About every 6 months I have to have the fuel injectors in my Pontiac Montana cleaned at the dealership. I get a bad miss with a flashing check engine light. I get the injectors cleaned and it runs great. The dealer says that it is because of fuel quality and they do about 30 a week. Are GM injectors prone to this? My Ford doesn't have this problem and it runs the same fuel. Of course he didn't have an answer when I told him that. They only charge $40 or $50 to get them cleaned so it isn't terribly expensive. Anyone else experience this?
GM Fuel Injectors
- Thread starter tmorris1
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i can't say what type of injectors are in your specific vehicle, but there generally is a difference in ford vs gm injectors.
most fords use pintle-style injectors, and a lot of gm cars i've seen have disk-type injectors.
i also can't say which, if either, is better. they have tradeoffs. fwiw, though, my vette came with disk-type injectors, and i never had any problems with them at all. ditto my camaro, it had the original injectors in it after 165k miles, and i don't even recall ever running a bottle of cleaner through it.
-michael
most fords use pintle-style injectors, and a lot of gm cars i've seen have disk-type injectors.
i also can't say which, if either, is better. they have tradeoffs. fwiw, though, my vette came with disk-type injectors, and i never had any problems with them at all. ditto my camaro, it had the original injectors in it after 165k miles, and i don't even recall ever running a bottle of cleaner through it.
-michael
The problem is not the injectors it's where you live. MN mandates that all gasoline have 10% ethanol in it. Ethanol tends to go bad quickly and gums things up really bad. It's most evident in small engines like snow blowers and lawn mowers. How much do you drive and how often do you fill up your tank. FP seems to help with bad gas, and it definitely cleans the injectors. Use it regularly and I bet you can avoid the dealership cleaning.
-T
-T
My father is having a similar problem with his GMC pickup truck. I believe it's a 2000 or 2001. They have replaced numerous injectors numerous times! He is very upset at this. We contacted GMC support and they said that his issue is a known issue that has something to do with the oxygenated fuel used here locally in the Chicago land area. They finally changed out his injectors to a new type and so far he is having no trouble.
This vehicle gets filled up once a week or 2, so the fuel stays pretty fresh. I know that ethanol turns to crap if left too long, but that is over the course of months. My experience is that ethanol works fine, even in small engines, as long as it is fresh. I never use fuel that is not from a sealed can or is more than 30 days old. I read somewhere that when ethanol burns it leaves no deposits behind and can actually help keep an engine clean. I'm guessing this to be true if it is pure fresh ethanol without any contamination. Maybe I will try the Fuel Power, but would like to use something that was available locally. Did you see last week that MN now is trying to push for 20% ethanol in our fuel?
Evidently the Ford injectors are better at cleaning themselves out or they are less prone to clogging because my truck doesn't have this problem.
Evidently the Ford injectors are better at cleaning themselves out or they are less prone to clogging because my truck doesn't have this problem.
Within the past couple of months, I've used Gumout Regane in a GM 3.1L and 4.3L V6, both with over 100,000 miles and no previous use of fuel-system cleaners.
I should also note that it is Gumout's most powerful OTC fuel-system cleaner; according to Gumout, it's four-times more stronger than their "carburetor & fuel injector cleaner".
Both engines showed a good deal of improvement after running Regane for the first time, and I'd recommend it to anyone.
According to Gumout, you should use it every 11 tankfulls.
[ October 11, 2004, 03:59 PM: Message edited by: Jelly ]
I should also note that it is Gumout's most powerful OTC fuel-system cleaner; according to Gumout, it's four-times more stronger than their "carburetor & fuel injector cleaner".
Both engines showed a good deal of improvement after running Regane for the first time, and I'd recommend it to anyone.
According to Gumout, you should use it every 11 tankfulls.
[ October 11, 2004, 03:59 PM: Message edited by: Jelly ]
possible known problem w/ 3.1 and 3.4L GM injectors. Plse see enclosed sight, Page 3.
http://www.lindertech.com/newsletters/nwk9~01.pdf
http://www.lindertech.com/newsletters/nwk9~01.pdf
T-Keith - The problem is not the injectors it's where you live. MN mandates that all gasoline have 10% ethanol in it. Ethanol tends to go bad quickly and gums things up really bad. It's most evident in small engines like snow blowers and lawn mowers.
This is exactly why I mix Sta-Bil in every drop of gasoline for all my small engines, even the outboards.
This is exactly why I mix Sta-Bil in every drop of gasoline for all my small engines, even the outboards.
I'm sure the Stabil will help, but I still don't store anything over 30 days with ethanol in it. The stabil can't stop the moisture absorbtion. Gas with ethanol turns to slime in carbs over time. My sons dirt bike had green slimy stuff like algae covering the float bowl from the previous owner storing the bike with fuel in it.
not that it's pertinent anymore, but i brain-faded. i think some gm uses ball-type, not all disk-type.
also, i don't know what LSx engines use, but those might be pintle.
-m
GM tried ball type injectors in the late 80s and early 90s. Theoretically they shouldn't need cleaning as much because a new surface is sealing each time it closes. However due to the design the coil is submerged in fuel and the insulation is destroyed by fuel cleaners. They switched to pintle style injectors(not sure if this is the same as a "disk" type) in the early 90s. Perhaps the technology has changed and ball type are good now.
-T
-T
As another observation, a relative with a Chevy Trailblazer EXT with the 4.2 has to have an injector cleaning roughly every 9 months. Its run nearly exlcusively on Amoco/BP fuels provded by a jobber to the company pumps. Symptoms are similar, check engine light and a stumbling engine. Injector cleaning cures it.
Dad complains as both his Ford pickups he had before never had that issue... Go figure...
Dad complains as both his Ford pickups he had before never had that issue... Go figure...
A very Timely post! Thanks. My Astro developed an intermittant miss that made the check engine light go on. It went out, but then came back on. Fouled injectors wasn't immediately apparent to me as this in my first fuel injected car (others were a carburated van, MG, and now a TR6). So I was thinking tune-up time even though it's only been maybe 20k miles since the last one. But the intermittant nature of the miss made me try an injector cleaner. First put a can of Seafoam in 1/2 a tank - the fella's at a triumph site like that stuff.
By the end of that tank the miss was gone, but I followed with a double load of Techron just for fun. I mean, it's SO much easier/cheaper than doing an unneeded tune-up. Sounds like the Gumout Regane may be good, too.
By the end of that tank the miss was gone, but I followed with a double load of Techron just for fun. I mean, it's SO much easier/cheaper than doing an unneeded tune-up. Sounds like the Gumout Regane may be good, too.
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