Do fuel system cleaners dissolve dirt in filters?

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If the extremely low concentrations of solvents in fuel system and injector cleaners added to a tank of gas are able to dissolve anything, then it also means dirt trapped in fuel filters would also be dissolved.

This would mean the newly dissolved contaminants would then be burned in the engine. So it might be a good idea to change the fuel filter before adding fuel system cleaners.
 
Originally Posted By: ledslinger
If the extremely low concentrations of solvents in fuel system and injector cleaners added to a tank of gas are able to dissolve anything, then it also means dirt trapped in fuel filters would also be dissolved.

This would mean the newly dissolved contaminants would then be burned in the engine. So it might be a good idea to change the fuel filter before adding fuel system cleaners.


I think, if you are close to the fuel filter change interval, its better to do it after the cleaner. The cleaner will also clean your fuel tank, possibly loading up the filter.
 
I think fuel system cleaners remove the stuff formed by the heat of the engine and combustion deposits. I doubt any of those deposits would make their way back to the fuel filter. I have seen a few in-tank fuel pumps with filter, and they don't look like they have any type of carbon, varnish, or other residue.
 
Originally Posted By: ledslinger
If the extremely low concentrations of solvents in fuel system and injector cleaners added to a tank of gas are able to dissolve anything, then it also means dirt trapped in fuel filters would also be dissolved.

This would mean the newly dissolved contaminants would then be burned in the engine. So it might be a good idea to change the fuel filter before adding fuel system cleaners.


If I use one of these products 1 or 2 times a year would that make the ff a lifetime filter?
 
No. Injector cleaner and fuel system cleaners clean up varnish deposits and alike, stuff that might build up in a filter.

More likely to be in your filter though, is crud from inside the tank, rust, silt, debris, stuff from the gas station etc.

And that is all solids, so its pretty difficult to dissolve that with fuel cleaners.

But run fuel cleaners before you change the filter. All the stuff it (could) break loose will get captured by the filter if its gonna break loose.
 
What Fuel system cleaner do you all recomend????
I heard that the origional BMW cleaner is good (Recommended every 5000 miles)
Also REDLINE fuel system cleaner is good. (Recommended every 3000 miles)

Any experience with these?
 
Pretty sure BMW, GM, and some others are all Techron. Same bottle shape, different labels.

22810d1204348594-bmw-fuel-system-cleaner-techron-bmwtechron.jpg
 
No, it will not break up all types of dirt. There are contaminants such as sand, rust, and clay that we call "solvent insolubles" when analyzing dirt in our lab.

Injector cleaners are good for soft deposits. You'll need to use services like Hurst Injector (site sponsor) who reverse flushes the injectors to get rid of the non-soluble contaminants.
 
Most particles will stay in the filter, some very minute particles may get through.
One example i have seen is galvanizing coating residue from a new tank. The particles were so small they not only got past the main fuel filter but the internal filters in the injectors.

These particles accumulated and clogged the injectors so bad the ECM tried to add fuel to the point it flooded the other cylinders and threw a misfire code code on the really plugged up one.
The filter must be removed and the particulates flushed backwards out of the injector.

Varnish is the most common contaminate and is easily dissolved and injector performance restored quickly. If an in tank solution does not clear things up within a few tanks they must be manually cleaned.

In this picture is a Honda top feed and a Subaru side feed along with new top feed style filters on the right and used ones on the left.
One of the used filters was plugged, no in tank cleaner can fix this, many times it will just drive dirt deeper into the filter and starve the unit.
Top feeds with multiple small holes are most susceptible to clogging, top feed with a large singe hole fair better.
The side feeds are very reliable, there is a massive amount of filter media and its external on the injector.
These units rarely get clogged and an in tank solution is usually enough to keep them in fine shape.

sam0706v.jpg
 
"If the extremely low concentrations of solvents in fuel system and injector cleaners added to a tank of gas are able to dissolve anything, then it also means dirt trapped in fuel filters would also be dissolved. This would mean the newly dissolved contaminants would then be burned in the engine. So it might be a good idea to change the fuel filter before adding fuel system cleaners."

If it blows through the air, then it could potentially be in a fuel filter -- or an oil or air filter. So that also includes earth (dirt), silica (sand/glass), tire rubber, ground asphalt, cat poop, and anything that might have oozed off Charlie Sheen or Lindsay Lohan and then dried. None of these things will likely dissolve in the usual petro-solvents. So they’ll stay lodged in the filter, which is A-OK. For those constituents that may dissolve in fuel additives (let’s say varnish or dried Lindsay ooze), that newly liquefied debris should harmlessly and uneventfully pass through the fuel system to be cremated in the cylinder, with no harm to the engine. (After all, it was “small” enough to get past the filter, so it’s not likely to be an issue – the engineers knew just what micron filtration was sufficient.) Although if one had a very “dirty” fuel tank (let’s say an older ride that sat for months or years at a time), then dumping cleaners in the tank can potentially lead to an overwhelming of the fuel or tank filter(s), requiring them to be changed out. Or so the pooping cat told me.
 
Originally Posted By: Wally
What Fuel system cleaner do you all recomend????
I heard that the origional BMW cleaner is good (Recommended every 5000 miles)
Also REDLINE fuel system cleaner is good. (Recommended every 3000 miles)

Any experience with these?

No experience with either of those two. I have used mostly PI from Amsoil and Seafoam. They both work well imo. The PI is actually less expensive.
 
that's why we all are suppose to change out the fuel filters!

That clears up the "dirt".

The seafoam and such cleans injectors and can be used to be sucked in the intake via brake booster hose. It cleans up the carbon in the intake.
 
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