STP Cleaning Fuel Injectors and Gas Treatment REALLY WORK?
 

is this stuff good for the car?
does it really work or knock off shit.

If you change oil regularly, I don't think you need to worry about that.

fuel injector cleaner has nothing to do with your motor oil.

i use it every month or so to ensure that my injectors don't get clogged and are running at optimum efficiency. it's more preventative maintenance, but well worth the $2.50 imo

Use a good quality gasoline and cleaner will not be needed.

Many here will agree that SeaFoam is a better product and many (myself included) use it regularly. I run a bottle through my gas tank every 6 months or so and half a bottle goes in the oil before I change it.

Check out www.toptiergas.com for a list of recommended companies.

I put a bottle of Red Line Fuel System Cleaner in my tank every six months or so. I think it's more for peace of mind than anything else. Since our cars require premium, you're getting a good dose of detergent as long as you're filling up with quality gas (such as Shell V-Power).

That is the best stuff to clean your intake manifold also, use the brake booster line (probably disconnect it near the manifold) to suck it up in little quantities while the engine is running. Also, make sure you are way way way way out of the garage, you'll be spittin white smoke while you use it to do so.

It's also very important that you change your oil not too far after you do any fuel injection service, or intake cleaning, or as you've done, in the oil. That stuff degrades motor oil.

Without having to type out the guideline, I'm just going to copy and paste what I wrote on another board...this is for my old '95 accord, but essentially the same process except again I would use the 1-1.5' section of line coming from the intake manifold that runs to the brake booster line for easier access.

"I just did this last night, and I forgot to get pictures. Funny thing is I was in class and people thought my car was on fire because of the horrendous smoke that came out the tailpipes (mind you the tail pipes where connected to an exhaust and it still managed to escape).

So number one is make sure you are well ventielated area (like OUTSIDE...I mean way outside the garage). The car does need to be at operating temperature so I recommend say going to the store and come back home. You might even want to stop by home depot and get a 1.5 ft of 1/4" clear tubing, I'll explain why in a second.

When you get home, with the engine off, disconnect the vaccum hose before (this would be the black 1/2" tubing that appears to run from the intake area to a check valve, in my '95 it was colored gray, just above the brake booster. You want to use the hose obviously before the check valve cause the check valve is only a one way deal. If you notice, the seafoam can opening is kinda small for the 1/2" black vaccum hose, so this is where that 1/4" clear tubing comes into play. Stick an end into the black tubing, and keep the other end exposed as you are going to dip that into the can. Have an assistant start the car, and have him hold the RPM's as best as he can at 2,000-2500 RPMs. Obviously don't press the brake while you are doing this, and do not have any accessories running like the a/c, or try to turn the steering wheel; stereo is fine . Basically, with the car idling and your assistanting holding a steady RPM, dip the tube into the Seafoam can, and take out quickly, dip again and take out quickly, your assistant will complain it is starting to get harder to keep at that RPM and it feels like it wants to stall. Tell him to be patient (of course you know it will eventually). You will also see a big cloud of white smoke out the tailpipe and it might have a reaky smell to it, no biggiee, that's smoke includes carbon buildup. Continue the dipping process, until the car stalls (this is commonly known as hydrolocking), when I did this I had about a 1/3 of the Seafoam can left and I dumped the rest in the gas tank. Let the car sit for a while. Opinions vary here, as I left mine off for 15 minutes caz I was doing an a/c check on it, others say 5 minutes. Either way, by letting it sit, the seafoam helps soften up the carbon buildup. Take out the clear tubing and reconnect the vaccum line to the check valve. Start it up, you may or may not have problems doing this, but giving it gas helps, mine started up pretty well right away because of the time letting it sit, so I didn't need to give it gas. NOW the fun part, drive the living shit of the car and try to keep high RPMS, downshifting whenever possible. As you are driving you will see smoke coming out the back, that again is carbon buildup so don't fret. Try to drive for a while like on the freeway and go visit a friend or take the long way to a place. You should notice a change after all is said and done on your performance, my RPMs at idle went up and noticed a smoother idle, rather than before on a hesitating idle.

NOTES:
1) I used the brake booster line as that I think is one of the largest draws on your system.
2) By using a clear tubing, you can see how much you suck up so it's not all at once, you want to try and minimize too quickly of system feed, otherwise you'll hyrdolock too quickly and won't suck up enough Seafoam. If that happens, no biggie, let it sit for a bit and start up the car and continue the process.
3) Probably want to clean your TB after doing this with the directions others have mentioned on this board. I am going to do that this weekend. Just becareful when using a brush so you don't damage the TPS sensor on the throttle body. I always say this tip, as I have damaged it before on my old 4Runner.
4) Usually whenever I clean the TB, I install a new air filter at the same time, good preventative maintenance, especially since I usually do this once a year.

This my friend qualifies as the Upper Head Cleaning that you did for about $10 that would otherwise cost $100 at a dealership.

i don't think this really works

Thank your for that ever so insightful post.

lol

That's exactly right. Chevron's Techron additive is well regarded as one of the best fuel system cleaning detergents on the market. In every car I've owned before the TSX I've run a tank of Chevron 93 octane through every 3k miles or so to keep them clean. My Neon was a POS, but at 176k miles, the combustion chamber was clean enough to eat out of. Carbon build up on the valves was minimal and the pistons were clean.

You can use the additives if you want, but the majority of the price difference from grade to grade of gas is for the increased detergent levels.

i use a similiar procedure for seafoam but i use needle nose pliers across the hose to"regulate the flow". makes it easier for me then dipping.

I've used Seafoam once on my TSX. I did see some stuff come out my exhaust but nothing too significant. I don't think my car was that dirty to begin with, even at 50k.

On the other hand, I did notice a difference on my previous s10 truck. My friends have used it on older cars and it gets rid of SOOO much junk. Tons of dark smoke come out of the pipes. I think it does help if done right.

The first time I did it to my motorcycle, it belched out a huge thick white cloud that hung around the valley below me for hours. Oops. Don't do this on a dreary rainy day where there's no breeze.