The internet has reviews for fuel cleaners like Berryman, Chevron, Amsoil, and others. Most sites suggest that these cleaners are effective, particularly with ethanol-containing gasoline. What is your take on this? How often do you use them, considering they cost between $6 and $20 per tank?
Which brand do you prefer and why, and how frequently do you use it?
I purchased a car with a rough idle and poor throttle response. After using two bottles of Techron, I noticed a significant improvement. It saved me a lot of work since I didn’t have to remove the injectors. This was a direct injection engine, which is more prone to injector fouling, and it’s the only car I’ve had to use Techron on. I won’t start using it regularly on all my vehicles unless a problem arises.
The maintenance chart for my 2011 Subaru recommends fuel injection cleaning service every 3 years, but the Toyota chart doesn’t mention it. I add a bottle of STP 5-in-1 to the tank every 3 years for both vehicles. You can definitely smell it in the exhaust, which makes me think it’s best not to use it too frequently to avoid damaging the catalytic converters.
Yes, Berryman offers a PEA gas additive called Total Fuel System Cleanup, which is also available from Chevron and Amsoil. Chevron originally developed the PEA additive.
Redline SI-1 contains PEA, and the most affordable option is Gumout Regane High Mileage.
While ethanol acts as a fuel system cleaner, it’s very hygroscopic (absorbs water), which isn’t a major issue within the fuel system itself but can be a concern at the gas station. PEA doesn’t address this water absorption issue, there are other additives for that.
For optimal maintenance, use Top Tier Gas as often as possible (preferably from a busy station), and consider adding a bottle of the mentioned fuel system cleaner before an oil change.
It’s up to you. I have a supply of Redline SI-1 at home. If you come across Chevron Techron Fuel System Cleaner on sale, you might want to pick that up.
That’s all I use in my TAL. It’s inexpensive in the U.S. but quite pricey here in Canada. I have 4 bottles left from a case of 6. I used 3 of them in the first year and a half to clean the fuel system, and it’s significantly improved the fuel sender, which was almost failing. Once the last bottle drops below the 1/4 mark, I plan to fill the tank only halfway for a while so the wiper on the sender stays above the inaccurate section. It’s now 75% better than it was, which saves me from replacing the sender as long as it remains reliable until prices and availability improve. Plus, it helps clean the system since I don’t drive much, although most of my driving is highway, which helps evaporate any oil condensation.
It was first introduced with the 2GR-FKS engine, but I haven’t heard if the same programming is included in the A25A-FKS/FXS. We can assume it might be.
Additionally, this feature is for direct injection injectors, not port injection injectors, as port injection maintains a transparent idle for us.
By law all fuel already has chemicals mixed in to clean the fuel system. Bottles of fuel injector cleaner are useless as your fuel already cleaned everything.
(I added blank lines and bold for ease of reading: ) I do use the Techron fuel system clean once in a very rare while. Can’t say there’s much difference in a normal engine.
Thank you for your inquiry. It has been forwarded to us here at Chevron Fuels Technical Service.
The ProGard and Techron products contain the same chemical additive. There is but one grade of the Techron product, while there are four grades of Pro-Gard. The Pro-Gard products are “Clean-up”, “Fuel Injector Cleaner”, “Fuel Injector Plus Intake Valve Cleaner”, and “Gas Treatment”.
The ProGard products give lower, less effective concentrations. These lower-concentration packages often sell for less. They have less “keep clean” and “cleanup” properties. They are also not concentrated enough to clean combustion chamber deposits. There are only subtle differences amongst the Pro-Gard products, mostly having to do with concentration.
Techron Concentrate Fuel System Cleaner is the most concentrated and will clean combustion chamber deposits. There is approximately 100% more active ingredient in the Techron Concentrate than the Pro-Gard Fuel Injector Cleaner.
The active ingredient is Poly Ether Amine with a solvent carrier. A bottle of Techron Concentrate Fuel System Cleaner, when added to gasoline according to the label instructions, results in an additive concentration roughly 10 times stronger than the dose in Chevron gasolines.
If you always used Chevron gasolines, you should be getting enough of a dose of Techron such that you should not have to purchase the Concentrate.
Then OP then stated:
Now I do believe that they are giving you a little bit of a sales pitch at the end saying that if I always use their gasoline I should never need the Techron concentrate. Well in a perfect world that may be true. But the problem is that engines are not perfect and they do wear out. When they start using a little oil, sometimes carbon deposits accumulate. Some engines just have a design flaw that may also promote carbon or sludge buildup. I have seen cars with only 10k miles on them that were already having injector problems and they were using quality fuel. Climate and driving habits can also play a big factor. Personally I believe any name brand fuel is fine, especially if it has not been oxygenated or has alcohol. Good old straight quality gasoline is best. So I use any quality fuel and run a bottle of real Techron concentrate every 10k or so right before an oil change.