Fuel Injection Service / Fuel Induction Service?

[wiirenet]

Hi all.. I did search, and google but didn't get a clear cut answer.

I had a Fuel Injection Service done at a shop at 33,000 miles. ($160)

Another shop is saying I need a Fuel Induction Service ($150), I'm at 63,000 miles now.

are these the same thing? should I do this again?

thanks!

[CTScott]

Fuel Induction service is cleaning the throttle body of carbon deposits. A rag and a $5 can of throttle body cleaner is all that is required.

[bronsin]

If its not in the owners manual I dont do it. Fuel injectors on my wifes 05 Camry with 123K untouched and running great!

[shepd]

If they're cleaning the injectors, make sure they actually remove them from the car to clean them. If they're going to leave them in the car, you can do the same level of cleaning yourself with zero effort. Just go to dollar tree (or, if you want to pay more, anywhere else) and buy a bottle of (snake oil) fuel injector cleaner and next time you fill up, dump the contents in your tank.

IMHO, there's no need to clean injectors unless they are actually causing an issue.

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by shepd

IMHO, there's no need to clean injectors unless they are actually causing an issue.

I agree. I bought an old Altima for my son and with like 150k on it one of the injectors stopped working. I figured out which injector was bad and my son and wife took it to the shop with my instructions to change that particular injector.

The shop talked them into a "cleaning service" for like $150 which didnt work and they didn't deduct the "cleaning" from the cost of eventually replacing the injector.

Think about it. With that many miles on it is cleaning the injector going to give you much more service?

That's for old stuff. For relatively new stuff, no you don't need to clean it. Its a scam that sounds like a good idea but usually isn't.

[esse10]

what a rip-off , I would find another shop to take my car to if I were U.
The throttle valve can be cleaned fairly easy and the injectors can be cleaned real easy by putting Seafoam in your gas tank. I wouldn't mess with those unless you are sure that is the problem.

[Lux]

The fuel injector service is performed by disabling the fuel supply and pressurising a caustic cleaning solution directly into the fuel rail for the engine to run on. It will run on it for 20 to 30 minutes.

Its purpose is not to clean the injectors -- that is a secondary effect of the service -- but to clean the intake and exhaust ports of the cylinder head and, to a lesser extent, the combustion chamber. Carbon deposits can form on the valves over a period of time; fuel quality, oil consumption, combustion temperature, and foreign matter are contributing factors to carbon deposits. Engines that are not driven at high rev, high temperature periodically are more likely to collect the valve deposits. Revving the hard from time to time can burn off the deposits if they are not severely baked on. There are technical service bulletins for Chrysler, Audi, and Volkswagen cars (among others) with direct injection engines that specify high revs to help burn them off. Valve temperatures fluctuate constantly because they will cool when retracted into the valve seat... the change in temperature is what promotes the collection of loose particles.

The effectiveness of the service is dependent on the quality of the cleaning agent and the technician's competence. For best results by this method, you need industrial-strength chemicals that are not publicly available.

For a DIY equivalent service, you can use stove cleaner on the valves with the manifolds removed from the cylinder head.

[shepd]

I've seen injector cleaning machines which work off the vehicle to clear clogs out of injectors. Wouldn't what you're suggesting be similar to seafoaming the vehicle, only perhaps more effective?

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by Lux

The fuel injector service is performed by disabling the fuel supply and pressurising a caustic cleaning solution directly into the fuel rail for the engine to run on. It will run on it for 20 to 30 minutes.
.

That's what they charged me $150 for...to supposedly restore to operation a non functioning injector.

It didn't work. I doubt it ever does.

Anyone have a non functioning injector restored to working condition by this
method?

[Ranger SVO]

If a Top Tier Fuel is used in the car, then cleaning injectors is not necessary. Top Tier Fuels contain excellent detergents and do an excellent job of keeping injectors clean.

As a precaution, I use one bottle, once a year, Chevron Techron Fuel injector cleaner. But again, if a Top Tier Fuel is used, this is not necessary.