Does Fuel system cleaners really work?

[JEA86]

just wondering what you all thought about the STP and other Fuel system cleaners? waste of money or a good investment every 5-10 thousand miles?

BTW i only run 93 octane!

[BigT]

I would say that as a preventative measure every 5,000-10,000 miles it would be a waste of money. Some of the better ones (Techron, Seafoam, etc.) do technically work, but the question is weather or not you actually need or would benifit from them.

Better cars, and better fuels mean that the cleaners aren't really needed most of the time. There may be specific situations were they would be of benefit. For instance, if you had some contamination in your fuel (dirt, water, etc.) an additive may help, or if you had old fuel that gummed things up or something like that.

But for the most part, most fuel has lots of detergents and additives in it already. I don't think the vast majority of cars on the road need regular fuel system cleaners or additives. If you are using decent gas it shouldn't ever be a problem.

[JoeFromPA]

BigT hit the nail on the head. Not really needed. If you felt obliged to use something, use a concentrated complete fuel system cleaner every 60,000 miles or so. Something like Redline SL-1.

Add it to an empty tank as you FILL up all the way. Add it to the last full tank of gas you'll have prior to an oil change. Drive through the whole tank, and then change your oil out.

Fuel naturally gets into your oil during the combustion process, and you don't want the fuel system cleaners circulating through your oil for thousands of miles. Won't really harm much, but it's not good either

[obert]

Waste of money unless your car has a billion miles on it !!!!!

[BigT]

Originally Posted by obert

Waste of money unless your car has a billion miles on it !!!!!

Quick Lube guy: "I see you have over a billion miles, would you like a fuel system cleaner?"

Customer: "Actually, I rebuilt the motor at 900,450,000 miles and I think it's fine. Just an oil change today."