Quick question:
Is gumout fuel system cleaner safe for a manual transmission car that doesn’t have a catalytic converter? Was hoping this might help clean up any junk that may have gotten in when the air filter fell off and the car was driven some before I noticed.
Thanks!
Yes, it is safe, but there are better fuel system cleaners on the market than Gumout.
However, they are all safe to use as long as you don’t exceed the ratio of cleaner to gasoline that is mentioned on the packaging.
Thanks! Any suggestions on what I should get?
I use Chevron Techron or Seafoam once a year on my cars, whichever is on sale at the time.
Ed B.
Yup!
Techron, Seafoam, or BG-44 are the ones that I would recommend.
I am assuming that this engine has a carburator since it does not have a catalytic converter. If so Gumout or any other fuel system cleaner will not help much with the dirt and smutz that got into the carburator. You will need a spray carburator cleaner to clean the choke, main air bleed, idle air bleed, venturies, shafts and plates. If you have the skill a carburator rebuild using a dip bucket might be in the offing.
There is not much you can do to remove or clear everything that has gone into the engine through the open, unfiltered throat. You might do an oil and filter change followed by another after 1000 miles just so any dirt remaining in engine is removed.
What @Researcher said. Will have about zero effect on stuff pulled in when it didn’t have the air cleaner on. But it won’t hurt.
I use Techron.
Any dirt that got in via the air-intake will NOT be removed from a fuel additive that you add to the gas. As @researcher said…you’ll need a spray type carb cleaner.
I’m not sure why a manual transmission will matter one way or the other.
Does this car have a fuel filter? If so that’s your best bet to keep the fuel line clean. Change it at least what the manufacturer suggests…I personally changed it twice as often and it was ALWAYS filthy dirty.
Actually, it is not safe for manuals. If you spill it on your manual it makes the ink run.
Sorry, couldn’t resist. {
If the car isn’t running badly, I’d leave it alone. All you’re likely to do with Gumout (which IMHO is one of the least effective cleaners anyway) is stir up any gunk in there and end up with a chance of it plugging one or more of the small passages in the carburetor. If the car is running badly, you’re probably better off with a dose of Techron when your tank is down to about 1/4 or so, and if that doesn’t work, then resort to the spray. I would do an oil change too. as Researcher said.
I like Techron since it’s always worked for me. I don’t normally use additives but Techron is a good one.
Your owner’s manual tells you what kind of gas, oil, coolant, power steering fluid, tranny fluid, and other things to use to keep your car running well for many many years. If it needed an additive, the manufacturer would have included them in their recommendations.
Gasoline right out of the pump contains all the cleansers necessary to keep a properly maintained engine running properly. Additives can be useful for a tired, gummed up ol’ engine, but for an engine in good condition they’re unnecessary.
To me it’s analogous to your body. I regularly see advertisements for healthy people to use supplements such as Lipitor. Having been on some of these after a heart attack, I can testify that these medications have side effects. And they can in some cases be severe. To me, adding additives to your car’s fluids is analogous to a healthy person taking Lipitor. It’s a bad idea.
I have found Gumout great to use to clean bicycle chains. I take Gumout carburetor cleaner in an aerosol can, spray the chain, wipe it off after a minute, and re-oil.
@the_same_mountainbike–My doctor agrees with you about supplements. I tried to get him to prescribe Geritol for me. Instead, he convinced Mrs. Triedaq to take me fitness walking five days a week. We walk three miles each of these days and do it in about 45 minutes. In the winter, we walk in the university’s basketball arena. There are college physical education classes where the students do walking that are often in the arena. These students walk too slowly for us and don’t walk nearly as far. Mrs. Triedaq thinks that maybe that some of today’s college students are the ones that need the Geritol.
Because of my own health issues these past years, I’ve come to believe that many of the problems my dad suffered in his later years were side effects from the meds they had him on. After my first heart attack I myself suffered many of the things as side effects that I saw him suffer with. I bought a nurses’ guide to drugs from Barnes & Noble, listed everything they had me on, listed all the side effects, and realized what was causing my problems. As a test, I stopped taking the ones that were suspect. I immediately began to feel better. I accept the risk that I might die of a heart attack at 75 instead of living in misery to 95.
“These students walk too slowly for us and don’t walk nearly as far. Mrs. Triedaq thinks that maybe that some of today’s college students are the ones that need the Geritol.”
I have made the exact same observation, Triedaq!
When I take my powerwalks several times a week along the Delaware & Raritan Canal, it is rare that any of the younger folks can keep up with this 66 year old.
I assume that these folks are also walking for their health, yet their pace would be unlikely to elevate their heart rate, and if you are not elevating your heart rate (and doing at least some sweating toward the end of your walk), you’re not getting an aerobic workout.
I asked my cardiologist how to determine a good pace, and his advice (after clearing me for both walking & jogging) was, “If you are able to carry on a conversation while walking, then you are walking too slowly. Ideally, you should be breathing so hard after a few minutes that it is difficult to carry on a conversation.”
Related to that advice from him, I then decided to count the number of people who are walking while carrying on an animated conversation on their cell phone, and it was a substantial number. If you added the cell phone talker-walkers and those who puff on a cigarette while “walking for health”, it would probably come to about 25% of the walkers whom I encounter.
However, even the folks who walk w/o using either a cellphone or a cigarette can rarely keep up with me. Go figure!
The old saying I’m familiar with is “if you’re not working up a sweat, you’re not doing any good”.
From a cardiovascular standpoint, that’s true, but I believe that any walking at all is better than nothing. Of course, being the hypocrite I am, I’m sitting in front of a monitor typing this instead of being out walking… {
Geritol’s now been pretty well shown to be worthless/harmful for most. Crazy commercials they used to get away with.
The major ingredient in Geritol–aside from miniscule amounts of vitamins–is iron.
While iron deficiency might have been a problem in The US about 70 years ago, it is EXTREMELY rare in modern times, and taking in too much iron can actually be damaging to the heart.
So–yes–Geritol is essentially worthless, but it can be harmful, and people should only take an iron supplement if blood tests indicate an iron deficiency!
“I believe that any walking at all is better than nothing”
Generally speaking, I agree with you that something is better than nothing, but, consider this scenario:
A person who is walking may be breathing harder/faster than they normally do.
If this causes them to inhale more smoke, more deeply, than they would while sitting in a chair to smoke a cigarette, that act of smoking while walking could be doing more harm than if the person just stayed at home.
“Mrs. Triedaq thinks that maybe that some of today’s college students are the ones that need the Geritol.”
The 3 story building I work in (Engineering School) has an elevator that used to be accessible only with a key.
Employees and handicapped students could get a copy of the key.
A few years ago the building was renovated and the elevator changed to buttons.
I don’t use the elevator unless I’m carrying my bike or carrying/carting something heavy.
What I see now is lots of students using the elevator, even to ride DOWN one floor.
It got a facelift, but it’s ~40 years old and really slow. It’s faster to walk.
Usually young folks are in a hurry.