc.

quote Originally posted by ka4nkf: Firefox in regards to your reply about Citgo. I use Citgo and here is why. The Saudis are boycotting American goods. We should return the favor. This is a list of Oil Companies that Import Middle Eastern Oil. They are: Shell...................205,742,000 barrels Chevron/Texico....144,332,000 barrels Exxon/Mobil........130,082,000 barrels Marathon?Speedway....117,740,000 barrels Don

I understand that the companys import oil, but here in the metro Milwaukee area, the Citgo stations apparently are the ones that are causing most of our running problems. I, too, prefer to use companys that don't import Middle East oil, but most of our Citgo stations are owned by Middle Easterners. So, in our case, we are sending our money to the Middle East either way by using Citgo.

Mark

I've used Lucas injector cleaner in both my Fiero and Silhoutte (3.4L V6) van with good success. I do it about every 10 tankfuls (2-3 months). It not only keeps you injectors clean, it helps keep the fuel card clean from sulfur contamination that might give you eroneous readings. I used injector cleaner on my Saturn to correct such an issue.

The GM stuff is also pretty good. It's recommended regularly for driveability issues. However, there is a point of no return where this stuff won't work. That's why it's good to use it on a regular basis so you don't get to the point of where you need an injector/fuel card replacement.

I've also heard excessive use can burn out the electrical coils in the injectors from a GM technical operator.

quote Originally posted by James Bondo: I've also heard excessive use can burn out the electrical coils in the injectors from a GM technical operator.

Asside from why Methanol can eat fuel parts in general... Why fuel additives can eat injectors...

The older GM port injectors have the solenoid coil exposed to fuel for cooling. Some other brands may also do this. It was a good idea however some fuel additive products and stand alone cleaners can ruin the coils, especially when too much is used. Many aftermarket additives contain solvents that eat plastics as well as dirt.

GM/Delphi has a newer injector out that has the coil protected from the fuel. I don't know what years they started using them in what models. This version was done to stop failures from things eating the insulation out of the coils.

I don't recommend anyone using any fuel additive at strength higher than labeled directions. Repeated use of some products may also be bad but I have no way to know.

For the record I have no brand preference or recomendation. I haven't used Techron either in fuel or as an additive. All I know so far is that it is considered one of the better cleaners even within the oil industry. As good as the stuff may be you still should follow the directions. There is a chance even the best cleaner can do more harm than good when used incorrectly.