High Mileage > Cleaners > Which Ones?

[BTR]

2000 XLT 4.0 SOHC with 130,000 miles... many on short trips... knocking and pinging on acceleration. I want to "clean" the carbon out of the engine, and "clean" the fuel injection system. What cleaners should I use, and in what order? Thanks.

 

[jremington59]

I use Lucas fuel inj cleaner. A lot of people will Seafoam their engines.

 

[Maniak]

To clean the injectors (without removing them and sending them off) I have a motorvac machine run on them. Basically they disable the fuel pump, disconnect the fuel line from the fuel rail and block the return line (if there is one). Now they hook this machine up to the fuel line and pump in the cleaner with a little gas.

The cleaner is strong enough that it can't sit in your tank but it is mixed with fuel so the motor can run on the machine.

I did this on the honda on a set of used injectors (one was sticking once in a while) and it fixed that issue. I've run it on our '06 mustang every 100k miles or so (only run it twice) and I'm still on the factory set of injectors on the Explorer at 388k miles. (rebuilt the motor, put the old injectors back in).

The mustang only gets chevron fuel (has techron) the other vehicles get whatever the is cheapest.. We like the techron fuel for the mustang not for the injectors but because of the fuel sending units.. Other fuels seem to cause issues with the optical fuel sending units (there are 2).


~Mark

 

[AP9]

Techron is also available at auto parts stores. I tend to buy it when it's buy 1 get 1 free. There are no Chevron stations where I live but I do prefer Chevron when traveling.

 

[Dave 1955]

Is not ethanol a solvent?
I thought that might be one good thing about ethanol.

Anyways the pinging could be reduced with a cooler runner motor..think 182 t-stat.

Back in the day we used to get our carb motors warmed up really good and then pour some water in the carb while keeping her running .
Some guys swore by it to break up carbon...dunno.

 

[Flash]

Is not ethanol a solvent?
I thought that might be one good thing about ethanol.

Anyways the pinging could be reduced with a cooler runner motor..think 182 t-stat.

Back in the day we used to get our carb motors warmed up really good and then pour some water in the carb while keeping her running .
Some guys swore by it to break up carbon...dunno.

Ethanol won't dissolve carbon.
DO NOT put a lower temp 'stat in, it will make the engine run cooler = richer = more carbon.
Dribbling water into a hot engine will break up the carbon but a Seafoam or similar treatment will work better.

I make my own "seafoam" out of xylene, acetone and trans fluid.

 

[drdoom]

For enzyme cleaning of ethanol sludge use StarTron...run this first, which will take a few weeks, then replace the fuel filter. Now go on with the Techron and other goodies.

 

[RickOTR]

Star Tron enzyme fuel treatment is an excellent product. I use it every 5th tank refill and never have a problem. You can find it at Walmart in the Marine section.

 

[Dave 1955]

Ethanol won't dissolve carbon.
DO NOT put a lower temp 'stat in, it will make the engine run cooler = richer = more carbon.
Dribbling water into a hot engine will break up the carbon but a Seafoam or similar treatment will work better.

I make my own "seafoam" out of xylene, acetone and trans fluid.

Ethanol won't dissolve carbon but it should help keep the injectors clean I would think...the op was asking about injection cleaners.
The cooler motor was to help the with pinging..denotation.
My 95 has a 182 and no probs.
My 01 5.0 has some detonation...I switching out the 195 very soon...it's that or buy a higher grade gas.

 

[my98nnj]

I've used the motorvac system. The one we had was made by Champion. You disconnect the fuel pump, remove the fuel line and connect it to the regulator on the kit. Them a can of FI cleaner gets screwed onto the regulator. Open the fuel port and start the engine. It runs about 20 minutes on the can, then dies. Once you hook up the fuel line and go for a brisk ride, an amazing amount of black exhaust spews out the tail pipe. The change in vehicle performance was night and day.

Find a shop that can do this for you, totally worth it!