A reminder about injector cleaning

[101mpg]

I use Gumout's high mileage cleanout - 2 bottles in 1/2 tank and see results in about 20-25 miles. Seafoam works well in the tank for cleaning too. Basically upping the amount and decreasing the gas increases the strength - works pretty well for me.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Oh and the ones that aren't mostly isopropyl are pretty close to being varsol and laquer thinner. So if the isopropyl doesn't work, mix up a cup of each of those and stick it in.

The on vehicle or off vehicle "professional" cleaning treatments are using kerosene or mineral spirit based stuff. Low octane stuff though, so needs some help if you're gonna be running it through the motor. Basically you can hook up anything that will give you good fuel rail pressure, the motor should be warmed up, uplug the CTS so the timing doesn't advance, add about 10% methanol or isopropyl to keep the octane reasonable, then pump heated varsol or kerosene in at 40 psi or so and run your motor on that for 15 minutes. Be wary of anyone that makes stuff sound like rocket science, unless you're planning a trip to the moon.

[gto78]

I have two more points to bring up, well one's a question actually. Is there a safe formula I can find or use for making my own fuel injector cleaner that runs as the fuel for the engine in my pressure pot? Just like the above post, but I'm not sure I completely understand the proper ingredients.

The other point I wanted to make is that when you send the injectors out, they will themselves get a much better service but the combustion chamber and intake valves will not get cleaned at all. By cleaning everything as installed on the engine the valves and chamber also get cleaned.

Both methods have pros and cons, either way it's a maintenance service that gets overlooked by most people. The parts stores promote all the maintenance items that are quick and easy so it doesn't scare off customers- so they make it extremely difficult to find a cleaning machine for injectors and instead sell $7-$18 bottles of magic potions that really don't work.

[Snax]

Originally Posted by StorminMatt

Then again, there is a problem with places like these: vehicle downtime. You have to figure that it is probably going to take close to a week to ship to one of these places, a few days for cleaning, and close to a week to get your injectors back. Meanwhile, your vehicle just sits. This could potentially be a HUGE problem if you have just one car. Or, it could force you to drive a less economical vehicle for a couple of weeks. Regardless, it is just not convenient to ship off injectors. Having a way to clean them at home would be a HUGE advantage. At least if there is not a place that can clean them locally.

I agree that it is less convenient, but RCE is claiming a typical turnaround of 24 hours and Witchhunter is claiming 2-3 days, so 'a couple of weeks' should be at the extreme outside. But like Bob suggests, how will you know if one of your injectors is leaky or not responding properly?

I've actually melted a piston because of a restricted injector. You won't know anything is wrong with it unless you actually test it.

Regardless, you may be able to find a local place to handle it. Just be sure to arrange it in advance with them for quick turnaround, and you could potentially only be out of action for only a day.

[8307c4]

I wonder if this isn't what those guys running acetone through experienced?

On another note, I have only ever had this dirt problem running most any 87 octane, possibly some off the wall 93's but if the car can run a decent premium I have never had dirt build up.

[gto78]

I honestly only know one person in the last 20 years who's had a bad fuel injector. In fact the injector wasn't bad, the fuel tank had corroded internally and plugged the injector so badly it had to be replaced along with the fuel tank and complete system flush. My cousin works full time at a dealer for over 12 years and sees bad injectors occasionally. They do two possible things... one is stay open and hydrolock the cylinder when the car's turned off- or they just don't work at all in which case the CEL comes on and tells you misfire on cylinder X and also sometimes injector X failed the resistance test. Partially failing injectors are usually just dirty. It is possible for partial bad nozzles but rare as far as I've personally seen.

[GasSavers_Dust]

I would like to know what you built.
I found this site
http://iecoklahoma.com/ficoverview.aspx

Here are some others

http://www.dans-website.com/images/assembly2.JPG

http://www.clubgp.com/newforum/tm.as...&key=injector+
This is the kit that started the IEC oklahoma one

and I was also considering something similar to what you are talking about
a few years back.

After looking at the above kit, then going to Autozone to price it out, I noticed that the r-12 recharge kits. If you could find a cheap pressurized inector cleaner, like the Berryman or others, you could side tap the can, then use the r-12 kit to convert from it to the schrader valve on top of your fuel rail.

[gto78]

I originally bought a can of 3M pressurized cleaner but couldn't find an adapter kit for under $200. So I looked around for a can tap and never found one. I was also worried that it might leak and waste the contents. I finally decided to make my own that was reusable. The other reason for my decision for a reusable was because my cousin has access to the professional cleaner at a low price. The pressurized cans tend to run out of pressure before they're empty of fluid and also aren't controllable in psi like the refillable units. I like being able to crank mine up to 50 psi if I want to.

[GasSavers_Dust]

do you have pics of your setup?

I have seen someone who went really ghetto, using PVC and some fittings. Pressurize the pipe to push all of it through.

[gto78]