Maintenance Additive for Poor/Non-Top Tier Fuel?

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Hi all,
New to the forum here, learned a lot of good info for my BMW E90 325i here, but after some searching I could not find an answer for this particular question that's not "just buy top tier fuel".
Well I wish I could but it's not available in my country, I used to live in the states and Chevron/Shell gas worked great for my B5 Passat, so I am now looking for a way to make my own "top-tier fuel" with maintenance dose fuel additives, can that be done?

A little more info on the fuel here, they did introduce a new fuel standard relatively recently which is now 10ppm sulfur content (same as euro 5 I believe), I did service my fuel tank due to some unrelated issue and the tank looked clean, no deposits, gunk, etc. So my guess is the fuel here is of good quality but has little to none detergents added.

Right now I am just using Techron every 5,000km/3,000mi , it works but I just fear that's not enough. My parents' F11 530i which receives less care and sees mostly in town slow driving needed new spark plugs in only 30k km / 18k mi covered in carbon, I try to pour a bottle of Techron in it every 10,000km as I go back home.

Also a side note on intake deposits, when I removed my intake manifold to replace my starter, the intake valves looked clean just after one tank of Techron, but after spraying some carb cleaner into the intake manifold, what came out was dark brown colored and looks gross, should I use Amsoil Power Foam like many recommends on the forum?
 
You could buy something like Red Line's FI cleaner which can be added in smaller quantities as a maintenance dose. In fact they recommend doing so.

I've had good results with Power Foam.
 
Techron is one of the recommended PEA fuel treatments. You should be good with that. If you find the carbon building up on sparkplugs, increase the dosage.
 
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I'm a big fan of the Amsoil P.I. not because I'm an Amsoil user but because it unclogged and injector in my beater Neon that no other additive could do and it did it in just 400km. That made me a believer in their fuel treatment. I have also looked into the cylinders and at valves using my boroscope before/after treatment with P.I. and it seems to do the most out of all the fuel additives I have tried.

Redline SI-1 is also excellent at what it does but in my opinion it does better as a maintenance dose ongoing to keep fuel systems clean versus doing a full system clean-up of a fuel system like the Amsoil P.I. which is used occasionally to restore the system cleanliness and not ongoing. (Just my experiences with both)

So maybe do an Amsoil P.I. treatment and then maintain it with a low dose of SI-1 thereafter. The SI-1 is also good at lubricating the upper cylinder and as a fuel system components lubricant as well. It quiets noisy injector clicking from my experiences and helps to restore lubrication to gasoline with ethanol in it which has a drying effect. There is lubricants in gasoline but in my opinion there isn't enough and SI-1 seems to fill that gap.

In my Santa Fe (See signature) I ran the cheapest non top-tier gas available and had no issues doing what I described above so it should work for you as well if you can get these products in Asia.
 
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I've used Chevron Techron and Redline SI-1 and have no complaints. Recently, I've started adding a 1:500 mix of TC-W3 to my fuel in lieu of other additives in hopes to achieve similar effects at a cheaper price. So far, so good with the TC-W3.
 
I have the same issue. Until very recently ALL the gas was supplied and sold by PEMEX which is the state owend oil company. Fuel quality was/is horrible. The detergent package was minimal at best. I sent a note to Redline requesting their advice on what dose to use assuming 0% PEA in Mexican gas (1-1.5 oz per 10 gallons). I have not had any fuel related issues and my 05 GTO passes sniffer pipe emission tests at 6600 feet ASL with flying colors.
 
Why don't you try Renewable Lubricants Bio-Plus Injector Cleaner Gas Conditioner on Amazon. It is BMW approved. I just got through using one gallon and it made my cars run smoother. I used about 1.5 oz. per 15 gallons. I am now trying Schaeffer's SoyUltra Gasoline Additive #131C. No complaints with either one.
 
Amsoil PI or redline si-1 for fuel treatments and use crc turbo and intake valve cleaner and spray that into the intake.
 
Originally Posted by danez_yoda
Techron is one of the recommended PEA fuel treatments. You should be good with that. If you find the carbon building up on sparkplugs, increase the dosage.


