[BidDog]

The other day, the Toyota shop at the dealership offered me a fuel injection cleaning for $150. They said it entails a cleaning of the fuel injectors, cleaning of the throttle body and an additive added to the fuel tank. My question is, how are the fuel injectors cleaned and is it something I can easily do? I've given search on the internet and found mixed results.

 

[94RollaDad]

The other day, the Toyota shop at the dealership offered me a fuel injection cleaning for $150. They said it entails a cleaning of the fuel injectors, cleaning of the throttle body and an additive added to the fuel tank. My question is, how are the fuel injectors cleaned and is it something I can easily do? I've given search on the internet and found mixed results.

Before we launch into any details consider this:

1. No matter how effective the cleaning is it won't make an already clean injector any cleaner.
2. Fuel injector cleaning is high up on the list of a dealership's money makers. It's easy and cheap for them to do and they can sell it at a significant premium

That being said... There are several ways to clean the fuel injectors - in order of effectiveness:

1. Removal of injectors and ultrasonic cleaning with before/after spray pattern testing. This is the most thorough and effective way to clean the injectors and alas no dealership will do this. Usually you have to remove the injectors yourself and ship them to a company that will perform this, put new gaskets/o-rings on the injectors, and mail them back to you.
2. Cleaning by temporarily installing a device on the fuel rail with a highly concentrated mix of cleaner and gasoline. This is likely what the dealership will do. It works fairly well but won't prove any results since there's no before/after measurements, and it also won't catch any injector irregularities in spray patterns.
3. Tank additive. The least effective but most convenient and cheap option. This is where you have to wade through a sea of snake oil to get to the stuff that actually works. The trick is to find a tank additive that contains concentrated Polyether Amines (PEAs). Everyone seems to have their favorite go-to product, snake oil or real stuff. I prefer Red Line SI-1 or 3M Max Strength Fuel Injector Cleaner (not any of the other 3M additives as they are weaker).

The best thing you can do to ensure clean injectors is to consistently use top tier gas when you tank up (http://toptiergas.com) as those are known to contain sufficient amounts of additives such as PEA.

 

[BidDog]

I'm always so impressed at the depth of knowledge available here, especially for a beginner like me. Thanks so much for your post!

 

[smancer]

Save your money. Agreed to what was mentioned above, just use top tier gas.

Also you can pick up a can of throttle body cleaner for $10 and clean the throttle body yourself, very easy to do, lots of guide on how to do it. The can of cleaner will last you many years.

 

[circuitsmith]

Chevron injector cleaner with Techron is one of the pour in the tank cleaners with PEA.
I pour a bottle in the tank once a year.
If the engine is running well don't waste money on the dealership service.
It is a good idea to clean the throttle body at ~100k miles.

 

[Joebklyn]

I too like Techron with PEA, I usually get it at Advance Auto where they have 2 for 1 deals quite often. I run it 3 or 4 times a year. Here check this video out.

 

[Blackness]

Oh heeel naw! ... FIRST OF ALL: Gasoline is one HELL of a SOLVENT/CLEANER.... gasoline cleans anything! Injectors CANNOT get 'gummed up' - there's fricking GAS running through them at all times. With the rare excpetion that the car was sat a looong time and the gas thickened up and/or the filter is chocked full, gasoline ITSELF is a cleaner/solvent...

Fuel injection cleaners/cleaning services are a HUSTLE. Period. They prey on the unintellgencia that fail to see that gasoline is already a solvent...lol.. the dealer is trying to hustle you... no shop manual specifies cleaning injectors... they either pulse or they dont... they don't get 'dirty'.... and remember gasoline is a solvent

 

[hardtopte72]

Oh heeel naw! ... FIRST OF ALL: Gasoline is one HELL of a SOLVENT/CLEANER.... gasoline cleans anything! Injectors CANNOT get 'gummed up' - there's fricking GAS running through them at all times. With the rare excpetion that the car was sat a looong time and the gas thickened up and/or the filter is chocked full, gasoline ITSELF is a cleaner/solvent...

Fuel injection cleaners/cleaning services are a HUSTLE. Period. They prey on the unintellgencia that fail to see that gasoline is already a solvent...lol.. the dealer is trying to hustle you... no shop manual specifies cleaning injectors... they either pulse or they dont... they don't get 'dirty'.... and remember gasoline is a solvent

Toyota would specifically disagree with you and even established a TSB for fuel injector cleaning:

http://www.toyotaparts.metro-toyota.com/FUEL_INJECTOR_CLEANING_TS-PG011-05.pdf

There is also bench testing data showing not only that injectors do get clogged and gummed up, but a clear improvement from ultrasonic injector cleaning:

 

[Jimbo2021]

Toyota would specifically disagree with you and even established a TSB for fuel injector cleaning:

http://www.toyotaparts.metro-toyota.com/FUEL_INJECTOR_CLEANING_TS-PG011-05.pdf

There is also bench testing data showing not only that injectors do get clogged and gummed up, but a clear improvement from ultrasonic injector cleaning:

That TSB is only applicable if you are already experiencing problems.
NOT as a preventative measure like the dealerships are peddling.
Like somebody else said, just use top tier gas.
Basically, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Here's the actual wording from Toyota.

Due to fuel quality concerns, some Toyota and Scion vehicles with Port Electronic Fuel
Injection may experience clogged or blocked fuel injectors. The following procedure has
been developed to clean the fuel injectors.

 

[jimmy175]

...Tank additive. The least effective but most convenient and cheap option. This is where you have to wade through a sea of snake oil to get to the stuff that actually works. The trick is to find a tank additive that contains concentrated Polyether Amines (PEAs). Everyone seems to have their favorite go-to product, snake oil or real stuff. I prefer Red Line SI-1 or 3M Max Strength Fuel Injector Cleaner (not any of the other 3M additives as they are weaker).


The best thing you can do to ensure clean injectors is to consistently use top tier gas when you tank up (Homepage) as those are known to contain sufficient amounts of additives such as PEA.

This came up in discussions on a Hyundai forum I'm on (regarding GDI engines). At one point Hyundai had a TSB about tank additives - I forget the recommended brand - but essentially any of the "top tier" gas companies already have the magic ingredients in their gas, so the tank additives aren't needed if you're using the right kind of fuel.

I've also seen someone rig up their own "injector cleaning" rig that was basically a 12V supply to open the injector so you could then spray some cleaner through it. A little more labour-intensive than the dealer option, but probably cheaper than $150, and it seemed to work pretty well on actually clogged injectors.

 

[Greasymechtech]

It is not for those experiencing problems. Problems means you went too late..... like what so many do with transmission fluid, coolant, dipsticks in general.

Toptier fuel is a start. A bottle of PEA based cleaner once or twice a year is great PREVENTIVE maintenance.

Bench cleaning is for when you've gone too far.

 

[97tacomaHA]

the extra HP gained from the 'feel-good-effect' of a $100+ cleaning periodically is PRICELESS