Fuel injection cleaning kits

looking for info on 3m fuel injection kits. Are they worth the money and do they really work?

Can’t comment on kits specifically but my Dad made a homemade one using pipe, adapters, 12v battery and a push button. Cleaned the injectors on my truck pretty well, runs like a beast again.

@dodge330

Respectfully, forget the 3M kit

This one is for professionals, VERY easy to use, as long as you have a test port, and fairly priced

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?search=true&item_ID=648382&PartNo=EEFI5CLEANER&group_id=681704&supersede=&store=snapon-store&tool=all

What db shows is what the dealer used on my 86 Park Ave way back. It cured an intermittant extended crank due to an injector staying open. The mechanic didn’t know if it would work or not but beat buying a new injector and it worked. That was just when fuel injection was coming out though and fuel might not have been best suited for FI. Never had any problem since.

@Bing

Fuel quality is, for the most part, pretty good nowadays

But that tool still sees use, mostly on cars with some miles on them

Dodge330
Do you presently have issue with your fuel system ?
Check your owner’s manual. If fuel injection cleaning is not ( and in none of mty cars is it) a regular maintenance item, why do it ?

That type of equipment is rarely needed even in a full service shop. With a good flushing agent injectors can be cleaned fairly quickly with it but plugged up injectors seem very rare.

If I was having drivability problems, and if a bottle of Techron didn’t clear it up, I guess I might spring for the $30 or so for the 3M kit, worth that much to see if it fixed the problem.

@texases

What $30 kit?!

It seems to me $30 isn’t going to get you much

Here’s the 3M kit on Amazon:


Like I said, just a gamble that I could avoid a mechanic session…

The Snap-On machine requires shop air pressure and the adapters from a fuel system pressure testing kit. The cleaning compound is much more caustic than anything poured into the gas tank and requires blocking off the fuel return when there is one and cutting power to the fuel pump. I had one and used it in an effort to clean injectors and occasionally had good results but more often than not the effort only confirmed that the injector was failing. Using a quality fuel and adding a quality injector cleaner such as Techron at each oil change(5,000 miles) should be more than adequate to keep injectors clean.

I ran across this OTC demonstration that shows the procedure for a Subaru.

@RodKnox

I guess I’ve had better luck than you, as far as the fuel cleaning tool goes

If the vehicle has a test port, and you’ve got shop air, the snap-on tool is pretty easy to use

If the vehicle doesn’t have a test port, it gets interesting . . .