I think you are right, Techron is working well for my E90 at recommended interval, I might increase dosage in the F11 next time around since I am unable to add it frequently enough.

Originally Posted by demarpaint
You could buy something like Red Line's FI cleaner which can be added in smaller quantities as a maintenance dose. In fact they recommend doing so.

I've had good results with Power Foam.


That's what I am thinking about actually, funny thing Red Line SI-1 is slightly cheaper in my location than Techron and it has a clear bottle which is convenient for adding small doses, and since they are both PEA based I'm going to start using it for maintenance dose.

Will try Power Foam on next oil change too.
 
Originally Posted by StevieC
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to BITOG!

I'm a big fan of the Amsoil P.I. not because I'm an Amsoil user but because it unclogged and injector in my beater Neon that no other additive could do and it did it in just 400km. That made me a believer in their fuel treatment. I have also looked into the cylinders and at valves using my boroscope before/after treatment with P.I. and it seems to do the most out of all the fuel additives I have tried.

Redline SI-1 is also excellent at what it does but in my opinion it does better as a maintenance dose ongoing to keep fuel systems clean versus doing a full system clean-up of a fuel system like the Amsoil P.I. which is used occasionally to restore the system cleanliness and not ongoing. (Just my experiences with both)

So maybe do an Amsoil P.I. treatment and then maintain it with a low dose of SI-1 thereafter. The SI-1 is also good at lubricating the upper cylinder and as a fuel system components lubricant as well. It quiets noisy injector clicking from my experiences and helps to restore lubrication to gasoline with ethanol in it which has a drying effect. There is lubricants in gasoline but in my opinion there isn't enough and SI-1 seems to fill that gap.

In my Santa Fe (See signature) I ran the cheapest non top-tier gas available and had no issues doing what I described above so it should work for you as well if you can get these products in Asia.


thank you Stevie,

I was quite surprised to see my fuel tank being clean, I actually did a little more research on the gas here and it still has higher Olefins and Aromatics content (24%, 40% respectively) than euro 5 gasoline (18%, 35% respectively), everything else is pretty similar and it's not ethanol fuel although I don't care about that (my Passat ran just fine on E10 back in the U.S., even when it was parked for over 6 months).

The new standard is an improvement over the last revision and given what I saw in the fuel tank, I am not too worried about fuel system problems, but I will definitely start using Redline for maintenance dose from now on.
 
Originally Posted by JustN89
I've used Chevron Techron and Redline SI-1 and have no complaints. Recently, I've started adding a 1:500 mix of TC-W3 to my fuel in lieu of other additives in hopes to achieve similar effects at a cheaper price. So far, so good with the TC-W3.


isn't that two stroke oil? I am not familiar with that, can you elaborate?
 
Originally Posted by Gimpy1
I have the same issue. Until very recently ALL the gas was supplied and sold by PEMEX which is the state owend oil company. Fuel quality was/is horrible. The detergent package was minimal at best. I sent a note to Redline requesting their advice on what dose to use assuming 0% PEA in Mexican gas (1-1.5 oz per 10 gallons). I have not had any fuel related issues and my 05 GTO passes sniffer pipe emission tests at 6600 feet ASL with flying colors.


Good to know, and if my math is right that's about 1:1000 ratio, local Redline retailer suggests the same dosage as well.

Originally Posted by scott30si
Why don't you try Renewable Lubricants Bio-Plus Injector Cleaner Gas Conditioner on Amazon. It is BMW approved. I just got through using one gallon and it made my cars run smoother. I used about 1.5 oz. per 15 gallons. I am now trying Schaeffer's SoyUltra Gasoline Additive #131C. No complaints with either one.


Those aren't available in my location but Techron is actually sold through BMW (re-labelled as BMW additive, in the same bottle). Since Redline and Techron are both PEA based I consider them the same and will be using Redline for maintenance doses for it's slightly cheaper price and clear bottle.
 
Originally Posted by Gixxer46
Amsoil PI or redline si-1 for fuel treatments and use crc turbo and intake valve cleaner and spray that into the intake.


Wouldn't that be a little redundant? My valves are pretty clean with Techron, it's the intake manifold I am concerned about (planning on using Amsoil Power Foam).
 
