Neglected motor -- back-to-back doses?

[dparm]

Motor is a 3.5L Honda V6 (SOHC VTEC) in an 02 Odyssey. Only 23k miles and has seen irregular oil changes with cheap dino oil and probably lots of lousy gas. Most trips are just a few miles across town and the vehicle sits for extended periods. Very rarely gets up to temp or even out on the freeway. Only about 23,000 miles!

I dumped in a bottle of Techron concentrate and filled the gas tank (25 gal). For a very neglected motor, should I run the tank down and do another dose of Techron? This is a company-owned van so I can't do anything too nuts like AutoRX or Seafoam or whatever.

The dealer also mentioned there was significant carbon buildup.

 

[demarpaint]

I've done back to back doses of FI cleaner in attempt to resolve problems for myself or friends. I would suggest doing it before a planned oil change though.

 

[dparm]

I did the initial dose right before an oil change. I can do the second one right after. Or, I can just return the extra bottles I bought and move on.

Dealer of course wants to sell me some Valvoline cleaning service.

 

[robshelton]

I'd wait until the fuel light comes on and put two bottles of Techron in the tank. Run it as long as you can, like on the way to the gas station and then add another bottle of Techron before filling up. Or use Redline fuel system cleaner if you can find it in the same quantities. If you use Redline, you can add some to each tank of gas and it will help clean your intake valves and combustion chambers. I suppose you can run some Techron in each tank too, but I haven't read the directions for a long time, so YMMV. Of course it's smart to do an oil change just after the injection cleaning, so good timing is important.

 

[Vikas]

I have used strong dosage of fuel system cleaners without any problems.

 

[VicL]

If you want to do back-to-back cleaners, you might consider alternating types of cleaners.

A routine such as: Techron - MMO - Regane - Seafoam.
The Techron and Regane are both PEA based. The MMO and Seafoam both have the same solvents. I suspect (no proof) that the different cleaners may have different effects on crud in the fuel system and engine. This is my personal routine when I buy a used vehicle, usually by the 2nd tank there is a noticeable difference in smoothness.

Vic