Can fuel injector cleaner damage oxygen sensors?

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Our 07 Toyota Sienna just had its oxygen sensor replaced recently and I've been running bioplus fuel injector cleaner in it religiously. Only 35K on the clock. Seems like a pretty short lifespan. Can this be related to the injector cleaner?
 
Originally Posted By: VeeDubb
Our 07 Toyota Sienna just had its oxygen sensor replaced recently and I've been running bioplus fuel injector cleaner in it religiously. Only 35K on the clock. Seems like a pretty short lifespan. Can this be related to the injector cleaner?


Just how religious are you? Every tankful, every 3000 miles? How is it being used?

I'm guessing it was changed under warranty?

AD
 
Yes, it can, all depends on how "concentrate" you use and how frequent you use.

Most gasoline esp. Top Tier ones already came with sufficient fuel additives to keep all the injectors and ports clean even with 87 octane pump fuel, and as a result I have cut down my use of OTC fuel injector cleaners to about once every 2~3yrs. We know are car's emission conditions simply because all our cars registered/operated here have to go through a mandated annual/2-year emissions testings on dyno, and for that I know how well our fuel brands/fuel injectors and emissions control components are as far as health's concerned.

I would strongly against frequent use of OTC FI for if you look at UOA you can see that it will raise the lead/copper and many other metal's reading considerably. To me that is a sign of causing damage to certain internal engine components. Besides: my analogy goes like this: if you have elevated blood glucose level problem, then why spike it every now and then with a can of regular classic coke? Similarly, with enough additives to keep your ports, intake valves and injectors clean already, why spike your gas with additional FI cleaner?

Q.
 
Thanks for the tips.

I'm running maintenance does of (1 oz) of bioplus every other tank or so. Then about once every three months, I run a clean-up dose (2 ozs). But I'll probably start cutting back since I run top-tier gas.

And yes, the oxygen sensor was replaced under warranty. They told me it'd be a $1500 job outside of warranty. Ouch.
 
I think you might be over doing it. A treatment every 15,000 miles for a higway driven car should be good, stop and go driver maybe every 5000 miles, always before an oil change. A good quality gas will keep things fairly clean, but that also depends a lot on how the car is driven. JMO
 
Unless your burning cheap gas like Cosco you shouldn't have to use any fuel injection cleaner.

The reason I said Cosco gas is because about 2 years ago the Miami area was asking gas companies about how well their detergents keep fuel injectors clean..After repeated phone calls to Cosco they refused to answer that question..It doesn't seem to stop people from getting Cosco gas because the station is always packed..Its about 3 cents cheaper then the Mobil station that I use right next door.
 
Burn good gasoline and use maybe 2 treatments a year at the most.

I see from the site that it is 1 oz per 15.7 gallons and 2 oz every 15.7 gallons for clean up purposes with a max 12 oz per 20 gallons for sticking valves.
 
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Originally Posted By: VeeDubb
Our 07 Toyota Sienna just had its oxygen sensor replaced recently and I've been running bioplus fuel injector cleaner in it religiously. Only 35K on the clock. Seems like a pretty short lifespan. Can this be related to the injector cleaner?


It's a coincidence IMO. I have been using the same fuel additive at every fill up in my Santa Fe for a lot longer than you without any ill effects.

I did however replace 1of4 O2-sensors a couple of weeks ago but I don't believe it had anything to do with the additive I used for the last 50K KM (30K Miles).

I have over 170K KM on my truck and have still all original 02 sensors up until the one went a couple of weeks ago so I think this was related to age and not the additive.

Make sure you are treating at 1oz per 10 US Gallons of fuel.
 
Some gas stations will put water in their gas,One place in my area did this and got caught doing this.Another place is doing this and has not been caught doing this.Be easy on the fuel injector cleaner.
 
Originally Posted By: wafrederick1
Some gas stations will put water in their gas,One place in my area did this and got caught doing this.Another place is doing this and has not been caught doing this.Be easy on the fuel injector cleaner.


Have the story link about the one they caught?

Wow , I would imagine that the state AG would be involved in this because it is a fraudluant business practice not to mention just flat out criminal. They're not only cheating you out of money they are likely damaging your property.
 
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This was about 4 or 5 years ago and the gas station that got caught was fined for it and I believe it was by the state of Michigan.Somehow the Media did not get this story.
 
What are the contents in Bio-Plus? I'd guess:
1. Ashless dispersant (should be safe)
2. Solvents (should be safe)
3. Small % of vegetable oil or derivative (should be safe and produce insignificant contribution to carbon when burned)
4. Ashless antioxidants (should be safe)

So I can't imagine the Bio-Plus was responsible. Maybe I'm missing something and am all ears.

When I inspected the 02 sensor in my GTI with ~100K miles on it, the deposits on it were white and crusty which is likely from the metallic elements in the motor oil that burned. It gets too hot for carbon to stay there.

You could put some of the additive in a metal container and burn it to see what's left behind. Ignore the carbon because it will form in open air burning but the O2 sensor is too hot for it to stick there. Look for metallic ash in the container when the burning is done. I did this with Lube Control FP+ and found no metallic ash. Some carbon and very thin layer of varnish are what remained.
 
Originally Posted By: VeeDubb
Thanks for the tips.

I'm running maintenance does of (1 oz) of bioplus every other tank or so. Then about once every three months, I run a clean-up dose (2 ozs). But I'll probably start cutting back since I run top-tier gas.

And yes, the oxygen sensor was replaced under warranty. They told me it'd be a $1500 job outside of warranty. Ouch.


A $1500 job to replace an oxygen sensor????? Stay away from that dealer. I bet the dealer wants to replace the catalytic converter as well.
 
Originally Posted By: wafrederick1
Some gas stations will put water in their gas,One place in my area did this and got caught doing this.Another place is doing this and has not been caught doing this.Be easy on the fuel injector cleaner.


They must have added water and alcohol because adding water alone would not work. The gas in their storage tanks would float on top of the water. The only customers who got ripped off would be those who came as the storage tanks began to run low. Those customers would not be able to drive far because their cars would be running on pure water, after the fuel in their fuel lines ran out.
 
I'm sorta leaning with JAG here. I've dosed many a tank with more stuff than any 50 normal users would do in a few years. I've never seen anything on the 02 sensors. I mean they didn't look pristine, but no deposits ..a little soot, maybe.

I've used Bio+ on a treat rate of 1oz/tank for extended times. Never any unfavorable outcome from the use ..as I've used Gumout Regane and Amsoil PI(from here on out). Constant adds are a pain ..but that's just me and my "set it and forget it" lazy theme.

Anything is possible. We have seen some odd UOA's where fuel treatments were involved, but I imagine that it's the shock nature of the treatment. I don't know how we can determine that the readings are "damage", per se~. I mean, you have to do something if one is experiencing CCDI or excessive knock. There the benefits outweigh any alleged risks.

VeeDub: O2 sensors can and do go bad prematurely. I understand you getting nervous with a $1500 future speculative tab on the line. All I can say is that with all the sacrificial lambs that I've sent to slaughter in this fuel treatment thing, I've never had an O2 sensor suffer as collateral damage.

Naturally, YMMV
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