Fuel Injection Cleaner? (Techron, Royal Purple, etc...)

Matsweeper

Matsweeper

Well-Known Member
289
136
New Jersey
Vehicle Model
Civic
Body Style
Sedan
Hey guys, i've been spending about a week doing research on fuel injection cleaners. I forget where I cam across it and then began to do research on it's benefits, pricing, brands, prices, results, point of views, etc...

Although i've gotten good amount of info, I wanted to ask the board on what are the thoughts on this. Also do you use/recommend it.

I have a 2014 civic sedan EXL. My goal is to care for my car to last a very long time and run well and efficient the most I can. I don't do engine mods (stick to oem), I run Top Tier gas regular only (Exxon/Mobil and I have done research on their detergents), I change my own oil following maintenance minder and use Mobil1 0w-20 AFE and Mobil1 EP oil filter, I've sent out my oil for testing and it's doing great and the intervals are great, I also do regular cleaning of interior/exterior.

Now even though I am using Top Tier gas and good engine oil, i really want to make sure i maintain my mpg and have a clean engine/fuel injections. I was not planning on using this every 3,000 miles as stated however I was planning on using it once a year (around oil change time). Also living here in NJ, all gas stations have a minimum of 10% Ethanol. Ethanol, although a small amount, can't be good for the engine.

1-Does anyone here use fuel injection cleaners like techron? (i know oil company like texaco/chevron already have techron as additives however we don't have those gas stations around here and the techron additive I would be buying is concentrate form).
2-What are your results, do you recommend it?
3-When did you start using it
4-Do you know anyone who uses it and what their results are or feedback?

I have close to 27k miles on my car and never done this. I chose techron because their additives are already included in their chevron gas so I believe their ingredients must be safe enough to not damage my car.

Thanks in advance
 
Last edited:
I had found an interesting Seafoam vid a while ago. I looked through a few of the other videos on the subject as well. The consensus seemed to be that Techron does in fact work. Cars burn pretty clean now and engine tech is very good compared to older, say 80s & 90s cars. The Civics in particular don't need much besides regular maintenance to last a long frickin' time. Unless your car is quite old you probably won't have any issues. That said, I've run a couple bottles of techron through mine when it goes on sale at auto-zone. The buy one get 2 free deal. hahaha.





Seafoam thread:

http://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/does-seafoam-actually-work-vid.13163/
 
Yeah saw those videos as well. Right now they have them for 2 for $9 at autozone. I got into researching this because my mom purchased a used car about 4 months ago and she's leaving and coming back in 5 months. Since the car had 150k miles I wanted to hooker up with an oil change, filter, fill her tires, car wash, etc. and techron was one thing I wanted to do since we don't know what type of fuel previous owner used. So, after reading reviews it got me thinking about preventatives for my car.

Can't wait to hook her up. Since its on sale I guess it wouldn't hurt on my car. I'll use it perhaps once a year, when I do my oil change.
 
Nix said:
I had found an interesting Seafoam vid a while ago. I looked through a few of the other videos on the subject as well. The consensus seemed to be that Techron does in fact work. Cars burn pretty clean now and engine tech is very good compared to older, say 80s & 90s cars. The Civics in particular don't need much besides regular maintenance to last a long frickin' time. Unless your car is quite old you probably won't have any issues. That said, I've run a couple bottles of techron through mine when it goes on sale at auto-zone. The buy one get 2 free deal. hahaha.





Seafoam thread:

http://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/does-seafoam-actually-work-vid.13163/
Click to expand...


I have seen that video a while back and it makes me kinda want to look at mine and See if I have any build up at all now that I am at 27k miles. I just wish it was easier to get to the spark plugs in the SI.
 
Yeah, I went to Exxon's web site and it says they have detergents to clean fuel injection all across their octane levels. Just wondering if this is not needed or if it would help.

Everywhere I read pretty much says if you use chevron/Texaco you don't need the concentrated techron. Now I remember seeing texaco and chevron gas stations here in jersey however I feel like once it became mandatory to have 10% ethanol they seem to be closing down and now there aren't any of those gas stations. So if I use a top tier gasoline brand, should I use techron to increase my chances of keeping my engine parts cleaner? Also Exxon states their premium (91-93 octane) contain more detergents, and I assume it's like this with shell vpower and BP invigorate, etc. then does that mean because I use regular it is recommended to use something like techron.

I think I'll email the company as well.
 
Hmmmm I am not 100% sure I only use shell or some times BP and I have noticed when I do use other gas station's my car sounds like it is trying harder to start and my valves sound loader for some reason.
And I also feel like I get better MPG with shell
 
ChrisFix on youtube did reviews on SeaFoam, Techron, Royal Purple, and Gumout and they all basically didn't do anything. If you use Top Teir gas, you don't need it. The owner manual says it can tolerate up to 15% ethanol. Every grade of gas Regular, Mid, Premium must meet the top tier standard to be top tier gas.
 
So after much thought I came to this conclusion.

Regular, Plus and Premium all have additives to clean your fuel injectors, etc...(Top Tier Gasoline) I personally use Exxon/Mobil.
Exxon/Mobil states this on their website, however they also state that they add additional detergent additives to their 91-93 octane blend.

So this tells me, although i'm getting cleaning agents in my car, there is room for more. Therefore I decided to take advantage of AutoZone sale and get 2 12oz bottle of techron for $9. Because I'm using top tier gasoline anyway, I plan on using this once a year to twice at most a year. My purpose would be more of a preventative than anything.

I'm sure by me keeping up on the maintenance and caring for my car will bring me to over 200k miles, however I feel this is a very inexpensive maintenance that can only lead to a smooth 200k+ mile run.

It was simply to do. This does not mean that i'm a person that does 3k mile oil changes and flushes out coolant every 10k miles. To each their own, my research lead me to this plan. I went with techron because seafoam i heard is for older cars, royal purple i feel like their aim at performance cars, and other brands I felt are less quality to accommodate affordability of the public. Tehran is a very reputable product and users of Chevron/Texaco speak highly of their quality. Aside from the few "Snake oil" comments, it's safe enough to run on their gasoline so I didn't feel like it would hard my "modern" car.
 
I say putting in a fuel additive to help clean injectors and valves on port injection is helpful no matter how much "additives" companies put in the gas we consume. Jaguar/Land Rover 5.0 v8's have a TSB that calls for 2 cans of injector clean (the style you hook to the fuel rail) to fix misfire codes. If the additives in fuel were so great you wouldn't have this issue, let alone ethanol problems across the board. No it's not necessary but doesn't hurt. Same with fogging or induction services to keep carbon from sticking inside the intake and on valves. If you don't care to do any of this then at least clean your throttle body to help with start up and idle.
 
sircoffee said:
Just remember to follow the bottle. our gas tank is 13 gal (and some change) while some techron bottles are ment for 20 gallon tanks so don't over dose on it. And make sure the foil from the bottle doesnt fall in the tank. Like this guy
http://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/foreign-object-in-fuel-tank.6976/
Click to expand...
LOL yeah I read about this guy. Doing that would REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY annoy me. I'm that dude who is very much into details with installations and stuff on my car.

yeah, i followed the directions. I purchase the 12oz which is up to 10 gallons. My gas was on empty so I poured it at the gas station and then filled up my gas tank.
 
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