How effective is Fuel Injection cleaner

You'll want to do a search of the Fuel Economy forum. There have been a number of threads that have discussed fuel injector cleaners. :thumbsup:

I don't know about fuel economy but I did a fuel injector cleaning once a year at Wal Mart for $20 (the 2 step, not just throw a bottle in the gas tank) on my old 1998 Pontiac Sunfire with 150k, and I noticed a huge difference in the idle and acceleration. It idled a tad lower, it was quieter, and accelerated smoother and quicker. Amazing.

i recc the lucas fuel injector cleaner. get the big bottle and add some to every tank of gas until the bottle is done. the one time use stuff is not too great. the lucas stuff used continuously over time works

i would also recc seafoam, but it could be dangerous on an old car

I've used seafoam a lot on old cars....never had a problem.

Ive used them before but duno if they made a difference. The difference is all in your head, at least for me it was. I felt like i did something good for my car and prolonged its life.

why would using seafoam on an older car be bad for it?

Seafoam has been available since the 1930s, hardly makes sense that it could be bad for old cars. :facepalm:

Any FI cleaner is a benefit, especially in an older car. A bottle of Techron concentrate, Redline SI-1, Lucas, 3m, BG44k.... will clean up your injectors, and reduce any carbon built up downstream of your injectors. Intake ports/valves get dirty quickly with generic gas.

Toptier fuel should always be considered if available and within your budget.

basically it cleanses it. more exposure to cleansing (basically, gradual use), will make it even cleaner.


think of it as your nose. more boogers, less flow.

IronNam said:

basically it cleanses it. more exposure to cleansing (basically, gradual use), will make it even cleaner.


think of it as your nose. more boogers, less flow.

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Nice analogy, Nam....:lol:

l2edLine said:

why would using seafoam on an older car be bad for it?

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I've heard that the carbon deposits or whatnot could be helping seal the cylinders and if you clean them all out on a high mileage car you might get oil burn.

You've heard wrong.

Carbon deposits don't seal a cylinder. Carbon deposits cause blow-by not allowing the rings to move/sweep freely.

While at the gas station, add the full bottle of Seafoam prior to filling up. Age or mileage of vehicles makes NO difference.