Fuel treatment

[Mojoe]

I've spent a little bit of time over the last few weeks looking into fuel treatment/ fuel injector cleaners. There are many inconsistencies out there for whether they work and if they are good or if they are bad. What I'm finding for the most part, is that they all require a few tanks of treatments, and that they are not just a one time treatment and you are good. I'm a bit of a maintenance hound and have never run into any fuel related issues with my cars. But, I think I can see some value to doing this once a year.

 

Pros of treatment seem to be increased fuel economy, better power response and just over all breaking up the carbon build up and getting rid of it from the piston head. Different ones seem to do better at one thing over another.

 

Cons are they can be pricey and do they even work?

 

My tentative plan is to treat one tank with Lucas and then run 2-3 tanks using BG 44K Fuel System Cleaner. Looking to have Lucas break up the surface material and them let the BG 44K Fuel System Cleaner do the deeper cleaning.

 

Do you guys use fuel treatments? What and how do you run it? What results have you seen?

[zeitgeist57]

I haven't regularly run fuel treatments since high-school (Suzuki Samurai, baby!). I've had cars from 0-183k miles and - at least for street purposes - dirty injectors have never been a problem provided the car is ran at least occasionally and basic maintenance is up to knick.

 

For the 6.2L N/A Detroit Diesel in my '82 Chevy C20 a few years back, I ran Diesel-Kleen as it really did smooth out the engine and noticably gave it more power. Every once in a while I'd throw a bottle of ISO-HEET in my old gas tee-ruks, especially in the wintertime.

 

If your car is odd enough, or high-performance, where quality of fuel is vitally important, I can see an occasional booster to clean/enhance performance.

[Jewtoys]

Hooking the fuel lines to run on this stuff with a diesel does wonders. I wouldn't have believed any of the hype, had I not used it on three of my personal vehicles.

 

https://products.liqui-moly.com/diesel-purge-3.html

 

Is there something like similar for a gas motor?

[Second Gen]

Joe - When I had the ReX i used the Lucas fuel cleaner and if I went more than a 4 tanks could feel the difference. So I started buying the big container and mixing it with 93 Octane every three tanks. Seemed to work well for me, but every car is different.

 

Current car is not forced induction and cannot really tell anything lower than 91 octane. Nor can I tell when it is needs cleaned. I still run cleaner through it about every 4 tanks just for maintenance.

 

Hope this helps

Dave

[TTQ B4U]

I seafoamed the minivan prior to a trip to Georgia two years back. Did so because she was returning horrible MPG's and seemed sluggish. I definitely feel it helped and probably could use it done again without harm. I gave it the Italian Tune up run around 270 for about 45 minutes after doing it. By the time I got back from the loop she was running better. Continued to improve after 8hrs on the freeway.

 

Gets my vote for a good job. From there I've also used Chevron Techron in the fuel at every oil change. Not sure if I notice anything good but for the money, given it's age of 11yrs and 120k miles I don't think it's wrong to do it.

[zeitgeist57]

I seafoamed the minivan prior to a trip to Georgia two years back. Did so because she was returning horrible MPG's and seemed sluggish. I definitely feel it helped and probably could use it done again without harm. I gave it the Italian Tune up run around 270 for about 45 minutes after doing it. By the time I got back from the loop she was running better. Continued to improve after 8hrs on the freeway.

 

Did you do the whole SeaFoam treatment, with sucking it in the vacuum line, letting it sit once it's warm? Or just added a can to the fuel tank?

[Geeto67]

If you run top tier fuel from branded stations (BP, Shell, etc...) there is no reason whatsoever to do a fuel treatment. Those fuels already have the same cleansers and detergents in the fuel and you have been doing it all along.

 

If you run spot market gasoline which can be hit or miss on quality (Giant Eagle, Speedway, UDF, etc), then running a little bit through the system every now and again can't hurt.

 

Personally I use seafoam on my older carb'ed vehicles, and my jeep which only sees use once a week. The E10 fuels can be hell on older carb'ed systems and they aren't as clean running or designed as modern FI, so there are lots of pockets for sediments and garbage to collect and then block something. The Jeep sits around and I put the cheapest shitty gas in it so throwing in a can of seafoam once in a while helps a bit.

