I've used Chevron Techron and/or Gumout Regane every twice a year on every vehicle I have had. Never had an injector problem. Not that this actually proves anything.

 

I used the costco stuff last week because my fuel gauge would not go to the full mark all of a sudden. My boss had that problem on his Mustang and the dealer told him to just put in a few tanks of good quality (top tier) gas with detergents and that took care of it. The cheaper fuels leave deposits on the sending unit that can prevent it from working correctly. I put in a bottle of this after 30k miles on the clock and it seemed to take care of the gauge issue.

 

<table id="post397205" class="tborder" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td class="alt1" id="td_post_397205" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);">"But in another section 7-5, it says

"CAUTION
. Never add any cleaning agents to
the fuel tank. The addition of a
cleaning agent may cause damage to your fuel system"
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You answered your own question.
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I use Chevron Techron in all my cars at about 5-6K mile intervals. Never had an issue with the 10 Scoobies and other cars I've owned. It's the only stuff I use though. I like to be sure there is no moisture condensate build up on the bottom of my gas tank and it helps keep the system clean IMHO. Am I 100% sure it helps, well I can't be because I have no control where I didn't use any but I can say so far for me it's never done any damage.

 

I use Chevron Techron too on my 02 Dodge Intrepid and this car has pretty good MPG all the time (around 30mpg on highway).

I am wondering if this so called gas detergent contains the same thing as Techron.

 

Got another for Chevron Techron here...I've run it once in a while in my vehicles. It actually seemed to make the fuel gauge in my 2004 behave a little bit better.

 

I have never used any fuel injection cleaners and I have never had a problem. The more I read about about all these cleaners the more uneasy I get, thinking I will have all kinds of problems soon, because I never use any cleaners. Throttle body cleaner, MAP/MAF sensor cleaner, fuel injector cleaner, wiper relay solenoid piston spring cleaner, etc. Never used any of them. Now it might be too late; never know what kind of stuff would get dislodged.

I think as long as you use decent gasoline, oil, and air filters, and have no obvious problems with leaks that could lead to gunked up fluids, there is no need to use any of these cleaners.

BTW: the two sections of the manual you posted are consistent. It is clear that they recommend against using any cleaner beyond what is already contained in decent gasoline.

 

I've never used fuel injection cleaner in any of my cars and I've had two with over 200,000 miles; one an Acura and one a Subaru. Gasoline has additives to prevent buildup, I wouldn't dump anything else in your tank.

 

it does not matter.

you aren't going to hit the mechanical limitations of the engine in such a way that this decision will add or subtract any functional value...maybe mental value.

the mechanical limits of these motors are such that you won't want to keep up with the maintenance necessary to reach the 300,000, 400,000 or 500,000 miles it takes to get to where detergents play any significant role. pull a part enough subaru blocks with 200,000 miles and cylinder walls have the factory honing on them, bearing surfaces are great....you're not going to keep up with the brake, gasket, fluid leak, suspension, rust, and other issues necessary to reach the mechanical limits of your engine. subarus make 200,000 miles so easily on average maintenance...are you really honestly going to see 400,000 miles? then it probably doesn't matter. i'm shooting for at least 300,000 on my fleet and i have no intentions of additives - not necessary.

move on. or if you really like additives in your gas, dump them in and go. either way it won't matter. roll with your opinions like everyone else does, it doesn't matter. everyone here will be (anecdotally) correct, because it has no effect.

on the technical front - go google it and read all day. the scientific data for benefits of detergents in gasoline aren't even proven or agreed upon by professionals, doubt any of us have a leg up on folks that have devoted significant lab time, money, and years into this research. but experience is pretty clear that reaching 300,000 miles isn't really contingent on additives or not.

 

The only good ones I know of out there are Techron and BG-44K. The BG-44K is much more powerful than Techron, but hard to find.

 

I agree with Nickshu. But if you use top-tier fuel regularly then you shouldn't need to use a cleaner.

 

On the other hand, a subaru dealer will gladly charge you for and perform a fuel system cleaning treatment.

 

I was going to do my 48k service on my 11' OB which requires fuel injection service apart from the oil change. Dealer wanted $340 ++. Talked my buddy about it and he says get a fuel injection cleaner from Crappy tire. So did my oil chnage, and tire balancing..bought a $10 fuel injector clearner (winter type)...$70 later and on the 4th refill (The FI cleaners says to use it 5 times), my mileage shows 7.4 lit/100 km at about 400 km seeing it today. WOW! quite impressive...and this in winter in BC. Before the clearner I was getting between 8.6 lit to 9 lit/100km. it's the same driving to work. I'll be doing my 5th refill for the injector cleaner and I'll see if I can get the same mileage readout end of next week.

 

I don't think Subaru requires an injector cleaning at 48k...your local dealer might however. Just to lighten your wallet.

 

I use Chevron Techron-Concentrate Plus, the Costco stuff is a watered down version of the product, you have to buy the CP from a Chevron station, Wally's or the local auto parts retailer i.e. Autozone. Anyway, I got turned onto the stuff when I owned my old '88 Porsche Carrera 3.2 the guys on the Porsche forums swore by the stuff.

Porsche Boxer type (Air-Cooled) motors easily build grime on the intake/ exhaust valves & CIS type fuel system. And this stuff would take a somewhat rough running motor and smooth out the idle and running condition of the motor. Being that my Subaru 2.5i has the same basic type of boxer motor I use it every 3K miles or so. My Subaru only has 10K miles and has never ran rough but I use it in that car as preventative maintenance, more or less for peace of mind.

 

This morning in my denver post newspaper the article by click and clack was about fuel treatments. they said you shouldnt waste your money on these products except every 100,000miles and/or if you get some misfire or back firing.

 

I use Chevron Techron Spring and Fall. I neither use (nor will I, unless it's proven otherwise) other gas additives, or for that matter any other kind of automotive additives. Techron has a proven track record.

 

I use the Chevron with Techron all the time since that is the gasoline I always buy, unless I trow in a tank of non-ethanol gas....
If you figure out the price/Gal for that stuff you may as well use Chevron gas. :2cents:

 

I wish we had a Chevron station...or ethanol free stations. We've got neither, unfortunately. Usually I use Sunoco 93 octane because it's convenient and the fuel is probably decent.

 

While adding cleaners to your gas is not likely to extend overall engine life or anything, it does keep your fuel injectors and intake valves clean. The detergent additives called for by the EPA were mandated for a reason, decreased emissions. BMW, VW, Toyota, GM and a couple of others called for increased additives in 2004 because they were having significant numbers of their cars having problems within warranty, sometimes shortly after sale. While there is argument about how much is necessary, etc. I would not say there is no evidence that detergent additives do not prevent problems. I know that I had my Infiniti go into limp mode because the fuel injection system was gunked up and needed to be cleaned (at 45K). If there were a Chevron station nearby I would use it at least some of the time - it would have more than paid for the electronic injection and throttle body service.

 

While Techron is a great system cleaner, using an occasional tank of Chevron premium fuel (with Techron already in it) is a good way to keep a normally functioning fuel system clean. However, I for one am not convinced you gain anything specific out of using a fuel system cleaner unless there really is a problem.

 

I use a spray bottle with water. Spray the water into the intake with the engine running but don't stall the engine. This ends up creating steam in the intake part of the engine and the steam cleans the engine.
We used to do it to all gas engines on the farm every couple of years. I took a 1995 Suburban to a shop and they said the Snap-on injector service machine did basically the same thing...but $100 plus dollars.
Keeping a maintenance schedule using good fluids prevents most of the build up of contaminants in an engine.