I use the stuff twice a year as preventative maintenance. i usually buy slick 50 (about $12 a bottle–ouch) but the girl at pepboys convinced me to buy a brand called Lucas instead ($4 a bottle but free after mail rebate). It’s actually called upper cylinder lubricant & injector cleaner. is this stuff any good?
“is this stuff any good?”[quote]
Are you referring to Slick 50? The answer is NO. Various tests have shown Slick 50 to be rather useless.
Are you asking about that other stuff instead? Probably on a par with Slick 50. If you simply must use injector cleaner twice a year, go with the cheap worthless stuff rather than the expensive worthless stuff.
The only fuel system cleaner I ever use is Chevron Techron, but then only once or twice a year. Many regulars on this board like Sea Foam.
To be honest, most of these products do nothing but earn money for the seller. Gasoline has fuel system detergents in it, and under normal circumstances that’s all you need.
I use the fuel system cleaner to mostly to remove moisture when winter approaches, but a bottle of Dri-gas would do the same thing for less money.
Why bother. Cleaners are in all gasoline. Very few people ever have a need for any additional cleaning.
It is great for those selling those cleaners as they could put almost anything in those bottles and it would work as well as what you have been using.As mentioned, you don’t need injector cleaner unless you notice a specific problem that you think may be related to “dirty injectors”.
You know how to tell if an injector is becoming even slightly “dirty” (hate that terminology on this problem)?
A dirty or worn injector with a faulty spray pattern will develop a slight miss or stumble at idle but will smooth out once the accelerator is depressed. Unless the injector is flat gone of course.
Wonder how much money is spent in the U.S. alone every year on unneeded fuel system cleaners and oil additives? More than I could comprehend no doubt.
The best product for cleaning injectors is BG Formula 44K. The dealers pump it directly into the fuel rail, but you can add it to the gas tank. Chevron Techron works almost as well for less money. The cheapo products do little or nothing…
Has anyone ever had a problem where adding a can of fuel injection cleaner has solved the problem? I’d be curious to learn if anyone has ever seen these additives fix anything or solve a problem.
heh - no but I had a vehicle die the only time I ever tried using injection cleaner.
Turned out to be an electrical coincidence, but at the time I was sure it was the darn cleaner.
youll probably never have a problem from you fuel injectors getting dirty, you should stop buying it unless you just want to