Do fuel injector cleaners (additive) really work?

195 Views 6 Replies 6 Participants Last post by whistlepiggy, 6 d ago

Deucer

Discussion Starter · 6 d ago

Not really an ATV question but most ATV do have injectors.

I just had an injector fail on my Ford 3.0 v6. It happen to be an open coil so it was dead on cyl. #1. I had several people say to put some injector cleaner in it. Of course, I knew injector cleaner would do nothing for a burned out coil on the injector.
It got me wondering about gas additives. Do they really work or are they just "snake oil" like most oil additives. I have never used injector cleaner in any of my cars. 3 out of the 4 cars have more than 150,000 miles and 1 of them has 230,000 miles.

D

Save

1 - 7 of 7 Posts

Mel556180

· #2 · 6 d ago

It’s almost impossible to quantify the effectiveness of additives. Some point to using and never having problems, others never have problems not using…

Guess it boils down to whether you feel the occasional treatment is worth the money for peace of mind.

I add treatment to my gas cans even though I’ll probably use before any chance of going bad.

I will also dump in the occasional injector treatment as a preventative. Don’t know if it does any good…but I haven’t had any problems either.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Save

Reactions: 1

Deucer

Discussion Starter · #3 · 6 d ago

I have used additives for stored equipment like lawn mowers and garden tractor as gas preservatives but never in my cars as an injector cleaner.

D

Save

SundayDriver

· #4 · 6 d ago

Top Tier Gasoline Worth the Extra Price, Study Shows - Consumer Reports

A study by AAA shows that Top Tier gasoline is worth the extra cost to consumers. Consumer Reports lists car brands that recommend Top Tier gasoline and gas stations where you can buy Top Tier gas.

www.consumerreports.org

Yes! But I would rather use top tier gas on the regular than not and add a bottle of additive once in a while. Look at the pics in this independent study.
Want your engine to last longer?..... use top tier gas, and take the money you would have spent on a bottle of additive, and Instead change your engine oil and air filter more often!
Keeping as much dirt out of your engine and fresh clean motor oil is the key...100% fact!

Save

latebird

· #5 · 6 d ago

Injectors do not get dirty internally unless the vehicle sets for long periods and then the dirt is typically organic. Algae grows in bio fuels (gas-o-hol and biodiesel) - injector cleaner may remove the residue, but in essence if the injector works it does not need cleaning and if it does not work, cleaner will not fix it. So as said above, if it does no harm it only buys you peace of mind.

Save

Reactions: 1

MrEd

· #6 · 6 d ago

I’ve never used it based on the fact that gasoline is a solvent in itself. I imagine it could help if low quality fuels were used repeatedly 🤷‍♂️

Save

Reactions: 1

whistlepiggy

· #7 · 6 d ago

Never used injector cleaner. I keep fresh gas (45 days or less) in my 2 cycle trimmers, 2 cycle chainsaws, and my ATV. After 45 days I'll dump the old gas in the cars. Also I use 90 octane ethanol free fuel for the trimmers, chain saws, and ATV. Tried the gas stabilizer route (Stabil) and found that old fuel treated with Stabil was not an improvement over keeping the gas clean and fresh. Stabil is just a placebo.

Save

1 - 7 of 7 Posts

Top Contributors this Month