Oreily Auto has two bottles of Slick 50 Fuel System Cleaner on sale for $4 each. Is this stuff anygood?
Slick 50 Fuel System Cleaner, $4 on sale, anygood?
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It's better than the red bottles of STP but it's not as good as REGANE or Techron. It won't hurt anything.
The valvoline maxlive/synpower seems to be a decent cleaner.
I don't trust Slick 50 products since their advertising is somewhat like JC Whitney. A product that does all to fix all and everything. I just use Techron Concentrate & I read Regane is also very good. JMO Ed
What are the differences between the various fuel system cleaners/carb cleaner/FI cleaners/ect...?
What makes one better than the other?
I use and like the valvoline ones (according to the MSDS the maxlife and synpower are the same thing). Ive also used the regane stuff, which seemed to work too. so what is the difference? what makes chemical x better than chemical y?
What makes one better than the other?
I use and like the valvoline ones (according to the MSDS the maxlife and synpower are the same thing). Ive also used the regane stuff, which seemed to work too. so what is the difference? what makes chemical x better than chemical y?
Difference is how they clean.
Solvents
Amines
Other
Most cleaners are just cheap solvents(acetone, toluene, kerosene) mixed with kerosene as a carrier. And from what I understand, even FP60 is pretty much just solvents(cyclohexanone is the running guess) mixed with an oil. Solvents are cheap so most of those dollar cleaners are just maybe like an ounce or 2 of acetone/toluene mixed with 10-11oz kerosene.
Amines are great cleaners. The main type is Polyether Amine(PEA). It can be found in the better cleaners like Gumout Regane, Redline SI-1, and Chevron Techron. These are the best cleaners in my opinion. Proven chemistry. However, they are higher in price. Generally $5+ a bottle.
Under other, I will say Lucas UCL. No one is sure how this stuff cleans. Polyisobutylene is the main guess. Its a polymer that has detergent qualities and supposedly helps to make fuel molecules uniform in size when they are sprayed from the injectors.
Hope this helps a bit.
Solvents
Amines
Other
Most cleaners are just cheap solvents(acetone, toluene, kerosene) mixed with kerosene as a carrier. And from what I understand, even FP60 is pretty much just solvents(cyclohexanone is the running guess) mixed with an oil. Solvents are cheap so most of those dollar cleaners are just maybe like an ounce or 2 of acetone/toluene mixed with 10-11oz kerosene.
Amines are great cleaners. The main type is Polyether Amine(PEA). It can be found in the better cleaners like Gumout Regane, Redline SI-1, and Chevron Techron. These are the best cleaners in my opinion. Proven chemistry. However, they are higher in price. Generally $5+ a bottle.
Under other, I will say Lucas UCL. No one is sure how this stuff cleans. Polyisobutylene is the main guess. Its a polymer that has detergent qualities and supposedly helps to make fuel molecules uniform in size when they are sprayed from the injectors.
Hope this helps a bit.
thanks that helps,but if solvents dissolve build up and amines/other clean away the build up, in the end isn't the same thing accomplished?
I still dont understand the difference between a FI cleaner and a total fuel system cleaner. How can one clean the entire system, while one targets only the fuel injectors.
I still dont understand the difference between a FI cleaner and a total fuel system cleaner. How can one clean the entire system, while one targets only the fuel injectors.
Solvents can dissolve gunk and buildups, usually. Its a matter of concentration. Gasoline you buy at the pump is already 5-15% toluene. That is a powerful solvent already. Figure on average 10% toluene. In a 15 gallon tank, thats 1.5 gallons of solvent. How will adding say 5 more ounces do any good?
Amines are better cleaners and safer for the fuel system. Solvents can attack different substances just like they attack gunk. Amines have been shown to be pretty safe and HIGHLY effective against buildups.
Main difference in fuel system vs injector cleaners is concentration of cleaning ingredients. Generally, the injector cleaners will have a lower concentration of active ingredients and the fuel system cleaners will be more concentrated.
Amines are better cleaners and safer for the fuel system. Solvents can attack different substances just like they attack gunk. Amines have been shown to be pretty safe and HIGHLY effective against buildups.
Main difference in fuel system vs injector cleaners is concentration of cleaning ingredients. Generally, the injector cleaners will have a lower concentration of active ingredients and the fuel system cleaners will be more concentrated.
I agree with the comment to stay far away from anything called Slick 50. Go with a PEA based cleaner. You can read more info on Techron and PEA cleaners on the Chevron website.
Thanks, that clears things up. However, just to play devils advocate- if the average gas tank has 1.5 gallons of solvents in it already, would adding a few ounces of PEA really help that much more?
I can see how adding a few oz of solvents would be like a "drop in the ocean", but it also seems like a few oz of PEA would be too.
I can see how adding a few oz of solvents would be like a "drop in the ocean", but it also seems like a few oz of PEA would be too.
