Fuel System Cleaners

[PGuru]

Does anyone here have any experience using "fuel system cleaners"? They claim to clean out the fuel system (lines, pump) and make the car run better and increase fuel economy. Now, I don't really believe these claims, but who knows?

Here are a couple examples:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/lu...l#.VybOLjArKUl
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/st...l#.VybN1TArKUk

[Drop Top Olds]

Seafoam, or lucas are the better products in my opinion. My preference is seafoam. When I worked at an auto parts store I think sales were highest for seafoam, then lucas, then everything else......

[turbokinetic]

I can confirm that they are 95% snake oil and the 5% who claim they are helpful have been lucky or had coincidence.

[CorvairGeek]

I can confirm that they are 95% snake oil and the 5% who claim they are helpful have been lucky or had coincidence.

+1

[1987 Black VR wagon Fam]

I mostly use lucas but when the budget is tight, I add a quart of denatured alcohol just before a full fill up. Only pull this trick once every 100k or so as it could possibly burn out things you don't want.

AuSSenseiter

[Century7667]

I can confirm that they are 95% snake oil and the 5% who claim they are helpful have been lucky or had coincidence.

+2 Mainly alchohol.


However, I have seen some products that feed the fuel rail via the schrader valve that look interesting:

http://www.nationaltoolwarehouse.com...LpBRoC5Mzw_wcB

another one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKGI9N_yWd0

Kind of a silly video, but it was the first time I saw that system.

However, for that price ( a little bit less actually), I can take my injectors to a shop to get them reworked and cleaned.

Ken T.

[SegaGT]

Cool hearing the opinions from everyone on these products. I think everyone is right in their own way. One thing that does make them snake oil is that a lot of them have claims that they cannot back up (increasing your MPG, fixing defective components etc.).

Like some of you I used to do the once a year with bottle products like Techron, but since then I only use top tier gas and do fuel filter changes. I believe that if the gas you use is good enough, it has all the additives you need already.

Drop top mentioned Seafoam. There are certain cases like in modern high output (100hp per liter+) direct injection turbo engines that have been "known to benefit" from it. This is from folks in other forums I frequent who build, tear down (and build again) those engines like Zaloryan, and turbokinetic does, so I trust their feedback unlike the typical "ricers" that tell tall tales on line.

Our engines seem to benefit from the fuel injectors keeping our valves clean.
To date there has been no product I have used (tried many over the years) that I would personally recommend though I do use fuel stabilizer if a car is going to sit on a tank for 6 months+.

To finish this with a joke, when I was a kid people used to swear by a product called Marvel Mystery Oil.
A devil red & black container with a peculiar M&M logo on it...

[LG3HDStereo]

I've used Techron and Gumout and while i can't say that they've helped but i also can't say they hurt anything.
I'm of the opinion that if you use name brand gas and stay away from your chain store gas stations (Bj's / Stop & Shop etc.) Then you won't need the snake oil. Put quality in and you'll get quality out.

I also like to put in 89 instead of 87 if i end up at a station that has pumps down due to low supply. Usually will lower the chance of a "bad batch" of gas that almost always ends in a fuel filter change.

+1 on the Fuel Stabilizer though.

[Century7667]

Having disassembled a fuel rail last night, I can't see how any product that you would simply add to the fuel tank, or even attach to the fuel rail would clean the system except for a consistent application over a long period of time.

In fact, having two cars that are nearly the same age have provided some very interesting observations. One car, which we've owned since sew always got premium and was driven regularly was pretty clean. The other car, 13 years of unknown gas and low miles, and then since using premium gas has shown to be quite dirty with evidence of corrosion.

The only way can see getting that stuff out is disassembly, 8 years of clean high detergent fuel hasn't erased it. I would be hesitant to put the car on a steady diet of Sea Foam or a similar product for fear of what it may do to soft parts in the fuel system.

Ken T.

[lemons bob]

I would think that running a quality high detergent gas would be better than occasionally putting one of these in your tank, and cheaper than putting one in every fill up. That along with changing your fuel filter regularly to limit what gets into your fuel system.

[Drop Top Olds]

My personal experience with Seafoam is always positive, however I use it infrequently and mainly injest into the engine via a vacuum hose. I perform this to clean the deposits off valves. Only way I would put it in the tank is if I new there was condensation to eliminate. I have personally used it to clean carbon deposits off intake manifolds off the engine. It dissolves carbon nearly on contact, unless it is a large granule.

Best comment I can offer is NEVER go to a station when the tanker truck is there filling the underground tanks. Any sediment in the underground tanks is stirred up into suspension with the newly added fuel. Easy way to contaminate a fuel filter and cause problems. As others say top tier gas is usually a safe approach. Not sure if premium is of any benefit on low compression engines such as these.

[Century7667]

I haven't torn into enough fuel rails yet to draw any firm conclusions. I still have the S10 that will have to be done eventually (notorious for leaky injectors); it too has had nothing but name brand premium. Should be interesting.

I used to work for a company back in the 90's where we'd regular dig up old USTs. I could have asked a bunch of questions in those days. I know that the new tanks we put in were corrosion resistant; the old ones were all metal, leaked, hence they had to go. Sediment is probably a factor is the tanks have been in the ground for awhile. I wonder if they have a filter at the pump...

Ken T.

[Cressida]

I mostly use lucas but when the budget is tight, I add a quart of denatured alcohol just before a full fill up. Only pull this trick once every 100k or so as it could possibly burn out things you don't want.

AuSSenseiter

If anyone is thinking of adding denatured alcohol, you might just check for a local station that has E85. It should be ~70-82% alcohol and I think it will be much cheaper than buying a small quantity of denatured alcohol. Of course, most of the fuel contains 10% alcohol already.

I periodically use a product called Neutra 131 as my fuel additive. If anyone wants to try it, I would recommend sourcing it by the gallon as it will be much cheaper than purchasing the small bottles.