Use Fuel System Cleaner Now or Wait

[SatinSilver]

Till this oci is complete? Just had an oil change and was wondering if I should wait till the next one or do it now. Had a loose heat shield on the car and took it in for repair. Had an oil change done since I was 500 miles from getting another one. 05 Toyota Matrix with 70k miles that mostly gets Shell. Never used a fuel system cleaner before on this car.

Pretty much same situation on my dad's 12 Camry that just got on oil change with 30k on the clock. Mostly gets Costco fuel and never used any fuel system cleaner on this car before. The gets Toyota syn 0w20 with 10k oci's. Thanks!

 

[walk23]

Now,

 

[dparm]

Many people say you should do it towards the end of your oil change interval, though I've done it at the beginning as well with no ill effects. May as well use it now.

 

[salesrep]

Now

 

[SatinSilver]

Ok great, that's what I was hoping to hear. Any good deals on any of the top ones right now? I just searched the deals section and didn't see anything.

 

[JethroBodine]

now

 

[redhat]

AAP has Chevron Techron BOGO until tomorrow, then for August they have $5 off. But to see what size you're getting the discount on we'll have to wait for the ad to come out on the 1st.

I'm planning on throwing a bottle of Techron in my tank when I gas up to go to Lake Placid next Monday.

 

[wag123]

Originally Posted By: redhat
AAP has Chevron Techron BOGO until tomorrow, then for August they have $5 off. But to see what size you're getting the discount on we'll have to wait for the ad to come out on the 1st.

I'm planning on throwing a bottle of Techron in my tank when I gas up to go to Lake Placid next Monday.

Techron doesn't work as well if you put it in the tank and run through the entire tank of fuel on the highway. It works better with numerous warm-up cycles and stop-and-go city type driving.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: wag123
Originally Posted By: redhat
AAP has Chevron Techron BOGO until tomorrow, then for August they have $5 off. But to see what size you're getting the discount on we'll have to wait for the ad to come out on the 1st.

I'm planning on throwing a bottle of Techron in my tank when I gas up to go to Lake Placid next Monday.

Techron doesn't work as well if you put it in the tank and run through the entire tank of fuel on the highway. It works better with numerous warm-up cycles and stop-and-go city type driving.


I agree completely. The longer it stays in the lines and tank the more effective it cleans.
A highway run emptying the tank in a few hours may help the injectors but that's it. It needs to have varying pressure fluctuations,not setting cruise control which keeps fuel pressure stable.
Common sense says city driving will clean better because if the pump having to go full blast then slow,then full blast.
A good highway run for 15 minutes at the end if the tank at 4500 rpm should finish up the cleaning cycle nicely

 

[redhat]

Didn't give that much thought. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[BearZDefect]

Quote:
.... city driving will clean better because if the pump having to go full blast then slow,then full blast.
...

I thought that the fuel pump operates at a steady pace (unless voltage drops at idle) and it is the fuel pressure regulator that adds restriction at the return line after the fuel rail to change the pressure at the injectors. And increased fuel delivery is mostly achieved by keeping the injectors open for longer.

Unless you have a very flat highway, highway cruising will also vary fuel delivery as you travel up and down hills. In any case, I do agree that multiple city drive cycles are probably more effective with a tank of PEA treated gasoline.

 

[gathermewool]

I'm glad you asked this. I'm not sure it has ever been covered here before.

Originally Posted By: BearZDefect
Quote:
.... city driving will clean better because if the pump having to go full blast then slow,then full blast.
...

I thought that the fuel pump operates at a steady pace (unless voltage drops at idle) and it is the fuel pressure regulator that adds restriction at the return line after the fuel rail to change the pressure at the injectors. And increased fuel delivery is mostly achieved by keeping the injectors open for longer.

Unless you have a very flat highway, highway cruising will also vary fuel delivery as you travel up and down hills. In any case, I do agree that multiple city drive cycles are probably more effective with a tank of PEA treated gasoline.


i only know that my pump is NOT single speed.

 

[wag123]

Originally Posted By: BearZDefect
Quote:
.... city driving will clean better because if the pump having to go full blast then slow,then full blast.
...

I thought that the fuel pump operates at a steady pace (unless voltage drops at idle) and it is the fuel pressure regulator that adds restriction at the return line after the fuel rail to change the pressure at the injectors. And increased fuel delivery is mostly achieved by keeping the injectors open for longer.

On newer cars most fuel pumps are at least 2-speed, and some are multiple-speed. This is not done to vary the fuel pressure, it is done to vary the flow rate.

 

[BearZDefect]

Thank you for the info on multi-speed fuel pumps. My car is single speed, and I am most familiar with details on vehicles from the 1990s.

I also realize that GDI is another ball game, I was only referring to PFI setups. I should have stated that.

 

[97tbird]

I don't think I ever paid attention to when I am using a fuel system cleaner in regards Oil change interval...
Haven't had any fuel/oil related issues in any vehicles so far...

Interesting about city driving making it work better...never thought of/knew that before; Thanks!

 

[Errtt]

I been using Redline, but when I went to pick up some Techron BOGO I got into a little reading online and seems allowing it in the system longer results in better results.