Valvoline Synpower fuel treatment - never again.

[Rockford Fosgate Fan]

I filled up with a tank of 93 octane fuel, drove around for about 6-10 miles. I then went to one of the local parts houses and picked up some Valvoline Synpower fuel injector cleaner. I added some to my tank and I was driving around I noticed I started to get a small knock read out. This is very strange since my car has never had to pull back timing before and as I gave the car more throttle the reduction in timing increased. Later that day I tried a WOT run and the PCM was having to pull back the timing around 10-15 degrees (multiple runs). I added a bottle of 104+ octane booster and the problem didn't go away but it helped enough until I could run the tank down and refill with 93 again. Valvoline products will never touch my fuel tank again.

 

[nobadges]

Can't see why that would cause the knocking.

....and those octane booster things, make sure its not just MMT.

 

[Gary Allan]

Well, what did you expect NOT to happen? Every can/bottle of stuff that I've added to my tank advises that you may see some uncharacteristic behavior out of the engine during the treatment.

(with a big smile on my face) ..are you saying that you want additives to do "nothing" to prove that they work?

 

[jamesn]

how exactly can you tell when your car is pulling timing back and how can you tell to what extent? are you some kind of ECU savant? perhaps you are a cyborg? exactly what is a "small knock readout"? never heard of that one.

 

[reyjay1]

I was wondering what kind of car it was that had such a sophisticated readout, and images of some MB pheaton model 2010 flashed through my mind.

 

[KJA426]

I always liked the stuff. Sorry to hear about your problem.

 

[KJA426]

My mistake, it was the Synpower fuel injector cleaner that I used.

 

[Islandvic]

Decarbonize your combustion chambers with SeaFoam or SeaFoam Deep Creep through the vac line.

Spray your MAF sensor down with Quick Dry Electric Contact Cleaner.

Replace your PCV valve while you are at it.

Most octane boosters raise the rating from 93 Octane to 94-94.5. Not a big difference. When the can says 10-15 points octane increase, it means 1-1.5 actual ROM points (R+M/2) ocatne rating increase.

 

[Sid]

I've used this stuff tons of times and never had a problem.

 

[michaelc80]

I would suspect anytime you introduce an additive/cleaner into your fuel system you'll get a change in performance while it's working.

 

[Shaman]

I agree with the previous statements.

If it wasn't doing anything, then it shouldn't run bad.

Do you have LS1M or something to test the KR. Watch your long term fuel trims and injector pulse widths, and see if they are dropping while using a fuel injection cleaner to see if it is actually working. OBD2 will adjust for clogged injectors by lengthening your pulse width.

 

[Dr. T]

Maybe the gas wasn't the advertised octane to begin with....???

 

[Mr Nice]

You got a batch of bad gas.

Happens all the time.

 

[robbobster]

I've got an AutoTap that I use regularly on my truck, can give readouts for hundreds of parameters including knock sensor and ignition timing.

You just look at the knock-sensor voltage and ignition timing, this is all you need to see what's going on when detonation occurs.

I'm sure he's using something like this.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

You are always supposed to pour the gas cleaner in the tank first -- then fill up.

 

[Racerjk]

It works fine for me! I can always tell a difference after I use it.

 

[Frank@Toronto]

I wonder if your gas filter is dirty. Remember, those gas line cleaners also clean up your gas tank. That dirt can only go to one place.