How to clean fuel injectors ?

[corvettetim]

just take it to a shop that offers a injector service they "should" have a machine that connects to the fuel rail and they run the cleaner right into the fuel rail with a adapter, usually runs about $80-100
this is one of the machines out there

MotorVac 500-0245 CarbonClean 245 - Gas/Petrol Fuel Service. Includes ICS Kit Part # 200-8667.

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That is what I will do if the code keeps coming up. Thanks

 

[Fless]

Before you start spending money on whatever, get the code. Or did I miss it?

 

[OR VietVet]

Before you start spending money on whatever, get the code. Or did I miss it?

He had codes pulled 2 times. Was told the codes meant fuel injector flow problems. He has no codes to share because did not write down. Code numbers have been asked for.

Hopefully, anyone who has codes pulled at a parts store will get the exact code because parts sellers will tell you, lots of times, that a code means you need to buy something from them.

 

[Doubeleive]

Before you start spending money on whatever, get the code. Or did I miss it?

he had it read at autozone and autozone likes to print out a piece of paper that says these are the likely causes for "xx" code which from what I have seen in the past are way off base

 

[OR VietVet]

he had it read at autozone and autozone likes to print out a piece of paper that says these are the likely causes for "xx" code which from what I have seen in the past are way off base

Did not know that. Of course, I haven't ever had codes pulled at a parts store and anyone I am trying to help and is not close to me, I tell them to get a list of the actual code(s).

 

[Doubeleive]

Did not know that. Of course, I haven't ever had codes pulled at a parts store and anyone I am trying to help and is not close to me, I tell them to get a list of the actual code(s).

ya i think they do that just so you will go in buy stuff, the print outs I have seen posted before are like WTF? no.... i don't know what kind of algorithm they use but it's off base, possibly related but still not the first thing you might look at for a cause.

 

[MWD_CTSV]

The fuel rail attachment cleaning for $100 is a really great option if that is truly available.

Just as an aside, I did the diy hack fuel injector cleaning with a valve stem over the injector, a can of Berryman B12 and a 9V battery to open the injector. Since I have the intake off to deal with the VLOM (and a stuck lifter), I decided to clean the injectors or at least to try since the engine is at 214K miles. I was pleasantly surprised by the near perfect spray pattern by at least 5 of the injectors. The others weren't terrible, but some of the streams were a little more of a narrow stream than a nicer misty one. I haven't rechecked them since I let them soak, but many people have had good success with that cleaning method.

I did consider replacing the injectors, but after seeing perfect performance on the majority, I reconsidered. Injectors (particularly these nice EV6 pencil style) are supposed to be good for 1B cycles. Doing the math my engine says 6400 hrs which is 384K minutes. So if the average minute is 2K RPM (which I think is a high average), and 1 pulse every 2 revolutions, they are only about 38% of the expected life.

 

[salisburyv]

Don't mean to be a Karen...but, Shell is a top tier gasoline. that means it has cleaning additives that actually work. this is decided by auto manufacturers. i'm sure we all have our stories of "suspected" bad gas. I was a Service writer at a New car stealership for 25 years . I have only used shell in all my cars. including my STi {which was very fussy} and fully built. Pistons looked great upon multiple tear downs (subaru, ugh). OP, at your mileage, i would have the injectors removed and professionally cleaned. the only other option to try, i think it has been mentioned, is to do a top engine clean. It introduces detergent directly into the fuel rail, while the vehicle is running. Make sure you do it outside. tailpipes will be blowing a lot of smoke. Hope this helps!!

 

[iamdub]

Don't mean to be a Karen...but, Shell is a top tier gasoline. that means it has cleaning additives that actually work. this is decided by auto manufacturers. i'm sure we all have our stories of "suspected" bad gas. I was a Service writer at a New car stealership for 25 years . I have only used shell in all my cars. including my STi {which was very fussy} and fully built. Pistons looked great upon multiple tear downs (subaru, ugh).

Sharing your experience, however opposing, doesn't make you a Karen and I don't think anyone said Shell wasn't a Top Tier gasoline. What I can say is that it's different than the others I've run. It has been consistently worse for me for multiple vehicles over 20+ years. I believe this was a short subject here a while back and others mentioned how Shell was among the best for them. IIRC, the majority of those saying so were in the northeast and/or midwest. Maybe it's my local refinery at fault?

 

[avalonandl]

Techron injector cleaner is great. Run 2 bottle with each tank full.

BTW its the same a GM injector cleaner.