lowgrowl

Has anyone got the injectors professionally cleaned. I've been experiencing a loss of power and hesitation on my car and am thinking that maybe the fuel system needs to be cleaned. I was thinking that because I only put 93 octane fuel in it that I wouldn't need to. Am I right? The car has about 13K miles on it.

KeithL

Find it hard to beleive your injectors are that dirty by 13K, unless you used bad gas that let them clog up or I beleive there were some issues with GAS that had too much ethanol in it, was destroying injectors.

k24a

using 93 just reduce the usage of cleaner. valvoline vp053 cleaner work great. anytime i put 89 octaine gas for too long in my tsx i feel it. a quick shot of cleaner in the tank and its back to new.

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

maybe a dirty air filter?

01tl4tl

Its simply time for routine cleaning of the injectors
Doesnt anyone watch those Shell commercials?
See gen2 thread Seafoamed the Ol Tl

exact product they use in the machine- only for 6-8 bucks a can
you add 1 can directly to 1/4 tank to clean the injectors and 1 can into manifold vac line to direct clean the valves and piston tops
have fun!

lowgrowl

Is there any harm in using a product like chevron techron. It was recommended

Xpditor

Chevron Techron is very good, if a little pricey. Almost any injector cleaner will work as a preventative against buildup of deposits on the injectors. I put a pint of whatever is on sale in the gas tank about once a month.

WalMart has good quality fluids and filters at very good prices. I get 6 bottles of injector cleaner for about $6.

Brand name premium gas has detergent additives in it.

Shops don't take the injectors out to clean them; they just run a cleaner through the intake manifold. It's usually unnecessary and a waste of money as far as I'm concerned. In the rare cases when it is needed, you can do it yourself.

lowgrowl

Yeah the dealership wants like 2 bills to clean the injectors. I think I'll try the chevron first. By the way does cleaning the injectors produce a noticeable improvement in power and mileage. That's what i need.

Xpditor

With only 13k, your injectors shouldn't be clogged if you've been using brand name premium (93) fuel.

I can't really answer if you will get increased power/performance since I have never let mine get dirty to start with.

If you performance has decreased, I would replace the air filter with one from the dealer (I don't know any after market air filters for the TL). That would be my first suspect for a loss of performance and it can get clogged in 13k if you are in a dusty part of the country.

Good. Luck. You might want to check the sub-forum PROBLEMS & FIXES to see if there is some further info in there.

Also, check the 3G GARAGE.

Let us know how you make out.

SouthernBoy

There are several after-market OEM air filters out there for the 3G TL's (04-06). I have stared using the Purolator unit (I think the part number is A25585).. Advance Auto Parts carries this.

13K miles IS too soon to start seeing the kinds of things described here. Unless the poster has been using "cheap" gas or hitting stations when their tanks are being filled by a gas tanker truck (even then, the fuel filter should have picked up debris). He could always take the car by a good shop and get the engine codes read to see if anything shows up. Could also be a sticking throttle body butterfly valve.

6spMike

13k = under warranty.
Take it to the dealer.
Could it be that you just got used to the acceleration?
Have somebody with you stopwatch it up to 60 mph, see what you get.
Good Luck.

SouthernBoy

He says he is experiencing hesitation. At 13K miles, I believe that is pretty early to start seeing that. Hesitation can be caused by a number of things. Sticking throttle valve, clogged injectors, binding or friction in the throttle cable (of course, we don't have that since we have DBW), sludge build up on the backs of the intake valves, bad EGR valve.. just to name a few. But still, 13,000 miles is not that much mileage for this to show up. So the first two things I would suspect would be dirty injectors or sticking throttle valve.

Thoughts?

gammah

If you need to clean your fuel injectors, use this stuff: B&G 44K. It works wonders!! I think this is the stuff they use at dealerships to clean fuel injectors. You only have to pour one can and fill up one full tank.


Gammah

6spMike

Honestly, it could be any of the above.
One of the more likely causes is a tank of bad gas.
Run the rest of that tank out, refill at a different station (different brand, too), and if it still has the symptoms, then take it to the dealer.

SouthernBoy

I'd be careful about using BG44 in the TL. Road Rage did a writeup about fuel system cleaners once and as I recall, he said that BG44 was pretty strong and not really recommended for routine maintenance cleaning.

Best to go with something like Chevron Techron.