Amines don't need to be in as high a dose as solvents do. They also clean in a different way.
Personally I dont think solvents like acetone work much at all in the gas tank. At least not the solvents like acetone and toluene. Just due to the fact if it already in gas, and you get buildups, obviously those deposits cant be affected by those solvents since they grew in them in the first place.
Personally I dont think solvents like acetone work much at all in the gas tank. At least not the solvents like acetone and toluene. Just due to the fact if it already in gas, and you get buildups, obviously those deposits cant be affected by those solvents since they grew in them in the first place.
Thanks again, once I use up my last few bottles of maxlife FSC Ill start using gumout regane.
Hate to do it tho, I love maxlife products.
Hate to do it tho, I love maxlife products.
If I recall correctly, Slick50 uses a detergent. I think that it is actually a fairly good product. If I could get it for $2, I would buy it. If not, I would wait for the next buy one, get one free sales for Techron. They seem to come every few months. Two bottles for around $6.30.
Linked below is a related thread.
Quote from thread,
"The objective of fuel cleaners are to remove materials that are not dissolved by gasoline. Otherwise, gasoline would remove the material.
A solvent "dissolves" by forming a solution. If a solvent is miscible in gasoline, it must be similar to gasoline. The solvent may be able to dissolved the target material (the gunk) on its own. However, once in the fuel, the general characteristics of the fuel is not changed much. Gasoline is an excellent organic solvent already! To make the fuel have the characteristics of the added solvent, the percentage of solvent must be fairly large.
A detergent works very differently. As a general rule, detergents are molecules that have dissimilar ends. One end is hydrophylic (water loving) and the other end is hydrophobic (in this case, gasoline loving). Fuel detergents have the ability to 'dissolve' materials that are not dissolved by the gasoline. When the detergent encounters a material that can be dissolved in a more polar (charged) solution, the hydrophylic end of the detergent molecules group together to create a microenvironment that is "water like". Inside this environment, a solute can be suspended in fuel. This phenomenon can occur with relatively small amounts of detergent. The general characteristics of the fuel does not need to be changed. "
http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/s...true#Post303060
Linked below is a related thread.
Quote from thread,
"The objective of fuel cleaners are to remove materials that are not dissolved by gasoline. Otherwise, gasoline would remove the material.
A solvent "dissolves" by forming a solution. If a solvent is miscible in gasoline, it must be similar to gasoline. The solvent may be able to dissolved the target material (the gunk) on its own. However, once in the fuel, the general characteristics of the fuel is not changed much. Gasoline is an excellent organic solvent already! To make the fuel have the characteristics of the added solvent, the percentage of solvent must be fairly large.
A detergent works very differently. As a general rule, detergents are molecules that have dissimilar ends. One end is hydrophylic (water loving) and the other end is hydrophobic (in this case, gasoline loving). Fuel detergents have the ability to 'dissolve' materials that are not dissolved by the gasoline. When the detergent encounters a material that can be dissolved in a more polar (charged) solution, the hydrophylic end of the detergent molecules group together to create a microenvironment that is "water like". Inside this environment, a solute can be suspended in fuel. This phenomenon can occur with relatively small amounts of detergent. The general characteristics of the fuel does not need to be changed. "
http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/s...true#Post303060
Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what the ingredients for gumouts other fuel system/carb/FI cleaners are?
I have found the MSDS for regane, but I am looking for the MSDS for:
All-In-One® Complete Fuel System Maintenance
Large Vehicle Complete Fuel System Cleaner
High Mileage Complete Fuel System Cleaner
I have looked all over and cannot seem to find them. Since gumout has such a large selection of cleaners I wonder what the differences are.
I have found the MSDS for regane, but I am looking for the MSDS for:
All-In-One® Complete Fuel System Maintenance
Large Vehicle Complete Fuel System Cleaner
High Mileage Complete Fuel System Cleaner
I have looked all over and cannot seem to find them. Since gumout has such a large selection of cleaners I wonder what the differences are.
Nevermind, I just found their MSDS webpage:
http://www.pennzoil-quakerstate.com/techdata/l7_msds_fs.htm
http://www.pennzoil-quakerstate.com/techdata/l7_msds_fs.htm
Last question,
Since regane and gumout large vehicle fuel system cleaner are the same thing, would it be safe to put the larger volume of the large vehicle FSC in a regular passenger vehicle?
I was thinking instead of using regane every X miles I would use the large vehicle FSC every 3X miles (for example).
Since regane and gumout large vehicle fuel system cleaner are the same thing, would it be safe to put the larger volume of the large vehicle FSC in a regular passenger vehicle?
I was thinking instead of using regane every X miles I would use the large vehicle FSC every 3X miles (for example).
I have used the whole large bottle in my 14 gallon tank, no bad side effects. I dont know if it did any extra cleaning though. I would stick with the recommended dose, perhaps use that bottle for 2 doses maybe.
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