Is PEA useful in a DI engine?

Status
Not open for further replies.

pbm

Joined
Apr 19, 2004
Messages
10,206
Location
New York
I have always added Regane, Techron, Redline or some other PEA fuel system cleaner to my tank prior to an oil change.

I'm wondering if this would be a waste in my new 2014 Focus which has DI ?

I'm thinking that the Di would preclude the PEA soaking into (and cleaning) the valves.

What are your thoughts?
 
yes. Keep those injectors and combustion chambers as clean as possible in a DI.
 
Last edited:
I've heard the Focus uses a valve timing strategy that allows the fuel/air mixture to contact the top of the intake valves under certain circumstances. If this is the case, PEA would presumably increase the cleaning power of the fuel/air mixture. Whether it would be enough to matter is a good question.

On the other hand, clean injectors and combustion chambers are a good thing, so it may be worth doing. Based on a long-ago experience, I'm in the camp that PEA should be only be used just before an oil change.
 
Valves don't get soaked in fuel. They traditionally get sprayed with fuel mist by port injectors. The injectors soak in a bit of fuel when the engine is off. Deposits form on the inside of the valve. It gets plenty hot on the flat part of the valve where any deposits will burn off. The inside of the valve is sort of a no man's land where deposits can form from combustion, but it's not hot enough to burn them off. Or at least that's this layman's explanation.

However, you still need to keep injectors clean. Whether you need a miracle in a bottle is another matter. Now that more fuel retailers are participating in the Top Tier program, it may be less of an issue.
 
Ive heard claims that some PEA cleaners like Redline survive combustion to an extent and can be used for DI.

This makes zero sense to me practically, because a hydrocarbon surviving combustion would imply one that must get consumed via the catalytic converter. To me, that would make it not clean air compliant... But Im not an expert on such matters.

So lets assume it does survive, so then there is some minor recirculation via PCV or valve timing overlap or such things? how could a practically sufficient quantity make it to a deposit anyway?
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Ive heard claims that some PEA cleaners like Redline survive combustion to an extent and can be used for DI.

This makes zero sense to me practically, because a hydrocarbon surviving combustion would imply one that must get consumed via the catalytic converter. To me, that would make it not clean air compliant... But Im not an expert on such matters.

So lets assume it does survive, so then there is some minor recirculation via PCV or valve timing overlap or such things? how could a practically sufficient quantity make it to a deposit anyway?

Afton Chemical claims that they use a "Mannich detergent" that works to clean valves on DI engines. They claims it's the backbone of their detergent additives, and I'm guessing they're trying to separate their offerings from the more common PEA-based additives.

Also - PEA isn't a hydrocarbon per se.
 
Originally Posted By: pbm
So which brands use this Afton chemical? "Mannich"

Don't know. That's the difficult thing about fuel additives. Very rarely does the fuel marketer disclose who makes the additives. Very often they'll even use their own name, even though they don't make the additive in-house. You can assume that Chevron develops their own additives in-house. Shell and Exxon-Mobil have their own additive divisions; actually it's a joint venture called Infineum. Afton is one of the major players in the detergent additive market along with Chevron Oronite, Lubrizol, and BASF.

Quote:
http://www.aftonchemical.com/ProductDataSheets/Fuel/HiTEC-6470_PDS.pdf

HiTEC® 6470 is a gasoline performance additive based on Afton’s latest
generation, patented, Mannich detergent technology. HiTEC® 6470 is
formulated to meet the challenges of modern Direct Injection Gasoline
(DIG) technology, whilst continuing to deliver excellent performance in
the traditional Port Fuel Injection (PFI) engine platform.

I'm wondering if the Top Tier or SAE standards will eventually include DI engines for their testing. That could force a change to something different than PEA. I believe the testing engine for Top Tier is one with port injection.
 
Jimzz..the crc product works great in my 12 hyundai accent with DI. I will be using the crc di cleaner spray in my lexus rx350 as the results are fantastic with everything I have tried it on so far. I use this in conjunction with E 0 gas and redline si1 as well as pennzoil ultra with 4-5k oci. I have added 80k miles in 13 months and the throttle body looks flawless. Mpg right now is between 38-40.
 
Go to YouTube and check out some videos by fordtechmakuloco.

He is supposed to be a Ford service tech, and has called Ford engineers concerning these same types of questions. Assuming you believe him to be who he says, there is some pretty interesting information about deposits in the EcoBoost engines. He's posted a couple different videos on the topic. I just don't get why he has to sit in a car.....(watch the videos. You'll understand what I'm saying.)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top