Fuel Injector Cleaner? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

chily3 · 10-20-2005, 07:03 PM

I use Red Line SI-1 about six times are year. As I do not use Chevron gas all the time.

mike

MNBoxster · 10-20-2005, 10:59 PM

Hi,

An equally effective cleaner, but much cheaper is Toluene. You can buy this at any Paint Store for under $5/gal.

Add about 6 oz. when you fill up and you'll never have clogged injectors. It has the added benefit of upping the Octane rating as much as .5 points.

BTW, Toluene is a normal additive in many gasolines and is used as an Octane Booster, so there's no incompatibility issue whatever. Techron is merely Chevron's Trade Name for Light Aromatic Solvent Naphtha. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!...Jim'99

KShep · 10-21-2005, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

An equally effective cleaner, but much cheaper is Toluene. You can buy this at any Paint Store for under $5/gal.

Add about 6 oz. when you fill up and you'll never have clogged injectors. It has the added benefit of upping the Octane rating as much as .5 points.

BTW, Toluene is a normal additive in many gasolines and is used as an Octane Booster, so there's no incompatibility issue whatever. BTW, techron is merely Chevron's Trade Name for Light Aromatic Solvent Naphtha. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!...Jim'99

+1 on the Toluene...been using it for years with excellent results.

blinkwatt · 11-16-2005, 02:38 PM

Here is an article on toluene. Pros/Cons and what it does.
http://www.elektro.com/~audi/audi/toluene.html
If I just emptied a tank that had 91 Octane(highest availble in Sacramento region) with Chevron Fuel System Cleaner in it would I be ok to put in toluene when I fill up?

11-16-2005, 03:08 PM

Blinkwatt, I think you should use Jim's advise and add about 6 ounces (1 cup is 8 ounces as a reference) of Toulene at fill up's as a fuel injector/system cleaner.

If you want to boost your octane, you'll need to add more. They gave good advice in the Q&A in the article that you referenced.

blinkwatt · 11-16-2005, 03:54 PM

Could the boost that the toluene affect the catalayic converter in any way?

11-16-2005, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blinkwatt

Could the boost that the toluene affect the catalayic converter in any way?

There is really no benefit to exceed the octane rating of the car's requirement. I think it's 93 right? So, no need to exceed the 93, since there is no benefit. Stay around 93 octane, and the cats will be happy too!

Blinkwatt, did the Chevron Fuel System improve your car's performance any; MPG's, ease of starting, or acceleration??

MNBoxster · 11-16-2005, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blinkwatt

Could the boost that the toluene affect the catalayic converter in any way?

Hi,

Toluene is a normal ingredient in many (read Most) Gasolines. It is used as an Octane Booster, so in concentrations under say 10%, there would be no ill effects to the Cat. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!...Jim'99

deliriousga · 11-17-2005, 09:16 AM

I just use Chevron w/ Techron always in the 928. No additives necessary. The wife will put other gas in the Boxster and I do have to use a cleaner (Lucas injector cleaner) about once every 6 months to keep hers clean.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Don't make the mistake of equating Octane with Power. High Octane Gasoline does not necessarilty have any more power, in fact, depending on the Octane Boosting Agent used, it could actually have less Power.

Thanks Jim for pointing out the biggest misconception about octane. Most people (including myself until about a year ago) equate high octane with explosive power, but it's the opposite. The higher the octane, the lower the volatility. That's why you generally get better gas mileage from higher octane gas....if the car is made for that higher octane.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blinkwatt

Could the boost that the toluene affect the catalayic converter in any way?

Toluone in effect "waters down" the gas to make it higher octane, so I think it would be the opposite (lower octane being the problem), and not affect the cats, but could harm the O2 sensors. Lower octane gases combust at lower compression, so in the Boxster they would combust early, sometimes before the spark and before all of the gas has been injected into the cylinder. The problem is when gasoline combusts early, not all of it burns so you have gas rolling down the cats and into the O2 sensors. That creates a cat fire risk and is the reason the manual says not to let the car sit and idle/warm up. The computer will adjust for it, but it's not optimal for the Boxster and it can only adjust so far. If you've chipped it, the computer does not adjust for lower octane gas.

Conversely, if you raise the octane too high, then the compression may not be high enough to ignite the gas efficiently when the spark occurs. At that point, you're just wasting your money since really high octane gas is mucho $$$ and you're not gaining anything from it.