Originally Posted by MichaelCT
Originally Posted by JustN89
I've used Chevron Techron and Redline SI-1 and have no complaints. Recently, I've started adding a 1:500 mix of TC-W3 to my fuel in lieu of other additives in hopes to achieve similar effects at a cheaper price. So far, so good with the TC-W3.


isn't that two stroke oil? I am not familiar with that, can you elaborate?

Yes, it's an ash-less two cycle engine oil. Mixed 1 ounce to 5 gallons it will clean you fuel system with the oil's detergents and the ash-less TC-W3 will burn clean and not leave any deposits. Here is a thread on another site that is very detailed on the advantages of using a mixture of TC-W3 in your fuel. At the very least, it's much cheaper than other fuel additives as you can usually pick up 16 ounces of Walmart brand TC-W3 for just a couple of bucks.
 
You spray it through the throttle body so it will clean manifold along the way.

I compared it to Seafoam and found Seafoam didn't do much in my manifold.

We don't get amsoil power foam in Canada.
 
Originally Posted by Gixxer46
You spray it through the throttle body so it will clean manifold along the way.

I compared it to Seafoam and found Seafoam didn't do much in my manifold.

We don't get amsoil power foam in Canada.


Seafoam didn't clean my manifold too (there were some other cleaning effects, just not the manifold for sure), after two uses and reading on the forum, seems like it's out dated compared to the others.

Seafoam and CRC costs way more than Amsoil, Redline, and Techron where I am located so I will be trying Amsoil Power Foam next time around (the later three has official distributors and prices are comparable to U.S. retail prices, Seafoam and CRC costs twice as much).
 
Originally Posted by Gixxer46
You spray it through the throttle body so it will clean manifold along the way.

I compared it to Seafoam and found Seafoam didn't do much in my manifold.

We don't get amsoil power foam in Canada.


I know it sucks... I have to buy it south of the border when I'm visiting my brother or friends and have it shipped there while I'm there. Good news is my PC membership works on both sides of the border!
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Originally Posted by JustN89
I've used Chevron Techron and Redline SI-1 and have no complaints. Recently, I've started adding a 1:500 mix of TC-W3 to my fuel in lieu of other additives in hopes to achieve similar effects at a cheaper price. So far, so good with the TC-W3.

+1 on the TC-W3.
In addition, if you want to make non top-tier gas into top-tier gas, just add a smaller amount of Techron to each tankfull of fuel, 1 oz of Techron concentrate per 5 gal of gas (the same as the recommended TC-W3 dose) should do the trick, and you can certainly use both. If you are going to use TC-W3, you don't need to buy the expensive synthetic, the cheap dino TC-W3 oil works just as well (maybe better). TC-W3 also helps to lubricate the fuel pump, fuel injectors, and intake valve stems.
 
Originally Posted by wag123
Originally Posted by JustN89
I've used Chevron Techron and Redline SI-1 and have no complaints. Recently, I've started adding a 1:500 mix of TC-W3 to my fuel in lieu of other additives in hopes to achieve similar effects at a cheaper price. So far, so good with the TC-W3.

+1 on the TC-W3.
In addition, if you want to make non top-tier gas into top-tier gas, just add a smaller amount of Techron to each tankfull of fuel, 1 oz of Techron concentrate per 5 gal of gas (the same as the recommended TC-W3 dose) should do the trick, and you can certainly use both. If you are going to use TC-W3, you don't need to buy the expensive synthetic, the cheap dino TC-W3 oil works just as well (maybe better). TC-W3 also helps to lubricate the fuel pump, fuel injectors, and intake valve stems.


Okay I started using Quicksilver TC-W3 at 1:500 ratio and it seems I am having a little bit hesitation most likely due to reduced octane? The local gas is kinda low on octane and I wonder if the added TC-W3 brought it down to a level where the sensors would retard timing.

Are you guys using it in premium gas only cars or regular gas cars? I did see that the very original post started in corvettes which I recall runs on regular gas?

Anyway I will reduce the concentration back down a little but I wonder if TC-W3 works well with premium gas only cars.
 
The TC-W3 is not going to affect the octane at ANY concentration. The vehicles I am using it in are running 87 octane regular E10 gas.
 
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