Fuel Injector Cleaners?
#1
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Fuel Injector Cleaners?
Can i use
1- STP® Fuel Injector & Carburetor Treatment
Or
2- ACDelco - Fuel System Treatment
on my LS400 2000, is it safe ? Do i have to add after each fill up?
Am wondering if it actually work and improve my Gas Mileage.
http://www.stp.com/products/fuel-add...tor-treatment/
SeaFoam product isn't available in my town.
1- STP® Fuel Injector & Carburetor Treatment
Or
2- ACDelco - Fuel System Treatment
on my LS400 2000, is it safe ? Do i have to add after each fill up?
Am wondering if it actually work and improve my Gas Mileage.
http://www.stp.com/products/fuel-add...tor-treatment/
SeaFoam product isn't available in my town.
#4
Instructor
I wouldn't put any of it in my ride. Either get them professionally cleaned, or run them til' the drop. I always love to have people (Autozone) explain to me how it actually works as advertised, they don't have any idea.
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#8
Instructor
Can someone actually tell me how it is that this stuff works as advertised...? I understand it changes the fuel mixture, octane, volatility, etc., but please explain how this actually removes any debris from an injector. The way I see it is that you fuel tank is a pitcher of water, you fuel injector is a cup, if you take water from your pitcher, and put it in the glass and drink it, and repeat it 250,000 times, I would imagine you might have some left over minerals and stuff in the glass, but is isn't going to block it enough to stop or reduce the flow. Now I understand the orifices in the injector are tight, but all that happens as the injectors start to loose their overall ability to flow perfect, thye computer just changed the pulse width modulation on the injectors and tells them to stay open longer. Lets say you have a brand new injector, and it flows 250cc of fuel, and you have an older injector thats rated for 250cc, but only flows a total of 200cc, than the computer will compenstate by adding an additional 20% to the fuel injector PWM, causing it to flow the same amount as the perfect injector. I'm sorry, I just won't purchase something that sounds fishy, and doesn't give me straight answers, and direct results.... How do you actually know if the cleaner is really working? Testing it by MPG seems to be an unfair test because that will vary anyways due to throttle load, driving conditions, idle time, etc. And as a last note, when you do put in the fuel injector cleaner, you will automatically lose MPG because of the fuel mixture change due to the injector cleaner. That's just my two cents, take it or leave it, just trying to shed some light.
#9
Driver School Candidate
You're assuming even deposition of the 'mineral' buildup, which isn't necessarily the case. Engine ECUs and sensors usually aren't configured to handle things on a per-cylinder basis, rather they're set up to tweak the whole bank (4 cylinders, in this case) under the assumption that all the fuel injectors are flowing equally. Even if buildup was equal, it can impact the spray pattern of the fuel injector, which in turn impacts the ability of the fuel to mix with air. Poor mixing of fuel leads to a less efficient burn.
I've always just grabbed a few bottles of the cheap stuff and cycled it through a couple partial tanks of fuel in my cars. I'm currently doing so in my LS400, and the idle has smoothed out a bit, but I've done enough work on it I have no idea if it's the cleaner. However, it's only a couple bucks per bottle, and I know it won't hurt.
Now I have had one experience cleaning injectors that led to a dramatic improvement in performance. At one point I owned a 91 Jeep Cherokee with about 235k miles on it at the time. After clearing out the massive carbon buildup and replacing ignition components it still wasn't running quite right. I noticed some leaking fuel injector o-rings, so I pulled the injectors and soaked them in Seafoam for a couple days while I had it apart. Once it was put back together it had a huge impact in the engine's performance. Smoother idle, better fuel economy and better performance, even after having run multiple bottles of cleaner through the gas tank.
I figure when I have to do the starter at some point, I'll yank my injectors and give them a good cleaning if I have the time. Running cleaner through the tank seems to help things a bit, but I'm curious to see if a good soaking would have the same dramatic effect it had on the Jeep, even of the LS doesn't have the half inch thick layer of sludge over the entire valvetrain like the Jeep did...
I've always just grabbed a few bottles of the cheap stuff and cycled it through a couple partial tanks of fuel in my cars. I'm currently doing so in my LS400, and the idle has smoothed out a bit, but I've done enough work on it I have no idea if it's the cleaner. However, it's only a couple bucks per bottle, and I know it won't hurt.
Now I have had one experience cleaning injectors that led to a dramatic improvement in performance. At one point I owned a 91 Jeep Cherokee with about 235k miles on it at the time. After clearing out the massive carbon buildup and replacing ignition components it still wasn't running quite right. I noticed some leaking fuel injector o-rings, so I pulled the injectors and soaked them in Seafoam for a couple days while I had it apart. Once it was put back together it had a huge impact in the engine's performance. Smoother idle, better fuel economy and better performance, even after having run multiple bottles of cleaner through the gas tank.
I figure when I have to do the starter at some point, I'll yank my injectors and give them a good cleaning if I have the time. Running cleaner through the tank seems to help things a bit, but I'm curious to see if a good soaking would have the same dramatic effect it had on the Jeep, even of the LS doesn't have the half inch thick layer of sludge over the entire valvetrain like the Jeep did...
#10
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Professionally cleaned
Sorry to resurrect a 4 year old thread, but I had my 93 LS400 fuel injectors professionally cleaned at the Lexus dealer. It made a HUGE difference! The power is back, the gas mileage is much better and the car ran almost like a new car. So for those of you with poor mileage and lack of engine power, have your injectors professionally cleaned. I still can't believe how much of a difference it made!
#11
I used to work for a shop and we had ultrasonic fuel injector cleaners... this is the only way to go as you could easily see the before and after perfomance as it automatically tested the flow and atomization... in my opinion....
Ultrasonic fuel injector cleaning and flow testing is the only process that can guarantee reliable and complete fuel injector cleaning.
Again, my opinion from my experience... your experience and opinion may differ from mine... and that's ok.
Ultrasonic fuel injector cleaning and flow testing is the only process that can guarantee reliable and complete fuel injector cleaning.
Again, my opinion from my experience... your experience and opinion may differ from mine... and that's ok.
#13
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Sorry to resurrect a 4 year old thread, but I had my 93 LS400 fuel injectors professionally cleaned at the Lexus dealer. It made a HUGE difference! The power is back, the gas mileage is much better and the car ran almost like a new car. So for those of you with poor mileage and lack of engine power, have your injectors professionally cleaned. I still can't believe how much of a difference it made!
#14
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Before = ~13-15MPG average mileage (50/50 highway/city), I have never achieved more than 15.5MPG average even with 90% highway driving.
After = 17.5MPG on my last fill-up, (50/50 highway/city) still can't believe it.
The best thing is - THE POWER IS BACK!! The reason the gas mileage increased is due to the fact that the LS400 SURGES FORWARD with just a light tap of the accelerator, I never have to floor it. Before cleaning I must floor the pedal if I want any decent acceleration. AMAZING.
After = 17.5MPG on my last fill-up, (50/50 highway/city) still can't believe it.
The best thing is - THE POWER IS BACK!! The reason the gas mileage increased is due to the fact that the LS400 SURGES FORWARD with just a light tap of the accelerator, I never have to floor it. Before cleaning I must floor the pedal if I want any decent acceleration. AMAZING.