Does Fuel injector cleaner work...

[MaraSport]

I was wondering if fuel injector cleaner work... because I also have a '87 Nissan Sentra SE coupe that some one gave me and I put a Octane booster that was rated at 10 plus octane and also put 93 octane in that car as well... The car recommended 87 octane... Well about 2 or 3 months later the spark plugs was metalled and ever since I haven't used any fuel additive since...

I know I am stupid for upping the octane to 103 but I was about 16 and never did anything to a car...

Also, if fuel injector cleaner works then which brand should I get and also some people told me that I can just get 93 octane gas every now and then and it would clean my injectors as well... Is that right...?

[Joe K. 99 Zeee!!]

Well, about the octane booster. It's really only needed if you're running extremely high compression ratio's. Again, I'm no expert, but here it is in layman's terms. An increase in octane equates to an increase in the temperature at wich the gas/air mixture will light off(what's that term? ignition point or something....) Higher compression means increased temperature prior to the spark plug igniting the mixture.

Anyway, that's why LT-1's recommend at least 92. It's a high compression engine (10.5:1) and if a lower octane is used the amount of compression could light off the fuel mixture in the cylinder before the spark plug goes off. Not good.

Now the LT-1 has a knock sensor which will retard timing if it senses this, but it also reduces power output.

Your 3.8 is designed for 87. In short you should stick with that.




On fuel injector cleaner.....It does make a difference. I used it on my 98 3.8 for the first time after 30,000 miles. I kid you not, I could feel the difference. On my Z I use it about every other oil change. It's not something you should need to put in more than every 3,000 miles though.

[edit] On the adice to use 93....that's a little outdated too. It used to be that the higher octane gasses got fuel additives to help clean injectors etc. Now-a-days depending on where you get your fuel, they should all have the same additives. I usually go with STP Fuel Treatment. Just follow the directions on the back.

[Joe 1320]

First of all, if you used 104 octane boost, you really didn't get that much of an increase in octane. 104+ increases the octane 3-7 points.... one point is equal to .1 octane. So one bottle of 104 will typically make pump 93 more like 93.5-93.7. The additives used in typical octane boosters can be an effective injector cleaner, but often leave deposits on the plugs and cumbustion chambers. It is awful hard to raise the octane of pump unleaded over 100 octane. You would have to add 25% Xylene by volume to a tank of premium unleaded. That's 4 gallons of Xylene added to 12 gallons of pump 93. Now you can see that no little bottle of octane booster is going to come close to adding a serious boost in octane. There are several commercial injector cleaners, the best is offered by NAPA and GM. They require you to pull the fuse or relay to the fuel pump and hook the pressurized can of cleaner to the injector rail via the test port. You open the valve on the can and start the car until the can is run dry and the car stalls. Put the fuse/relay back in and you're done.

[Formulaboy95]

Try Chevron Techron Fuel Injector Cleaner, should be $6.99-9.99. Stuff works excellent, you should notice a difference right away.

[Ronnie]

I had a Mark VIII with a computerized readout in the dash. It computed gas milage as long as you wanted or you could restart it at any point. After adding a bottle of slick 50 cleaner to the gas tank, the gas milage would jump 2 to 2 1/2 mpg. It would slowly decline again and after about 5000 miles I would repeat the procedure. Worked for me.

I am doing the same thing in my 02 WS6. Allthough I don't have the computer readout in the dash like the lincoln, I feel confident that it will generate the same result.

[N20LT4Bird]

Re: Does Fuel injector cleaner work...

Originally posted by MaraSport

Also, if fuel injector cleaner works then which brand should I get and also some people told me that I can just get 93 octane gas every now and then and it would clean my injectors as well... Is that right...?

Octane is a fuel's resistance to burn. The higher the octane, the higher the resistance it has to ignition. If your car has 8:1 compression, you should not run a high octane fuel; the car will actually run worse, decreasing the fuel mileage. However, if your running 10:1 compression, you need the extra resistance to burn in order to avoid pre-detonation (fuel ignites before the spark due to compression).

Higher octane fuel doesnt clean injectors (maybe the mobil does - thats what they advertise?) You should run injector cleaner through no matter what fuel you run. An "injector cleaning" is also a good idea ON OCCASION. This is when you disable the fuel pump and pressurize the fuel rail with strait injector cleaner, and give a good thorough cleaning.

[MaraSport]

Okay Yal...

Okay I get the point about the Octane rating stuff... and the octane booster...

Now I would like to know which is better, (remember I am not a mechanical minded person), But should I go to the dealer or local mechanic and have him clean my injectors or should I go to my local gas station and buy some STP Fuel Injector cleaner and clean them that way...

Thanks yal... Later

[N20LT4Bird]

I am not a fan of the dealer. Bring it to a shop with a good rep. Ask around. Have them clean the injectors with the pressurized canister - should be about 60 - 70 bucks - and then maintain their cleanliness by adding a bottle of injector cleaner with every oil change.

[Joe K. 99 Zeee!!]

Most are about the same from what I can tell. Just don't get the gimmicky stuff like slick 50 or Zmax or Duralube. Pretty much stay away from anything that promises the world. I usually get STP Fuel Treatment. They usually put a recommendation on the bottle as far as how often you should use it. Don't get the stuff that says put it in every fillup...Something that says every 3,000 should do the trick.

[MaraSport]

Thanks yal...

Thanks yal... I ask some of my friends too... and they said that they have never had their injectors pressure cleaned by removing whatever that was from the fuel rails, but they have used STP fuel injector cleaner. So I may just jump on the ban-wagon and go their route of using STP fuel injector cleaner... Thanks again...

LATER,

[JL8Jeff]

If you're going to do the bottle in the tank method, the Chevron stuff is probably the best you'll find in the parts stores. Don't go nuts with the stuff though. I've heard that using too much injector cleaner can actually start to damage the injectors. If they are that dirty, a professional cleaning may be your safest bet.