Has anyone clogged a fuel filter using shock dosage of Fuel Power?

[Thomas Pyrek]

I just recently bought an 87 CRX. Immediately upon driving it I added fuel power in shock dosage. 430 miles on that and ran the tank virtually dry. Added 10 more gallons and 2 oz of FP. By mile 550 I lost all power above 2500 rpm.


The problem is leading itself to 2 places, either the carb or the fuel filters. Now, I'm willing to bet that the fuel filter has all of the cars 213,009 miles on it. I've already ordered new filters as that was on the secondary stuff of list to replace (important stuff like t-belt and signals were first).


Nonetheless, has anyone ever clogged a filter doing this stuff?

 

[Jackpot01]

I just added the second shock dose to my Focus on Friday. No ill effects here and I run my gas till the light comes on. I will say it makes the car idle real nice and seems to be getting great mileage on this tank.

Eric

 

[Palut]

After 1000 miles of FP, beginning with a shock dose, my fuel filter was very, very clogged. However, this was the original fuel filter, so I don't know if it was gunked up with 130,000 miles of crap, or with FP stuff. I'm pretty sure that it was the 130,000 miles of crap though.

 

[kreigle]

Haven't clogged any filters, but a shock dose in my brothers '83 SAAB turbo with CIS injection clogged all his injectors. Since Bosch CIS injectors have no filter screens, he had to buy a new set

Fuel Power isn't going anywhere near his car again.

 

[MolaKule]

Just a logical recommendation, but if you haven't changed the fuel filter in your car and are using a (any) fuel system cleaner, it is always a good idea to change fuel filters.

If SAAB's are that poorly designed, I wouldn't use ANY fuel system cleaner in them.

 

[LCD]

I would bet his '83 Saab had some serious build up and it was caused by water in the fuel or carbon building up.

FP would never cause this to happen.

 

[LCD]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Thomas Pyrek:
I just recently bought an 87 CRX. Immediately upon driving it I added fuel power in shock dosage. 430 miles on that and ran the tank virtually dry. Added 10 more gallons and 2 oz of FP. By mile 550 I lost all power above 2500 rpm.


The problem is leading itself to 2 places, either the carb or the fuel filters. Now, I'm willing to bet that the fuel filter has all of the cars 213,009 miles on it. I've already ordered new filters as that was on the secondary stuff of list to replace (important stuff like t-belt and signals were first).


Nonetheless, has anyone ever clogged a filter doing this stuff?

---

Per Terry:

It could but I doubt it. The filter was already loaded, with crap. FP will
clean and get rid of the water and allow it to be burned and that may have
been artificially suspending the more solid junk and when gone allowed it to
block the filter off.

Bottom line the filter needed changed.

 

[Pablo]

My K-Jet 1985 Volvo Turbo with 250,000 miles runs like a raped ape on shock PLUS dosages of FP. Never plugged a filter or plugged an injector.

Filters are just regular maintenance items, I guess with the other regular stuff on my car I never had enough crud build up....

 

[Terry]

kriegle, I have used FP in some of the most sensitive and dirty fuel sysytems you can imagine and haven't seen a failure event like that.

I seriously doubt that increased cleanliness and lubricity failed the injectors.

Was the primary fuel filter removed or working at all ?

How did the injectors ahd engine function BEFORE FP?

What specifically was the shock dosage ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[tmorris1]

Couldn't this has cleaned crap out of the fuel tank and caused the filter to plug up. I have seen that when ethanol was first used in older vehicles around here. Apparently the ethanol loosened up the film that was built up in the gas tank from years of use and plugged the fuel filters. My uncle had a truck that did this. He changed the filter about once a month until it eventually cleaned all the crap out of the tank.

 

[LCD]

I would doubt it as FP dissolves carbon. It does not break off chunks like most fuel system cleaners do.

LC and FP are unique in that they dissolve carbon and varish build up.

 

[axjohn]

Molakule and others!
I drive a 1995 Saab 900S with over 177,000 miles on it, and it runs like a French soldier on FP! No other additive I have ever used has made this car run like it does on FP. So I'd say something else was wrong with the over 20 year old car with lots of other things wrong with it (possibly) that FP got blamed for. I just wish I'd found FP and AutoRX YEARS ago!.

