Fuel System Cleaning?

[naossoan]

Hey guys, I've got a question about fuel system cleaning.

A long time ago (years) I got a service from Mr. Lube. I can't remember how much it cost, but it was a fuel system cleaning they did. They said I should do it every year.

They hooked up my exhaust pipe to a hose leading into and out the top of their building to properly exhaust the toxic fumes. Then, they had this what looked to be an aerosol can of whatever cleaning product I don't remember the name of, and looked like he had hooked it up right into my fuel injectors or something. He plugged it right into the engine somewhere.

Then he had me start it up, idle for a bit, got me to hold it around 1500 or 2000 RPM for a few minutes, can't remember at what RPM it was a exactly, then back down, then maybe up higher around 3000 RPM for a short time.

Meanwhile there was this horrible black smoke coming out of the top of the shop, which he told me was all the shit coming out of my fuel injectors and other such things.

At the time I knew nothing about cars so I figured this was legit. Is it all a bunch of BS or what? Does it just do the same thing as the $4 bottle of Fuel Injector Cleaner bought at Canadian Tire (that I just used btw) does?

[TOLMACH]

My Toyota dealer also specified fuel system treatment every 20 k km.. at a cost of around 20 bucks per treatment which makes me think they plan using some cheap stuff

+ 1 to the question.. highly interested myself

[talnlnky]

use quality gas (ie chevron or similar) and once every 100,000 or 150,000 do the full injection, air intake cleaning. You have no idea what corrosive chemicals are in those cleaners. Too much cleaning (with corrosives) can actually do damage (to plastics and rubbers, think seals) if your engine isn't that dirty to begin with.

Seafoam is one popular brand of cleaner... and i believe they have acetone in their product.... costs like $8 a can the last time I used it (4 years ago), works like a champ but does produce a giant black cloud. I'm sure part of it is the breakdown of carbon from the engine, but i'm sure the seafoam itself probably burns pretty dark to if you were to just burn that up and nothing else.

[why?]

at this point using the highest detergent gasoline you can find will do the same thing. In my area both BP and Shell use all sorts of additives to keep the engine clean and add a couple mpg's.

[MickZEL]

Guys. Who can show where the fuel hose to a suitable injection system?
I want to put an extra fuel filter

[MickZEL]

up

[RedRide]

Gas 101 ....

All gas is exactly the same. That is until it gets to a brand distribution point, This is where additives are added .


All gas is mandated by US law (and most other countries) to have a minimum amount of cleaners added to the gas to minimized polution.

Here's where it gets interesting. Just about all gas brands use the exact same chemicals (hydrocarbon amines) to act as cleaners. An "amine" is just a class of chemicals and a property of every amine is that they all have a "free" nitrigen atom. This is where Shell gets their bogus and meaningless "nitrogen enriched gas" marketing gimick. Any gas can also claim that meaningless fact.

What gas has the highest level of cleaners? That is like trying to determine how high is up. However it is safe to wager that they all use as lilttle as possible....only the amount mandated by law and no more, simply to maximize their profits. A gas company can claim that their gas will keep an engine cleaner but, it is a meaningles marketing claim that is never proven or verified by anyone.

Now, the madatory amount will keep an engine running OK for a while so, they are not worried about beining blamed for "bad" gas. Performace will degrade gradually so one does not notice it . However, that small amount mandated by law will not keep an engine clean in the long run and an additional cleaner should be added on ocasion.

Personally, I like "Seafoam "

BTW, if you were to smell the undiluted cleaner added by the oil comanies, you might say that smells too too "harsh", etc also.
I used Seafoam in my '02 Celica (in my gas about every 6-10 k miles or so) and it stiil ran fantastic when I sold it at about 95k miles.

[12 yaris]

Seafoam=Brakecleaner,Go ahead smell it...
I believe this treatment is too harsh...

[mirapatec]

Just more added to an old thread... I have used Seafoam in the fuel tank every oil change and cannot really tell a difference. However, I have been told that my preventative maintenance is probably going to prove itself in the long run.