Aftermarket petrol treatment?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
View Threaded
Thu 10 Jan 2013 10:05
Aftermarket petrol treatment? - Happy Blue!

Been driving my father's car around this week. Its a 2.5 year old Daihatsu Sirion Automatic with only 8,800miles on it. It drives really well, but starting is not quite as instant as it once was. I intend to consider the battery as well, but I wonder if it could do with some form of cleaning out of the fuel system and cylinder heads given its use for mainly short cold journeys. As a retired person his longest regular trip is delivering 'meals on wheels' for the old folk - he is 78!

Any recommendations for some treatment fluid that could work. Or shoud I simply top it up with Shell V-Power?

Edited by Happy Blue! on 10/01/2013 at 10:05

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 10 Jan 2013 10:12
Aftermarket petrol treatment? - RT

Given that description it just needs to be driven - not "pootled" with.

An Italian tune-up might work wonders.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 10 Jan 2013 10:16
Aftermarket petrol treatment? - Armitage Shanks {p}

Better petrol seems to be informed opinion. Have a look at this

www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=189738

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 10 Jan 2013 10:23
Aftermarket petrol treatment? - Happy Blue!

Hmmm

I have tried a bit of the italian tune up, Car drives really well; i wonder if I should simply check the battery charge level.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 10 Jan 2013 10:20
Aftermarket petrol treatment? - oldtoffee

I'd take it for a run, wait until its fully warmed up to normal operating temperature and then give it some beans to blow out any cobwebs. V-Power over several tank fills might help with its detergents to clean up deposits if any have built up but thats more of a benefit to much older higher mileage cars and is unlikely to be the cause of poor starting.

If that doesn't improve things I'd drop it in at the dealers as it will still be under warranty and get them to check it over.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 10 Jan 2013 10:56
Aftermarket petrol treatment? - craig-pd130

A good run of 20+ miles would help, and try overriding the autobox to get the revs up too for a couple of mles.

Might be worth checking the battery terminals are nice & tight, too.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 10 Jan 2013 20:07
Aftermarket petrol treatment? - Cyd

Millers Petrol Eco Max seems to be very well recieved and I've had good results on my van with the diesel version so I'm buying some for my petrol car. There is a one shot version for cars that haven't been treated before. The normal stuff should be used regularly.

I get much better fuel economy using Jet fuel compared to Tesco in both the van and car. The car (Saab 9-3 Aero with Maptun st1) also runs and "goes" noticeably better on Jet super98 compare to Tesco momentum99. so I would advocate a "branded" fuel

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 10 Jan 2013 23:10
Aftermarket petrol treatment? - Avant

Is the starter motor sluggish and slow to turn the engine, or does it spin vigorously and the engine just not fire as quickly as before?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 11 Jan 2013 09:45
Aftermarket petrol treatment? - dadbif
If he is doing meals on wheels deliveries he is probably doing frequent starts with short runs, this will soon deplete the battery, try putting it on trickle charge overnight
Reply | Report as offensive | Link