Petrol Injector cleaner.....in a bottle

N5GTi6

N5GTi6

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Is it worth using this stuff ?

I have a 23 year old Italian petrol driven machine which has been a bit of a garage queen and used infrequently. Took it out for an Italian tuneup last week, with no great benefit - other than the joy of the cleanup process - ie: wringing it's neck for a few hours. It does stutter and stumble a bit and seems to run better over 4K revs. New plugs and fuel filter recently installed.

Is it worth using Injector cleaner in a bottle (in a tank of fuel) or is it just snakeoil ?

Any recommendations on brands or types ?

Cheers

Justin
 
Assuming these aren't computer driven injectors, I'd put the injectors on an old-style ultrasonic injector cleaner, and check the spray pattern.
 
N5GTi6 said:
Is it worth using Injector cleaner in a bottle (in a tank of fuel) or is it just snakeoil ?

Justin
Click to expand...
Hi - My vote is it's snake oil. You need to make the diagnosis from first principles, I concur with seasink, that you should remove them and check the spray patterns, and get them cleaned. Spend your money on fixing the cause not the effect.
 
seasink said:
Assuming these aren't computer driven injectors, I'd put the injectors on an old-style ultrasonic injector cleaner, and check the spray pattern.
Click to expand...
It's an older open loop system but still computer driven. Temp sensor, atmo sensor and spark advance, but no knock sensor, MAF metering or lambda measurement. It really just expects everything to work 'as it should' - bit of a dumb system by todays standards but this same system was also in use 10 years prior to that as well.

I'll probably pull the injectors, check spray patterns and flow rates and go from there.

Cheers

Justin
 
N5GTi6 said:
Is it worth using this stuff ?

I have a 23 year old Italian petrol driven machine which has been a bit of a garage queen and used infrequently. Took it out for an Italian tuneup last week, with no great benefit - other than the joy of the cleanup process - ie: wringing it's neck for a few hours. It does stutter and stumble a bit and seems to run better over 4K revs. New plugs and fuel filter recently installed.

Is it worth using Injector cleaner in a bottle (in a tank of fuel) or is it just snakeoil ?

Any recommendations on brands or types ?

Cheers

Justin
Click to expand...
Is the fuel fresh... i know people carry on about validity of this argument... but, a high comp motor isn't going to be happy with old fuel whether injectors are clean or not...
As far as injector cleaner... liqui moly fuel system cleaner would be my go to... its around 25 dollaros..
I reckon its worth a try... i ve had noticeable results on a couple of cars... but last fill in my c280 did bugger all... maybe smoothed response by a 2 or 3 per cent... i can tell... but a lot of drivers simply couldn't... just depends how intune you are with your machine... and its your money... but i wouldn't waste my money on the $7 products...

Cheers

Dino
 
have a look at You Tube Ian Tyrell Jag V12 with Bosch Jetronic .
Tickle injectors with 12 volt wire and you will hear the solenoid working.
frees them up if stuck. Don't hold voltage on too long. Just spark intermittently.
I have been warned by an "expert" not to ultrasonic clean old injectors.
Never done it, don't know.
 
We don't know what car, but the old style all metal no-electrics non-direct injectors are usually cleaned ultrasonically. The same device can put them under pressure with the cleaning fluid so you can see the spray pattern.
 
seasink said:
We don't know what car, but the old style all metal no-electrics non-direct injectors are usually cleaned ultrasonically. The same device can put them under pressure with the cleaning fluid so you can see the spray pattern.
Click to expand...
23 years puts it down to around 1997/8... so should be relatively modern... i m surprised at no maf and oxygen sensor...really strange...
But its Italian so I m guessing 11.25 : 1 comp...



Cheers

Dino
 
Last edited:
dino said:
Is the fuel fresh... i know people carry on about validity of this argument... but, a high comp motor isn't going to be happy with old fuel whether injectors are clean or not...
Click to expand...

Fuel is about a month old, but you know a tank is never empty, so some fuel in the tank will be 23 years old of course.....
High compression - well, about 10.2 according to the specs.

dino said:
As far as injector cleaner... liqui moly fuel system cleaner would be my go to... its around 25 dollaros..
I reckon its worth a try... i ve had noticeable results on a couple of cars... but last fill in my c280 did bugger all... maybe smoothed response by a 2 or 3 per cent... i can tell... but a lot of drivers simply couldn't... just depends how intune you are with your machine... and its your money... but i wouldn't waste my money on the $7 products...

Cheers

Dino
Click to expand...

Might give that a try for giggles. This is not a 2 to 3 percent improvement I'm after - more like 25.

Cheers

Justin
 
PeterT said:
I'd pay $100-$120 to get them cleaned/serviced professionally, along with new o-rings etc., then use 98 octane only from then on.
Click to expand...

I've owned it since new. It's never had anything except 98. Never. But there has been some spells where the fuel has sat for quite a while, although it's never failed to start. Amazing really.

Cheers

Justin
 
seasink said:
We don't know what car, but the old style all metal no-electrics non-direct injectors are usually cleaned ultrasonically. The same device can put them under pressure with the cleaning fluid so you can see the spray pattern.
Click to expand...

Definitely pre-dates direct injection by a fair way. No fuel rail either. They're connected by 8mm hose.

Cheers

Justin
 
dino said:
23 years puts it down to around 1997/8... so should be relatively modern... i m surprised at no maf and oxygen sensor...really strange...
But its Italian so I m guessing 11.25 : 1 comp...



Cheers

Dino
Click to expand...

'97 it is.

Those crazy Italians. Even the ECU has a removable EPROM in it - not even EEPROM.. The chip has to have a sticker over the window to stop any stray UV mucking up the code.

Compression is 10.2 so not too crazy.

The exhaust has a lambda probe bung so at one stage I bought a narrow range lambda probe and built myself an LED display to show roughly .95 to 1.05. Had to find a use for the bung for something.

Cheers

Justin
 
10.2 : 1...

Please tell me this isn't a "fire" engine in a Punto?

Cheers

Dino
 
Many years ago a friend made a test bench for injectors. It worked OK, and as part of the set up 50/50 injector cleaner and petrol was used as a cleaner for these injectors, whilst being pulsed on the test bench. It wasn't very effective. Much more effective was the set up where the injectors were pulsed whilst their tips were in an ultrasonic bath. Can't remember what injector cleaner (Nulon?) was used, but one of those bottle into half a tank of fuel deals.
 
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