And yes, I decided to do a little test, since I've been using FP for about 9 months now. I use the same gas, same driving routine, but without FP, for 6 tanks of gas (so that the computer is really readjusted), and it's a test I won't soon revisit. Can't believe its the same car; just seems sluggish and unresponsive. Chevron gas.

FP definitely has a lifelong customer in me, as long as it's sold.

 

[kreigle]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Terry:
kriegle, I have used FP in some of the most sensitive and dirty fuel sysytems you can imagine and haven't seen a failure event like that.

I seriously doubt that increased cleanliness and lubricity failed the injectors.

Was the primary fuel filter removed or working at all ?

How did the injectors ahd engine function BEFORE FP?

What specifically was the shock dosage ?

Thanks in advance.

---

Fuel filter I think is only 20k miles on it.

He just installed rebuilt engine in this car 3 months ago, along with a rebuilt turbo, and the injectors patterned just fine then. He was averaging 31 mpg on a 150 mi/day commute for the two months before I added the FP; after the treatment he started having cold start problems, which were traced to a cold start valve plugged with hard brownish-black flakes.

Within 2 weeks his gas mileage dropped to 24 mpg and the car started loosing power and running rough, so he pulled the injectors out of the manifold to test the spray pattern and 2 of them shot solid streams; none of the injectors produced the proper "mist" pattern that the replacement injectors did.

Was able to knock some of the flakes out of the injectors, but since they are mechanical, we couldn't back-flush them to clear them out.

[ December 01, 2004, 03:25 PM: Message edited by: kreigle ]

 

[kreigle]

quote:

---

Originally posted by lcd:
I would bet his '83 Saab had some serious build up and it was caused by water in the fuel or carbon building up.

FP would never cause this to happen.

---

There was NO carbon in the intake side of this engine. This car has had a water injection system in use on it for about 20k miles now, and the combustion chambers were virtually spotless when the head came off.

The injectors patterned just fine when the engine was re-installed in the car.

 

[Terry]

Whether there are screens at the injectors or not is not the issue, there has got to be some filter between the gas tank and the injector that SHOULD have captured that trash. Eventually that gunk would have caused problems whether using FP or not.

Using Chevron with techron would do the same thing as FP.

The new injectors are at as much risk as the earlier ones from contamination if filtering is nil.

Filter ? Changed ? If not get him to replace it.

Water injection for 20K miles ? What formula of water fluid is used. Theres your issue not FP. How does he filter the Water injection ?
No offense Kreigle but I am always amazed how we slowly find this kind of contributory info out after the initial post.

[ December 01, 2004, 03:58 PM: Message edited by: Terry ]

 

[kreigle]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Terry:
Whether there are screens at the injectors or not is not the issue, there has got to be some filter between the gas tank and the injector that SHOULD have captured that trash. Eventually that gunk would have caused problems whether using FP or not.

Using Chevron with techron would do the same thing as FP.

The new injectors are at as much risk as the earlier ones from contamination if filtering is nil.

Filter ? Changed ? If not get him to replace it.

Water injection for 20K miles ? What formula of water fluid is used. Theres your issue not FP. How does he filter the Water injection ?
No offense Kreigle but I am always amazed how we slowly find this kind of contributory info out after the initial post.

---

This car uses a mechanical fuel injection system with a canister filter between the fuel pump and the fuel distributor. If this stuff came from the tank, then why aren't the plungers in the fuel distributor plugged/jammed?

As far as the water injection, he is using distilled water with a little commercially available denatured alcohol (only to keep it from freezing), using a fuel filter from a model airplane fuel tank in the water line with a 4psi fuel pump pulling the water. The water pump is hooked to a 1-2psi pressure switch so it only runs when the engine is under boost.


BTW this is nonsequitor; how is it you think water in the intake manifold is going to backwards through a constant-flow injector and get back up into the fuel lines to cause anything to form in the fuel system??????
I don't follow that logic at all!!

Nothing that is in the water injection is going to get into the fuel system.

[ December 01, 2004, 06:06 PM: Message edited by: kreigle ]

 

[Thomas Pyrek]

quote:

---

Originally posted by lcd:
I would doubt it as FP dissolves carbon. It does not break off chunks like most fuel system cleaners do.