 

For your daily driver though? if you aren't using top tier gas, just take a month and fill up with that stuff instead. It may be cheaper, but it's def easier.

[TTQ B4U]

Did you do the whole SeaFoam treatment, with sucking it in the vacuum line, letting it sit once it's warm? Or just added a can to the fuel tank?

 

Vacuum line. I did two loops around the block pissing off my neighbors just because

[zeitgeist57]

I've got a Philly trip coming up in the 120k-mile Odyssey...I'm thinking that some SeaFoam before running can't hurt!

[B3NN3TT]

I used to use 44K in my daily about once a year, a while back. 44K is good stuff.

[TTQ B4U]

I've got a Philly trip coming up in the 120k-mile Odyssey...I'm thinking that some SeaFoam before running can't hurt!

 

do it. open her up a few times along the way. when I did the 270 loop I pinned her at 108mph a few times

[Cordell]

I beleive in using something (damn near anything made for it will work fine) through a vacuum line to remove carbon, and general combustion residue from the intake ports and valves.

 

As for dumping something in the tank so it get diluted and supposedly cleans injectors, I'm pretty skeptical. I put the Royal Purple in the toys with my last fill up before winter, but it's also a stabilizer. Much better to simply run quality fuel from a known quality gas station. Google "Top Teir fuel" that's all you really need.

[Mojoe]

 

There are dozens of vids out there about this, and they all vary to some extent.

[BBQdDude]

In my daily with 102K miles I dump a can of seafoam in once every few months. I will admit it: I use circle K gas on that one. I should start using shell.

[Fiji ST]

I've used BG 44K to clear up gunked up fuel injectors in my old Mazda before and it worked great. Had a hard/long start after getting gas a few times. Dumped a car in and it fired right up like it should. It's expensive, but for me, it actually works. I'm thinking of using it in the Focus, but I want to make sure it's okay with the DI.

[99StockGT]

Vacuum line. I did two loops around the block pissing off my neighbors just because

 

We did this on an RX-7 years ago and just said we were "Fumigating for Mosquitoes" The plume of smoke went for nearly a block running it outside my old Advance on Bethel Rd.

[POS VETT]

I stand by Redline CFSC, although anything with higher concentration of PEA in it will work.

[Geeesammy]

Serious question, what do you hope to get out of the fuel treatment? Cleaned injectors? Cleaned ports?

 

Just curious before I provide my insight

[Mojoe]

It’s more of a maintaince thing. It’s likely there is some build up of carbon or other material at 55,000 miles. No build up does any good. If treatment is worth while, I’m looking at doing it.

[Geeto67]

It’s more of a maintaince thing. It’s likely there is some build up of carbon or other material at 55,000 miles. No build up does any good. If treatment is worth while, I’m looking at doing it.

 

on old carbed bikes and cars, I just misted water from a spray bottle into the running engine to clean the carbon. Always worked. It's an old timers trick but it works 100% - if you don't believe me, look at the cylinders in any engine that had a head gasket leak where antifreeze got in the cylinder - clean as a whistle. The water literally steams the carbon off.

[TTQ B4U]

on old carbed bikes and cars, I just misted water from a spray bottle into the running engine to clean the carbon. Always worked. It's an old timers trick but it works 100% - if you don't believe me, look at the cylinders in any engine that had a head gasket leak where antifreeze got in the cylinder - clean as a whistle. The water literally steams the carbon off.

 

 

^^ this. My Audi just had a repair where coolant dripped on Cycl. 3 from a leaking heat exchanger and it was clean as a whistle. My dad used spray misted water like that on his old carb'd cars.

[Cordell]

on old carbed bikes and cars, I just misted water from a spray bottle into the running engine to clean the carbon. Always worked. It's an old timers trick but it works 100% - if you don't believe me, look at the cylinders in any engine that had a head gasket leak where antifreeze got in the cylinder - clean as a whistle. The water literally steams the carbon off.

 

This is why I say that just about anything will clean when sucked through a vacuum line.

 

I have seen the BG products first hand and I know they work well, but seeing the 44k make an old carburetor work better and comparing it to new fuel injection is two different things.

 

On a side note BG's chain lube is fucking fantastic, it's what we used kart racing for all those years, never had a chain failure, and it actually reduced rotational drag on the rear axle (not a lot, but every little bit is important in racing).