Racers Formula fuel injector cleaner

[LeakySeals]

I was at Big Lots tonight looking for Gumout all-In-One or Regane. No such luck. But they had row after row of Racers Formula Fuel Injector Cleaner for $2.50 a 12oz bottle, and Racers Formula Gas Treatment for $1.50. I couldn't leave empty handed so I decided to buy the Racers Formula Fuel Injector Cleaner, tossed it in the tank of the old Camry and drove home. About 15 miles. I'm into the PEA adds so i doubt this mystery Big Lots Fuel injector cleaner. But..the old Camry notorious for getting stuck with a low, rough, shaky idle it cant adjust away from..did not do that on the way home. Maybe its playing a octane boost trick on me but the engine responded to it. I wasn't expecting that.

On the front: "Cleans Entire Fuel System, Helps improve Mileage, Increases performance".

On the back: "A high quality, new-tech chemical additive designed to correct the problems caused by clogged, dirty fuel injectors. Helps to eliminate stalling, rough idle, hesitation and mileage loss by cleaning the entire fuel system".

Precautions: "Contains Methyl Alcohol. blah blah..DO NOT breathe vapor" blah blah.. Well I've been breathing the vapor and its very unique. Half skunk, half burnt rubber.

For that price I could put one in per week for a while and really clean it out. Or who knows tomorrow it might not start. But it definitely responded. Idle was smoother. No pinging, all the things this old Camry does from years of oil consumption. As stated I'm pro PEA so I doubt the stuff will do anything, but something good happened. Or maybe I sniffed too much of it.

Anybody familiar with this stuff? Anybody ever heard of it?

 

[MolaKule]

Speaking for myself, I have never heard of it.

It sounds like they put the Racer logo on it for marketing purposes.

 

[getnpsi]

I'm a firm believer in using an inferior product at 10x the dosing. $1.50 bottle hitting it when the gas light comes on should be a fine smack on the butt for the aging camry. I did it to my 1993 v6 and I noticed a difference.

Methanol or any alcohol will help get rid of water in fuel. I do have a question though: If you never fill your tank more than 1/2 to 3/4 way will you potentially have more water in your tank than someone who always fill up completely?

 

[Vikas]

I think you are familiar with the smell of Regane (distinctive fishy burnt) and your description of this El Cheapo smell makes me think it has PEA in it.

 

[LeakySeals]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
I think you are familiar with the smell of Regane (distinctive fishy burnt) and your description of this El Cheapo smell makes me think it has PEA in it.

Nope! Thats why I was there. I've never used the Regane or any of the Gumouts with PEA. Just Redline Si-1 and techron concentrate. Never smelled those because I knew what was in it. my neighbor has a bottle of techron concentrate unopened, I will go down there and talk him into opening it to check.

Car is running very well. Quite impressed. But the real test will be a few subsequent tanks. If the rough idle stays gone for a while, whatever it is did a good job cleaning. Rough idle comes right back, it was an octane trick. I'm tempted to go back and buy a whole bunch of them the car is running so good, but I'm not convinced yet.

 

[Vikas]

I really don't believe it could be octane trick. I just don't believe there is any 10 oz of chemical which can raise the octane by 400 basis points to change 10 gal of gas in your tank from 87 to 91 octane. Even the octane booster bottles don't claim to do that if you read the fine print.

 

[LeakySeals]

Its a 12oz bottle in 15 gals of unleaded. Running real nice today, no intermittent rough idle in drive. Ive tried maxing out the AC a couple of times, I can't get it to start chugging. Maybe its the temperature out. Wish I knew what dead fish smells like. Anyone out there from the greater Lowell, MA area?

 

[Vikas]

I am from that area but I rarely go to Big Lots. Next time I will pick up that bottle. I am always ready to try different fuel system cleaners. Just today, I dumped a Techron 20oz in the 99 Camry as the winter mileage has become atrocious (less than 20mpg) and I had an extra bottle of Techron in the basement.

 

[LeakySeals]

Good idea. I just reset the computer stats for avg mpg to see if there is any difference. Its been getting 25 with 50/50 hwy/city driving. New was 21/29. Add the high miles, not bad I guess.

 

[LeakySeals]

Idle is much better now. Better than its been in 100k. Fans kick on, AC compressor kicks on, idle increases to compensate for load. Fans kick off, it idles down a small amount. Perfect! Before it would be stuck at the low idle and vibrate no matter what I cleaned or replaced. Its a DBW TB so there is no IAC, no EGR. Entirely controlled by sensors. Why is my idle suddenly working after 100k of torment?

I did find a potential vacuum leak shortly before adding the injector cleaner (loose resonator on the air box). Is the ECU re-learning? Probably. But I am also suspecting the valves and combustion chamber were full of deposits from oil consumption leading to bad compression, bad valve seating. While I'm not ready to say this stuff "works", I did buy 4 more for a grand total of $10.

Use the more expensive techron less? or..use cheap fuel injector cleaners like this one more often? or..use both. We know the techron concentrate, some gumouts, si-1 has PEA. We also know they contain a chemical that coats the valves and combustion chamber to prevent new deposits. So maybe bombing it with this or any cheap stuff followed up with a small bottle of the known good stuff is the way to go.

 

[Vikas]

vacuum leak would certainly explain your problems; now if you are of real scientific mind, you will go and loosen the resonator and reproduce the low idle (I personally wouldn't!)

 

[LeakySeals]

Experiment cancelled after 1 bottle. Trying to find any answer to whats in this product, only clue is the label stating "Contains Methyl Alcohol". Researching that yeah, no kidding its running better, no kidding its called "racers formula" fuel injector cleaner. "Methanol Funny Cars" !!! The octane is boosted. But Methanol is also thought to be corrosive to the aluminum and plastic parts of a regular passenger car over time. All alcohols really. So, one bottle wont damage anything, as a matter of fact it ran fantastic and still does. Now we know why partially. Another product tricking us with an alcohol octane boost. Seafoam does that too with its 20% IPA. Makes you think its doing something, gone when the gas boosted octane is gone. For seafoam, the potential for corrosive effects may be countered by the high levels of Pale oil lube. Or IPA is a less corrosive alcohol. Not sure, but at 20% IPA not going there either. Looking like any alcohol can be an issue long term including E15 (see attached article) Time to toss the 4 remaining bottles and move on or back to the more expensive PEA's.

http://www.api.org/news-and-media/news/n...f-vehicles.aspx

 

[Vikas]

Do you believe that the Camry is capable of advancing timing when it finds better gas in the tank? I think not. Besides, the amount of cleaner (probably 12 oz or less) that you have added can not significantly raise the octane. I do agree with you that putting Methyl Alcohol in the car is the bad thing to do.

Your improvement most likely is due to fixing the vacuum leak. Let us know if your next tank without any additive drops the performance or not.

 

[Cuda70383]

so the vac leak was done a few days after the bottle add? or was that done on same day as bottle add?

 

[Vikas]

Quote:
I did find a potential vacuum leak shortly before adding the injector cleaner (loose resonator on the air box).

 

[morris]

some speed shops sell methanol by the gal.