LC and FP are unique in that they dissolve carbon and varish build up.

---

This is what I thought. That's why I considered this absurd and posted the question.

Fuel filters were already on the list when this happened. I'm still getting that $250 car sorted out (no more electrical gremlins, though!).

 

[kreigle]

quote:

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Originally posted by Terry:
[QB] Tom, sorry to hijack this thread.

---

My apologies also. I never intended to start a drawn-out discussion.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Terry:
FP is gentle enough by design not to damage injector and other fuel side components. It can scavange smaller deposits but will not carry them past a fuel filter. It cannot remove metal or coatings. It could theoretically clog a fuel filter from other type deposits but I haven't seen it.
That trash in the distributor portion could move through and get to the injectors as the clearances in the dist are larger than the clearances in the injectors themselves.

---

That is what he was hinting. He said that what he cleaned out of the cold start valve looked like varnish deposits that lifted off and broke up. These flakes were fairly large and resembled paint chips.

quote:

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Originally posted by Terry:
I am not casting blame but want to make sure the last thing you did or added is not incorrectly blamed for the issue.

---

I wasn't intending to lay blame either, just recounting my experience.

He ran 4-5 tanks of gas in the 2 weeks after the treatment, and so far about 1/2 tank after the new injectors. The car hasn't been driven since Thanksgiving as he switches off between 2 cars to reduce wear and tear. I'm not sure I have access to the old injectors for examination.

quote:

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Originally posted by Terry:
You never answered the "shock" treat level of FP used ?

---

5 oz in 16 gal tank

Anyway; to put this back on topic:

1991 Honda Prelude 175k mi - initial 5oz/16gal dose followed by multiple 2oz/5gal doses (not consecutively), no clogged filters.

2001 Honda Civic LX 30k mi (wife's) - 2oz/5gal initial dose does not appear to have affected filter.

 

[Terry]

Tom, sorry to hijack this thread.

quote:

---

BTW this is nonsequitor; how is it you think water in the intake manifold is going to backwards through a constant-flow injector and get back up into the fuel lines to cause anything to form in the fuel system??????
I don't follow that logic at all!!

---

Kreigle, I don't think that is happening at all from your description.

I do think that trash or corrosion got to the injectors some how and they clogged not because of FP use but because they were about to fail/clog anyaway.Possibly from both the fuel side and the CC side.

FP is gentle enough by design not to damage injector and other fuel side components. It can scavange smaller deposits but will not carry them past a fuel filter. It cannot remove metal or coatings. It could theoretically clog a fuel filter from other type deposits but I haven't seen it.
The fuel filter having 20K on it is too long on a older car with inevitable trash in the system. I think the filter is allowing trash through.

That trash in the distributor portion could move through and get to the injectors as the clearances in the dist are larger than the clearances in the injectors themselves. There is a centrifugal filtering capabilty in this system for large stuff but I think the Dist sent it on through.

I think that the water injection is a non player on the fuel side but makes me very suspicious about the failed fuel injector, tip condition. Moisture, alcohol and cycles of heating and cooling would have a tendency to affect them negatively. The fact that the intake area and valves are really clean tells me more injected water was used than just infrequently or in small doses.

I also wonder if water vapor from the intake ( if the injection system is malfunctioning) could be getting tracked/sucked in over time to the Fuel Vapor recovery system, or fuel recirc allowing water formation in the system , kind of through the backdoor. Just a theory.

I've seen this when a checkvalve sticks or the vapor canister system fills with fuel and associated contamination.


I am not casting blame but want to make sure the last thing you did or added is not incorrectly blamed for the issue.

I am afraid that you will clog the new injectors and I don't want to see that happen.

You never answered the "shock" treat level of FP used ?

Sincerely, Terry

 

[jeepzj]

After reading this post about clogged fuel filter it got me thinking of my situation. I own a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo currently has 87K miles. The fuel pump is in the gas tank along with the fuel filter. The fuel pump and filter comes as one unit. Should I be worried about FP clogging my fuel filter? Afterall, in my situation, it's not just a matter of easily replacing the fuel filter. I would have to drop the tank and replace the entire fuel pump unit since the filter is attached. As a side note, I've occassionally used Redline fuel system cleaner over the life of the Jeep with no problems.