Opinion: Best Fuel Injector/Intake Cleaner

[dkjones96]

There are a lot of users in performance forums that swear by Mopar combustion chamber cleaner.

[Archangelxxll]

i use seafoam everytime i do an oil change. like they said at the begining 1/3 in the oil, gas, and intake. when i changed my valve cover gasket the whole valve train and under the cover was super clean and spotless, unlike my dads that had crud all over it and under the cover. i remember the first time i used it when i got my eg the oil looked all chunky. it was weird. car ran better after that and continues to still. but in all i use it i like it it works for me i recomend it to everyone. unless your engine is so bad already that the sludge and carbon is what stopping leaks and keeping seals, then no. but if not then YES!

[Jay2TheRescue]

Dad used to say that about my old Pontiac wagon. He said never pour "cleaner" in the oil or radiator. He saidby the time you had over 150,000 miles on it, the gunk was what was holding it together. If the oil or radiator were cleaned he said it would leak like crazy.

-Jay

[GasSavers_JoeBob]

I've tried Seafoam, wasn't impressed. Noticed no difference. I've tried many other automotive patent medicines over the years, none has lived up to its hype. I used to use STP (my cars generally have odometers that have turned over once or twice) until I got a long lecture from an old motorcycle mechanic up in Carmel Valley, CA nearly 30 years ago. His contention was that stuff like STP is more likely to gunk up an engine than make it run better.

As for stuff in the radiator...I once bought a really nice, 10 year old Lincoln Continental for about 1/5 the normal going rate. After the weather warmed up, I found out why...the car would overheat. To shorten a long story, turns out that the radiator had several inches of stop-leak residue in the bottom. $45 and a couple hours R&R of the radiator later, the car ran nice and cool, even uphill at 70 mph with the A/C set cold enough to hang meat in the car! That changed my mind about using Bars-Leaks, that copper or aluminum stuff you pour into the radiator, etc.


Maybe in a car that gets <5k miles a year, that has a chance for varnish to form in the fuel system it might help. My cars apparently get enough use that the gasoline never has a chance to dry out. As for sludge, a couple oil changes in quick succession does a pretty fair amount of cleaning. Beyond that, probably best to tear it down, clean it all out and just change your oil on time after that.

[VetteOwner]

i love seafoam, and love smokin up the neighborhood.

i found one line on my s10 that doesnt pull a vacum untill higher rpm, its great so you can limp it down the street then get out on the highway and floor it leaving a huge cloud

i run it thru the crankcase too on my s10. oil seems to come out dark dark black when i do. (usually its a dark brown)

one thing you have to watch about your brake booster line is sometimes it isnt centered on your TB. mine is right between the intake for the 3 and 4 cyl so most of the seafoam went to those 2 cyl (verified this by taking off the upper intake and seeing the clean spot where the line comes in and clean intake tubes while 1 and 2 were still pretty dirty...)

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by JoeBob

To shorten a long story, turns out that the radiator had several inches of stop-leak residue in the bottom. $45 and a couple hours R&R of the radiator later, the car ran nice and cool, even uphill at 70 mph with the A/C set cold enough to hang meat in the car!

you're braver and cheaper than me. my wife's car had the same issue a few years back. i just bought a new radiator after fooling w/ the old, dirty one and realizing, like you, that it was gonna take some time. good thing about domestics--cheap parts!

[Jay2TheRescue]

That's one thing I love about domestic vehicles. Years ago (early 90's) a friend of mine from work had a mid to late 70's Honda Accord. He only spent $100 on it. He ended up junking it because the starter went out, and it was over $300 to get a new one. I pissed him off. I told him that Ihad bought a remanufactured starter for my Buick, with a lifetime warranty for $30. (Trak Auto - the car lasted longer than the lifetime warranty!)

[GasSavers_JoeBob]

This was back in the mid '90s, before the miracle of cheap Chinese replacement radiators. The next time I went to get a radiator fixed (for another car), they said they didn't do that anymore, they just sold new ones for $129. More profit, less labor, less hassle dealing with toxic chemicals.

Originally Posted by bowtieguy

you're braver and cheaper than me. my wife's car had the same issue a few years back. i just bought a new radiator after fooling w/ the old, dirty one and realizing, like you, that it was gonna take some time. good thing about domestics--cheap parts!

[markweatherill]

Nail polish remover is typically acetone and water. This mixes with fuel readily (unlike water on its own) and I've had noticeable results from using it in the fuel. It does nothing for mpg while it's in the system in large doses though.

[bowtieguy]

i use acetone in the gas tank w/ a synthetic 2 cycle oil for lube from time to time. my thought was to use seafoam for the other recommended uses because i don't think acetone would work well in a vacuum line or in the crankcase.