Subaru Fuel Injector Cleaner

[CapnJack]

Has anyone seen this at their dealer? Its Subaru branded injector cleaner. I bought a bottle of it the other day really only because I like to collect Subaru merchandise. I thought as long as I have it, I might as well use it and save the bottle for my collection.

 

Anyone used it before? Any problems running it in a stage 2+ tuned car?

[bluesuby]

That very much looks like a Techron bottle re-labeled. I've used Techron for years with no carburettor or fuel injection problems. I spoke with a Chevron engineer who raved about how great the product is, but Chevron doesn't market it well. Advance Auto Parts is currently running a "buy 1 get 1 free" on the 20 oz size (not a mail-in rebate, done deal at the store). I don't know the current price but I'm guessing $11 or so.

[mustangendsley]

Use bg. that stuff is not cheep, but works the best.

[Bolksey85]

Seen since I first took my car in but never used it. I've found Lucas and Red Line's cleaner to be the most effective.

[AutoRacer]

you can buy chevron Techron fuel injector cleaner (6 bottles for $15 at costco). Pretty good deal.

[LosAngelesLGT]

... really only because I like to collect Subaru merchandise. I thought as long as I have it, I might as well use it and save the bottle for my collection...

 

And my girlfriend thought she had it bad with me!!!

[JoeFromPA]

Has anyone here ever had a fuel system problem on any car made since ~96, outside of a bad fuel pump, regulator, or filter?

 

I've never had or seen an stock injector fail after, say, 100k, or give any problems worth writing home about. I've seen plenty of upgraded injectors give problems.

 

Just my experience....wondering if I'm been uncommonly lucky.

[Bolksey85]

Has anyone here ever had a fuel system problem on any car made since ~96, outside of a bad fuel pump, regulator, or filter?

 

I've never had or seen an stock injector fail after, say, 100k, or give any problems worth writing home about. I've seen plenty of upgraded injectors give problems.

 

Just my experience....wondering if I'm been uncommonly lucky.

None other than 1 bad tank of gas which was cleared up very nicely by a bottle of Red Line's fuel treatment.

[pillboy]

Has anyone here ever had a fuel system problem on any car made since ~96, outside of a bad fuel pump, regulator, or filter?

 

I've never had or seen an stock injector fail after, say, 100k, or give any problems worth writing home about. I've seen plenty of upgraded injectors give problems.

 

Just my experience....wondering if I'm been uncommonly lucky.

 

Just with my phucking John Deere walk behind mower. Only fuel related problem I have ever had with a car in 35 years is running out of gas once. And that really wasn't the fault of the gas.

[Merc6]

BG is good stuff but not cheap. The Chebbie stealership I worked @ used that all the time and also had the air intake cleaner aerosol can. Never used the dealer cleaner before but I did see it in a 3 pack with something else @ the Cherry Hill dealership down the street from SOA.

 

Speaking of lawnmowers (short story). I had some of the race fuel fragrance left over and now the lawnmower smells like cherries. Every time I cut the grass on that tank of gas, everyone walking by would stop and try to figure out where that delicious smell was coming from.

[JoeFromPA]

Can someone who is claiming that "BG is good stuff" provide any empiricial evidence that it did anything?

 

Again, just trying to figure out why fuel system cleaners are a good thing (outside of a bad tank of gas or similar). From what I understand, they are supposed to help clean and ensure proper flow of the lines and injectors, as well as clean a bit on the way to the combustion chamber.

 

However, I've never seen any evidence that these systems ever actually fail outside of a mechanical reason, and not a "got fouled up" reason.

 

Joe

[blackfang]

I have seen a few injectors fail before 100k, not many though, less than 5. We use BG here, but nothing to brag about. I have a few technician buddies that like Justice Brothers better. I haven't done any before/after results so I won't brag about the product.

[JoeFromPA]

Thanks BF. I'm not trying to knock it or praise it. I honest to God have heard for a long time to use a fuel system cleaner on a variety of routine schedules (i.e. bottle every tank of the $1.69 stuff, bottle of the concentrated system cleaner every oil change or every 30k or every 60k, etc. etc.)

 

Tons of dealerships and independents will include a bottle in a 30 or 60k service.

 

Despite all this, I've seen alot more cars that have never seen a bottle of cleaner in 100k miles and have never had a fuel system problem that wasn't related to the pump, filter, or regulator.

 

It's one of those things that I'm wondering if it was needed back in the 80s, but quality fuels have long since advanced and rejected the need of such cleaners....but they still stick around.

 

I could be totally wrong. No idea. Just makes me wonder.

[mustangendsley]

i use the bg once a month just for peace of mind that everything is clean. there is tons of lit out there on the bg stuff. it diff works the best imo.

[rice_rocket]

Anyone actually see a difference? I've been putting Stabil etc into my motorcycle since it runs on carbs and that is known to help keep 'em clean.. but I've never run this on a fuel injected car.... worth it? I'm at about 50K on my GT now.. Of course I certainly don't have any problems now. Is it one of those.. not broke, don't fix it deals?

[blackfang]

Joe, we include a can of BG 44k fuel treatment with our 30/60/90 major services. That is pretty much the extent we go through with that unless there is an injector failure. Of course that tends to be a different problem and repair.

 

I have read on here that some dealers try and offer a fuel system flush/clean fuel injectors which I think is a big waste of money. The most I do is use a can of 44k on the legacy and Z/28 and some Seafoam. I also think the fuels have gotten better at cleaning and maintaining the fuel system over time.

 

Rice many of us riders use that to help stabilize the fuel on our bikes because over the winter time the fuel can break down from sitting and gum up the carbs. I have never seen any fellow rider use fuel treatment.

[rice_rocket]

So.. is it worth it to throw this into the car? Ie techron etc.. or is it just leave it be? I daily drive the car a lot.. so I definitely do not need the fuel stabilizer portion.

[quick4dr]

yea it cant hurt. I like to use seafoam, bout 2-3 onces in oil, and about 10 onces in gas tank every 2/ 2500 miles. I wish we could inject seafoam through the brake boost line like othr cars, but it aint good for the turbo to have the stuff blow through it.

[JoeFromPA]

FYI, on the "can't hurt" front....the cleaners tend to do the following:

 

- be a bit rougher on gaskets they encounter

 

-wash the cylinder walls with far heavier levels of detergents

 

-get into the oil and mess with it's ability to lubricate

 

Most fuel system cleaners are meant to be run on a full tank of gas right before an oil change.

 

You'll probably never notice a difference, but it's definitely not a "won't hurt" thing either.

[schwinn]

FWIW, I used a total of 2 bottles of Techron on my 1993 Mazda MX6, before I finally sold it with 163k miles. The car never had a problem, and never had a fuel injector issue. I also never saw/felt an improvement from the Techron on that vehicle.

 

I have used Techron once on the LGT so far - it made no difference, so it's unlikely I'll use it again unless I see a problem.

 

Ethanol is a great cleaner, and is in most of our fuels today. For this reason, I imagine newer fuels will be less likely to cause problems.

 

The only car I have seen injector "problems" was my father's Pontiac Transport with the TBI injection system (ie, an injector above the "carb"). This would get all yellow-colored and mileage would drop. Popping off the air filter and spraying it clean with carb-cleaner fixed it every time. So did a bottle of any cheap injector cleaner. Still, the injector never failed or plugged up in any way, otherwise.

 

Other than that car, I have never felt that adding Techron caused any difference in any of the many vehicles I have driven or worked on in any way (ie friend's/family vehicles)