Chevron Techron Concentrate Plus Fuel System Cleaner

no, but it looks like a silver bullet!

 

I’ve used BG Products 44k which is super concentrated Techron annually.

Keeps the fuel injection system free and clear.

Works for us.

 

I can't find Techron up here. Been trying:

canadian tire formula 1 fuel injector cleaner

It has PEA (Poly Ether Amine?), supposed effective at injector cleaning.

 

I use a bottle every 5k miles or so just for good measure in all my vehicles. Techron is one of the best fuel system cleaners on the market. I buy it when it’s buy one get one free at my local Advance Auto. I also run exclusively shell gasoline which is a top tier for the amount of fuel system cleaner in it.

I had a fuel injector partially clog in my Spec Miata in an endurance race a few years ago which cost me a $7k engine rebuild. Race engines are pretty pricey.

 

I picked up some at NAPA in Linden, Wa, Mendel. And of course, it is added to the gasoline sold by Chevron in B.C.

 

I very rarely put anything in my tank but gas and never had fuel injection problems.

 

Had issues in my Volvo with declining fuel mileage. Talking to a buddy on another board I changed over to Shell V-Power and to speed up the cleaning I tossed in a bottle of Techron. I filled up and took a drive one Sunday. I saw a big change at around 200 miles when the engine really smoothed out. There was no change in the fuel mileage initially. By the third tank of V-Power I saw my fuel mileage jump from 25.5-26 mpg to low 29's on the highway.

Techron is good stuff and I agree BG 44K is one of the best you can put in your tank.

 

Key word here is Naphtha.

 

Wasn't that just re-negotiated with Canada and Mexico?

 

Don't know, but it's the key ingredient in "most" fuel injection cleaners...and it works like a charm.

 

Keep in mind if you buy TopTeirGas.com those gas stations are promising to add extra detergent, so I do not use Techron for any reason. If I had a problem, I might give it a try. One person here revived his struggling Prius with some heavy doses of Techron.

If for some reason I was regularly using cheap gaso not TopTierGas.com, then I might add some Techron. But where we Iive is mostly the big companies/TopTierGas.com

 

I buy a 6 bottle case from Costco when it's on sale. I add 1 bottle per month (about every 1000 miles). So far so good.

 

This is one of those cyclical topics that comes around, and around.

My default response is that I've used Techron in my vehicles for a long, long time.

My admission is....I don't know if it helps.
I keep my vehicles well maintained, and I run top tier fuel, from top tier stations. So I honestly don't know if the occasional Techron treatment isn't more of a ritual and investment into the placebo effect.
But it's a relatively cheap investment, into whatever it may be doing or not doing. So? 2-3 times a year, I run treatment through my vehicle. I try to time it out BEFORE an Oil Change.

I've never had any problems with my fuel injectors or my fuel system, but honestly, I don't know if I would of whether I used Techron or not. Also, I fill up often at Chevron, which proclaims to have Techron as an additive, in even their "regular" gas. So?
But for me? It's a cheap enough ritual that I maintain it, mostly just in case it does help.

 

I do the same and add a bottle every 2-3 months. Costco gas is also top tier.

Pixel XL ?

 

Like most everything, you should read the directions on the bottle.
I don't think even the makers of Techron recommend using it that often.
You are just wasting money.

AND.....all of those glowing promises made in the marketing material.......will ONLY come true if you have one of the problems listed AND it is caused by a dirty or sticking injector or mild contamination in the gas.

 

My Canadian Tire stuff, the bottle's about 1/2 liter, and the recommended dosage for a prius tank is 80~90 cc: a lot less bottles (with toxic residue) in the recycle stream. Use it maybe every 6 months, it'll go a ways.

 

Naphtha, naphthalene and/or kerosene are used in these fuel system additives as solvents--light hydrocarbons that aren't involved in reactions beyond the normal combustion of fuel in the engine; they're only present in the additives as a vehicle to get the active ingredients to the combustion chambers. Looking at the MSDS for a few of these:

-STP lists the active ingredients of their Complete Fuel System Cleaner as ethyl benzene (benzene ring with an ethane molecule attached), trimethylbenzene (benzene ring with methane molecules), and a proprietary polyolefin alkyl phenol alkyl amine (amine groups are nitrogen-hydrogen compounds)
-BG 44K lists ethyl benzene and trimethylbenzene
-Gumout Fuel System Cleaner lists polyether amine (a chain of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen with a nitrogen atom and hydrogen at one end)
-Techron lists trimethylbenzene and polyether amine

From what I can find in a quick search, ethylbenzene and trimethylbenzene are naturally-occurring hydrocarbons that act as anti-knock agents. The claimed action of the molecules with amine groups is that these NH molecules bond with carbon deposits, lifting them from metal surfaces so they can be exhausted out. According to the Handbook of Detergents (ed. Uri Zoller, 2008), "Polyether amines in general are excellent to control combustion chamber deposits, but less effective to control intake valve deposits and PFI injector deposits."

 

I see on the Canadian tire there is a Motomaster branded "Formula 1 Fuel injector cleaner" and just a normal "fuel injector cleaner". Hmm which one to use? Looks like the Formula 1 is more concentrated.

Or maybe I should just use the odd tank of high end Shell V-power or Techron gasoline a few times a year? So much smoke and mirrors around this subject. Seems like it probably cant hurt though, so I am thinking about trying it.

 

I got and used the first one you mention; it’s sometimes on sale half-price (around $7?). Still have a little; should use it up next fill up. Label says it has an ingredient (acronym escapes me) that’s respected as an effective cleaner.

might be PEA (polyetheramine).