As my car has now reached 60000 miles would it be wise to start using an injector additive. I was thinking of using the VW one that was recommended some time ago . I don,t have any problems with the car (kiss of death) but as much as possible I like to keep ahead of any problems before they are likely to occur.
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IMHO most of these additives are a complete waste of money. They prey on people who think that a problem is inevitable and must be fixed before it occurs.
Unfortunately I can't take my own advice: I had the injectors on my Rover turbo thoroughly cleaned (off the car) at 105k. Made not a scrap of difference because they didn't need doing in the first place.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
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Tried it twice.
On both occasions, the engine was rough as a dog afterwards. Never again!
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HJ himself advises, or even recommends, the use Millers Diesel Power Plus. A search in the archive will lead you to earlier posts on the subject. Apart from any effect it may (or may not) have on the injectors, it provides a degree of pump lubrication which is alleged to be missing from ultra low sulphur diesel fuels. £7 worth treats 500 litres so it is less than the difference in the price of fuel itself around the various filling stations.
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I have an old Saab 9000i (just injection, no turbo). It has done 199,000 miles with the original injectors. I used some injector cleaner (Redex High-strength or similar, can't remember) and it made a noticeable difference in smoothness & flexibility, making the car much more pleasant to drive. I have read the other comments that seem to indicate it was a waste of money, but in my case it worked well. There's only one answer - try it!
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So it worked for you, and you're recommending the use of an injector cleaner additive once every 200,000 miles?????!
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I never had one do any harm. As to good, how do I know what might happen in Xk miles?
Tomo
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Just trying to understand how these addatives work, as I have bought some of the Millers fuel addative myself. One benefit of using these is that you get more miles per gallon, so how is this done? Does it clean your injectors/fuel line etc to deliver more MPG, if so I presume that these would only benefit older cars as new cars have clean injectors etc?
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When I owned my VW Scirocco, I used some of the VW injector cleaner on it (at the advice of my VW mechanic brother). It did make the car run lumpy for a bit, but by the second tankfull the car did feel better (placebo effect?).
The additive from VW is very concentrated, and I think it dissolves any carbon build up from the injectors and probably the valves.
As far as fuel additive goes, it might give you better MPG by increasing the octane of the fuel and make it burn more efficiently, but I'm really not sure about this.
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If the injectors are dirty, clogged or gummed then Redex Injector Cleaner will give a smoother running engine. However, at £10 per litre it is ridiculously expensive.
700ml of paraffin + 250ml of methylated spirits + 50ml of auto gearbox oil is vitually identical to Redex and only costs £1.25 per litre. Use 50ml of this mixture every tankful.
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Redex Injector Cleaner ......at £10 per litre is ridiculously expensive.
Not if, like me, you've just paid £4.50 for 177ml of Redline SI 2 injector cleaner it isn't.
Mind you, it is friendly to cats, and is fully endorsed by BMW.
Am I the only one who's been waiting a long time for a recipe to be posted? Thanks again, and thanks to you Carl2 for bringing up the subject. I'm making a copy of it straight away in case like a lot of things recently it falls victim to a spot of enthusiastic moderation!!!!
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