I have been dealing with an issue of my 2011 Cadillac CTS4 idling seeming to be a tad off. Overall the engine seems to run pretty well so a couple of friends of mine have suggested going with something like Chevron Techron Entire Fuel System Cleaner and put it in when I fill up next time and see if that helps.
Do those “cleaners” really do anything? With having a 2011 Cadillac with the 3.0 engine would it be better to say use Premium gas for the next few fill ups and such or what might be other options? I had the spark plugs and coils replaced back in late November and had them also do a throttle body cleaning at the same time. My engine when warm idles around 500-600 rpm and my oil PSI gauge runs around 25 psi wavering on both sides.
Overall the car runs well just seems to be a tad off when fully warmed up and sitting say at a stop light or such.
If there are some deposits in the fuel injectors, then, Yes, Techron will help. I’ve used that and other products to solve idle problems on a few cars of mine. One in particular used to idle funny about every 20K miles. One tank of Techron cleared it right up. This was a car that ran ONLY on Top Tier premium fuel. Pretty much illustrates that running premium fuel through your Caddy will have little effect.
Now “worth it” is subjective, right? Considering it costs less than $10 to treat one tankful, seems pretty cheap.
In your situation I would buy a couple of bottles of Techron, use them as directed for the next couple of tanks. I would also be buying ‘Top Tier’ gas, it comes with added detergents. I would buy premium only if it is recommended for my car.
Cadillac says thecar runs on regular unleaded fuel. Using premium will not improve anything. Before trying the engine cleaners, have you ever replaced the spark plugs and wires? If so, when? If not, it might be a good time to do so and then see if your Caddy still has a rough idle.
Back on black Friday I spent my day and $700 having new spark plugs/coils and the throttle body cleaned. Really didn’t see much overall difference from pre work to post work.
Might as well try the Techron then. You may need to do it more than once, though.
Fuel injectors are pretty tough beasts and mostly immune to clogging. But such a thing can happen. I had a problem w/my Corolla one time where it wouldn’t hold a constant speed when going around neighborhood corners at slow speeds. It would lurch forward in brief bursts. Otherwise at higher speeds it ran perfectly. A fuel injector cleaning treatment poured into the gas tank solved that low speed lurch problem. If you decide to try it, make sure to follow the instructions on the bottle exactly. I used a product called “clean power” as I recall.
Fuel tank additives will not clean the valves on your vehicles direct injection engine. If dirty valves is the cause of the misfires GM has a cleaning process to clean the engines top end.