SouthernBoy

Good point. Perhaps he got a fill that had some water in the gas. This would tend to produce similar problems.

lowgrowl

The dealership has told me that if there's anything wrong with the car the check engine light would appear. The guys really don't take a curiousity about figuring out problems. It seems like they just want you to come in for routine services and shut up. I think acura sales/service leaves alot to be desired.

01tl4tl

Here is the real info once again from a guy who used to sell this service:

Go buy 2 cans of Seafoam- read gen2 thread Seafoamed the Ol TL
this is THE stuff they use in the machine
Our method is better because we go direct into a vac line and the gas tank
The machine simply takes a can of gas with cleaner and runs into the fuel system normally- no vac blasting action anywhere- you can add cans to your gas tank for same result!

Chevron is good- and if you read their website- it is only good from the pumps minimal doseage as maitenance and will ~eventually~ clean deposits.
They say to use a bottle of their stuff in a tank now and then for max cleaning and its pricey
93 octane is no better than 91 at low altitudes- 87 is a no-no all the time

6spMike

A bad plug or wire that causes a miss once in a while, but not often enough for the O2 sensor to see it, would not throw a code. Same thing for injectors and a host of other stuff. OBDII isn't magic. Try a different dealer? or a different service writer? or the service manager? If you can get the car to reproduce the hesitation symptom, then they shouldn't be able to deny there is something wrong with it.
I'm still betting on bad gas, though.

David Steady Jr

BG 44k is what we use at dealerships when doing the 3 part fuel system cleaning. It's the way cleaner ok the market. We put a can in the tank, then use a throttle body cleaning spray to clean the throttle body then we use a BG machine that is hooked up to compressed air we fill it with two cans of BG fuel system cleaner we hook up the tube to spray into the throttle body and put the intake tube back on start the car and regulate the pressure of the spray with a pressure regulator. We rev the car while it's sprays and the vehicle smokes like crazy just like when seafoaminf a vehicle. Cleans it out like u wouldn't believe we use borescopes to check and that's the way you want to clean a fuel system completely. Seafoam is good but it's too old school for any new direct injected vehicles. Yes it will clean using the vacuum line method but not as well.

David Steady Jr

Seafoam is not what we use in the machine most if not all use BG products as seafoam has been around for so long because it was made for 2 stroke marine engines reason for the name. Yes it does clean but not as well as using BG cleaner just using 44k in the tank alone cleans better. I know a lot of you think the dealership fuel system cleaning is a rip off but it really isn't when done properly I'm a Hyundai master tech and Hyundai due to the GDI fuel system is notorious for carbon build up just like BMW. We recommend cleaning every 15k service and u would be surprised the amount of carbon build up at 15k but once complete and we look in the cylinders they are back to new again. A lot of BMWs I've had to literally remove the manifold and have to wire brush and soak the piston tops and clean the valves because they are so carboned up from not being serviced and using poor fuel quality. Everyone thinks 93 octane is the same from any gas station and that's the farthest from the truth. Shell V power is the best fuel you could use then Citgo and Sunoco and Mobil. You can feel a difference going from Valero 93 to V Power even in my Harley it literally picks up power and throttle response when using V power because of its additives

DMC12

As mentioned, there is/are better cleaners out there, especially with what the dealership offers, but I have had good luck with seafoam. I ran 2 cans through (not back to back) and it cleared up my injectors. The dealer agreed that afterwards the flow as within spec. Worth a try for the cost.

DMZ

Check out toptiergas.com for a list of brands that add detergents to keep the fuel system clean. Shell V-Power is tops because they throw in a shot of nitrogen in there along with the detergents. That's probably why I get the best throttle response when I use it. Costco seems to have most detergents overall. Sunoco just made the list earlier this year. Just stick with top tier brands after you get a fuel system cleaning and you'll be fine.

Whatever you do, STAY AWAY from the no name brands like Delta. They sell surplus gas that has nothing added.
.
.

DMC12

Never knew of that website. Good to know about the off-brands too. I always stay away from them, more from what I have heard through the grapevine though. Nice to see some data behind the reasoning.

jpelizza

dave steady jr.....

i have the OTC tool to hook into fuel line and use compressed air. problem is i'm not sure how to connect to my 2005 mdx. the fuel lines look like quick connects no fitting that i see in OTC manual...

do you know what i need to connect it to mdx?