01-28-2006, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

An equally effective cleaner, but much cheaper is Toluene. You can buy this at any Paint Store for under $5/gal.

Add about 6 oz. when you fill up and you'll never have clogged injectors. It has the added benefit of upping the Octane rating as much as .5 points.

BTW, Toluene is a normal additive in many gasolines and is used as an Octane Booster, so there's no incompatibility issue whatever. Techron is merely Chevron's Trade Name for Light Aromatic Solvent Naphtha. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!...Jim'99

FYI.

Per Jim's advice, I purchased a gallon of Toluene today, to be used as my routine fuel cleaner. It was $16.26 (Ace Hardware) for a gallon- good for 21 fill-ups.

Not as cheap as Jim thought, but still a ton cheaper than the stuff in the "fuel cleaner" aisle at the auto parts store. That stuff is about $4 for a 12 gallon tank treatment.

MNBoxster · 01-28-2006, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmussatti

FYI.

Per Jim's advice, I purchased a gallon of Toluene today, to be used as my routine fuel cleaner. It was $16.26 (Ace Hardware) for a gallon- good for 21 fill-ups.

Not as cheap as Jim thought, but still a ton cheaper than the stuff in the "fuel cleaner" aisle at the auto parts store. That stuff is about $4 for a 12 gallon tank treatment.

Hi,

Yea, I have to admit, it's been a while since I bought any at a Paint Supply. I was just at Menard's the other day and noticed that Toluene had Spiked to about $12/gal., still, if you buy in those nice, little, pre-packaged 6 oz. cans, you're gonna be paying somewhere between $85 and $115 for that same gallon of Toluene...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

01-28-2006, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

Yea, I have to admit, it's been a while since I bought any at a Paint Supply. I was just at Menard's the other day and noticed that Toluene had Spiked to about $12/gal., still, if you buy in those nice, little, pre-packaged 6 oz. cans, you're gonna be paying somewhere between $85 and $115 for that same gallon of Toluene...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Hey Jim, thanks again for the tip! I tried buying it from the paint store (a good one too!) and they did not have it. I was surprised.

02-18-2006, 11:09 AM

What would be a good way to accurately measure the 6 ounces of toluene, and then more importantly, dispense into the car without getting any all over the place?

bhduxbury · 02-18-2006, 12:26 PM

a used bottle of techron? (and a funnel to fill the techron bottle)

02-19-2006, 07:41 AM

hi

here the unleaded is 95 and super unleaded 98 so does this means that their is more cleaners or solvent in them?
how come a world company car recommends different petroleum for the same car depending on where it is driven, 98 is NOT recommended here by the way and 95 should be used for the Boxster

Brucelee · 02-19-2006, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by olly986

hi

here the unleaded is 95 and super unleaded 98 so does this means that their is more cleaners or solvent in them?
how come a world company car recommends different petroleum for the same car depending on where it is driven, 98 is NOT recommended here by the way and 95 should be used for the Boxster

The octane rating is NOT related to the amount of cleaning agents in the gas. Chevron regular grade (say 87) has techron in it while the Costco premium does not.

I would guess the diff octane reqs listed are in response to diff regulations around gas that pop up in diff countries or in the case of the US, diff states.

MNBoxster · 02-19-2006, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by olly986

hi

here the unleaded is 95 and super unleaded 98 so does this means that their is more cleaners or solvent in them?
how come a world company car recommends different petroleum for the same car depending on where it is driven, 98 is NOT recommended here by the way and 95 should be used for the Boxster

Hi,

European Gasoline is both more highly refined (better end-product, more waste) and rated under a different system than US Gas. As stated, the additive package varies by Brand and local Gov't. Regulations...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

PorscheCrazy · 02-20-2006, 09:50 PM

An excellent product is BG44k, I use 1 can every couple fill ups you can buy BG at any dealer, Porsche included. I also like to run redline SL1 in between the BG44K. Works great!!

chily3 · 02-20-2006, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PorscheCrazy

An excellent product is BG44k, I use 1 can every couple fill ups you can buy BG at any dealer, Porsche included. I also like to run redline SL1 in between the BG44K. Works great!!

AS I understand BG44K, this is pretty potent stuff and is not intended for continued use. I do agree on Redline SI1 and use it often. Suppose to keep the carbon build up off the back of the valves.

Mike