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Fuel injector cleaner

44K views 23 replies 18 participants last post by  mmatheny 
#1 ·
What is the best fuel injector cleaner to get for Toyota's? I've heard good things about Lucas.
 
#5 ·
This is my personal opinion too but when I put a cheap Chevron fuel cleaner in my, bought new Subaru Forester, I had a feeling that I drive a different car. Immediate response to throttle, more power. By that time I had 40,000 miles on the car.



Go figure...


Sam
 
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#4 ·
^this.

Most of these are snake oil or have low, insignificant amounts of active ingredients (such as PEA). Ends up being a placebo.

Real cleaners aren't meant to be run through the system, they're meant for soaks. Aminated cleaners, such as ACDelco X66P (which seems to be off the market, sadly).

If you fill up in a major metropolitan area where the gas stations have high turnover, you will be fine. Other than that, it's personal preference...I have a customer with an N62-powered 550i who will only (and only let his girlfriend) fill up at a certain Chevron. Meh.

EDIT: I'll be uploading the report from my injector cleaning for my CA-spec, 130K-mile injectors from my '00 Camry soon. The worst one was 2 PSI below spec, all the others were within 1 PSI IIRC. To me that's within the margin of error of whatever test equipment injector refurbishers use. Never used injector cleaners, just good gas from high-turnover stations like Costco. For 3K miles anyway before the engine blew up due to oil starvation, dunno what the previous owner was doing.
 
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#6 ·
Snake oil or not, I use Seafoam religiously on all of my cars. Via oil and fuel tanks. There's a bunch of vids on YouTube actually proving that it works.

Also, if you really want to clean injectors, pull them out. Again, several very simple DIY cleaning vids on YT. When you have them out, you could use pretty much anything that dissolves carbon build up and caked residue.
But if you do preventative maintenance via fuel tank, as I do - about once a year - and stay away from say ARCO gas, your injectors will stay clean forever.
 
#12 · (Edited)
There's two. Fuel Injector cleaner, and Fuel System cleaner. The Fuel System cleaner is twice the strength of the injector cleaner, that's the one to use. Do it just prior to doing an oil change. And whether it's effective is largely dependent on the brand of fuel that been used; if mostly brands with good detergents, such as Chevron and Shell, there's little point (unless you're experiencing a fuel related problem); but if mostly discount & no-name brand fuel, it should help. I've bought it from Amazon, it's half the price than from an auto parts store.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I use techron, on my granddaughter's Echo it cleared a CEL for lean misfire, stayed that way for the next 20k miles, still no CEL. I did not even reset the CEL (215k miles now).

On a 1993 Sentra, that had a dead injector (running on 3 cyls) it woke up the dead injector and it never came back. even got mid-high 30s mpg with an automatic transmission. Car had been driven short distance work commutes, paid $300 for it sold it for $1200.

On my current Echo I use it as well and so far it is keeping it running great. Still fighting evap codes on that one, but slowly getting it right.

I like to run it in all my older cars, seems to keep them in good running shape.

The Sentra was a dramatic change in 20 miles, also cleaned the idle air regulator first(10 minute job). When I got the car it would stall every time you came to a stop, never did it after those first 20 miles. I checked the compression before I bought the car. It was owned by a couple who could afford to live in a .5 million house, just finally got carboned up from the 3 mile work commute for 20 years at 178k miles.

Some prefer the fuel system cleaner over the injector cleaner. For me the cheaper option works fine. Always try to get people to try it before they start tearing a 20 year old car apart, possibly creating other problems.
 
#13 ·
Marketing means nothing... whether system cleaner or injector cleaner.

There is no best fuel injector cleaner.

Use toptier fuel as the good prevention. https://www.toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/

Once or twice a year, depending on miles driven, pick any bottle up at your local autopart or department store, vary among the brands, and don't think about it. Good ingredients cost money. So, avoid the cheaper stuff.

https://www.toyotanation.com/forum/...r-replacemnt-2007-avalon-sl.html#post11329817
 
#15 ·
Yeah I was getting mine at Costco for less than 3 bucks for a bottle (6 pack). Now I think they have the system cleaner with two bottles for more than the 6 used to be. I use their gas (Costco) when it is cheapest, think it's "top tier". Last tank using the ac got my lowest mile per gallon in months at 320 miles on 6.7 gals for 47.76 mpg, last tank was 51, so this one could be a short fill. Still had close to half the tank left. I drive 1500 miles a month for less than a hundred bucks (gas, insurance, registration and inspection).

That's in a 19 year old car with 163k miles, that I bought for $1600.
 
#19 ·
Chevron Techron Concentrate Plus Fuel cleaner worked for me

Drive a 1997 Camry 2.2L with 117,000. Lots of DIY work over the years. Runs like a top.



I have never used any injector or fuel system cleaner but just did a bottle of Chevron Techron Concentrate Plus Fuel System Cleaner for the first time ever. Amazon now on sale for 7 bucks. (Have also recently redone spark plugs, air filter, idle air control valve, PCV valve, etc. etc. and just wanted to give this a shot while I was at it.)



My Camry picked up an extra 2 MPG on the 450 mile highway trip with that bottle in the tank, and even idles a bit more smoothly since. Normally picks up 31 MPG on all-highway trips and that first trip logged in at 33 MPG; only difference was the cleaner.



The $ result? Essentially one gallon for free on that 15-gallon tank, a California savings of about $4, and the savings continue, as since then I have still noticed about a 10% uptick in MPG even in around town driving, too.



You be the judge; Your Mileage May Vary. But might be worth a shot.
 
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