Gas Injector Cleaner additive?

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Mar 23, 2025
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5
Hello,
I'm buying a brand new car next month and want to run a injector cleaner every tank, for optimal performance an reduce deposits.
(Without hurting the engine oil)
What brands should I be looking at? Every company says there the best.....you know how that is.....I'm so confused...

Thanks for your time and help!!
John
 
Hello,
I'm buying a brand new car next month and want to run a injector cleaner every tank, for optimal performance an reduce deposits.
(Without hurting the engine oil)
What brands should I be looking at? Every company says there the best.....you know how that is.....I'm so confused...

Thanks for your time and help!!
John
Using a "top tier" gasoline is all you need to use. They are specifically formulated to provide cleaning agents to prevent deposits and keep injectors clean. Lists of stations and companies can be found on the Top Tier web site.
 
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Injector cleaner every tankful will be very expensive and as Gary said, not necessary if you’re using Top Tier gas. I don’t use injector cleaners in either of my cars and they both have a decent amount of mileage on them and both run great and haven’t lost any MPG.
 
Hello,
I'm buying a brand new car next month and want to run a injector cleaner every tank, for optimal performance an reduce deposits.
(Without hurting the engine oil)
What brands should I be looking at? Every company says there the best.....you know how that is.....I'm so confused...

Thanks for your time and help!!
John
Find and use only your local gas station/stations that sell "Top Tier" gas. Look them up on this website. https://www.toptiergas.com/
 
Yes just use Top Tier fuels from high stations that are always busy and well-lit. Using cleaner every tank is money down the drain and will form varnish due to excessive PEA that blows by into the crankcase.

Only use 1 bottle/treatment of cleaner right before an oil change, and run that tank completely out. I recommend the Gumout Regane (like others mentioned) or BG 44k.
 
Keep in mind, that unless you have a dual injection engine (GDI and Port) that there is little you can do to prevent carbon buildup on the backside of the intake valves. You can run all of the cleaner in the world and if it is going to be a problem, the best you can do is have it walnut blasted when it becomes bad.

Given that you said 'brand new' you're going to have GDI to deal with, hopefully you've got some port injectors as well to keep it at bay.
 
A bottle of cleaner every tank will do more harm than good. If you want to use injector cleaner, once per oil change is much more reasonable if still excessive. Save your money and put it towards premium tires, transmission services, and other things that will help keep your car on the road trouble free for a long time.
 
I use Flash Lube Valve Saver Fluid. It's a lead replacement fluid that lubricates the upper cylinder area and it has side effects of lubricating the in-tank fuel pump and cleaning the injectors.
 
Hello,
I'm buying a brand new car next month and want to run a injector cleaner every tank, for optimal performance an reduce deposits.
(Without hurting the engine oil)
What brands should I be looking at? Every company says there the best.....you know how that is.....I'm so confused...

Thanks for your time and help!!
John

If you're going to use an effective cleaner every tank, you WILL hurt the engine oil.
 
As pretty much everyone else has said, buy your gas from a station which participates in the Top Tier program. All grades sold at a Top Tier station must have the higher levels of detergents compared to the EPA mandated LAC - lowest additive concentration. Top Tier stations can choose to have even higher levels of detergents, usually in their premium offering, but all blends must meet Top Tier's minimums.

Here's a realistic view of fuel injector cleaners from Rick's Free Auto Repair Advice with some of the brands listed by level of PEA, the "active ingredient", so to speak. He also states "Many automakers advise against routine fuel injector cleaning as preventative maintenance, and there’s a reason for that. Because modern fuel injectors and Top Tier fuels don’t cause the kind of fuel injector clogging that the industry saw back in the 80s.".

This is why @ctechbob asked "GDI Only or GDI+Port Injection?". If GDI only, the fuel never passes over the intake valves, so can't clean them compared to non-GDI. Still, running Top Tier gas will cost you nothing more, and certainly isn't going to hurt. Running a cleaner before an oil change is not going to hurt anything, either. Most fuel cleaner products suggests only using once ever several thousand miles. For "daily use", there are upper cylinder lubricants marketed to be used each tank, but if using Top Tier fuel, highly likely not doing anything more than draining your wallet. At best, not hurting anything.

Here is a list shown in the linked article of cleaners having the highest to lowest concentration of PEA. It is not comprehensive, but at the bottom shows how to find the PEA level of other products.

Red Line® SI-1 Complete Fuel System Cleaner POLYETHER AMINE (P.E.A.) 30 – 50%
Chevron Techron Concentrate Plus
01154100-5179P Trade secret 25 – 35 %weight
Gumout Regane High Mileage Fuel System Cleaner POLYETHER AMINE (P.E.A.) 10-30%
Gumout Regane Complete Fuel System Cleaner
POLYETHER AMINE (P.E.A.) 10-30%
Gumout All-In-One Complete Fuel System Cleaner
POLYETHER AMINE (P.E.A.) 10-30%
Lucas Oil 10512 Deep Clean Fuel System Cleaner
POLYETHER AMINE (P.E.A.) 10-30%
Royal Purple MAX-CLEAN Fuel System Cleaner and Stabilizer
POLYOLEFIN ALKYL PHENOL ALKYL AMINE 5.0 – 15.0
Sea Foam Concentrated Fuel Injector Cleaner
Polyolefin alkyl phenol alkyl amine 5 – 10%
Gumout One-N-Done Complete Fuel System Cleaner
POLYETHER AMINE (P.E.A.) 3-7%
STP® Super Concentrated Fuel Injector Cleaner
Polyolefin alkyl phenol alkyl amine 1-5%
Gumout Fuel Injector Cleaner
POLYETHER AMINE (P.E.A.) 0.1-1%
Gumout High Mileage Fuel Injector Cleaner
POLYETHER AMINE (P.E.A.) 0.1-1%

According to the manufacturers’ safety data sheets, these brands’ fuel system cleaners do NOT include the above-listed cleaners:

Berryman B-12CHEMTOOL TOTAL FUEL SYSTEM CLEAN-UP
BG BG 44K
Sea Foam Motor Treatment
These products consist mainly of solvents like Naphtha, Stoddard solvent, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, and naphthalene.

If in doubt, search for the cleaner name followed by “SDS” to read the company’s safety data sheet. Scroll down to Section 3 Composition/information on ingredients.
 
I tend to agree that reasonable amounts of detergent additive in the fuel is reasonable. And it's not just injectors but valve cleanliness. I know there's talk that perhaps with DI the spray isn't necessarily getting on the valves, but I believe at least some fuel hits the valves, although it's probably not as much. That along with some systems that blend port injection with DI.

That being said, there was a time when I'd put up with fuels that may not have had high levels of detergent. I had a place where I could get a 15 oz bottle of Red Line SI-1 for less than $4. Not sure what the deal was with the place that sold it other than they always had a great price on it. I'd prep older bottles of it with small amounts for an estimated amount of fuel. They didn't specifically recommend that on the label, but previously they would recommend 1.5 oz per 10 gallons of fuel as a maintenance dose. They even had lines on the label to mark each 10 gallon dose, although the lines weren't very accurate.
 
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