Fuel Injector Cleaner?
 

Just wondering if any of you guys run this once a year or at any specific interval?

Mike

99-Boxster-MK:

This was on the PCA Tech Site:




"Porsche originally came out with bulletin number 8510 "Cleaning of Fuel Injectors" on December 6, 1985. This bulletin recommended adding 20 ounces of "Techron" to a full gas tank and refilling the tank at half empty with fresh gas. This should then be done 2 additional times. Your are not to use more than 20 ounces of "Techron" within 3000 miles. Then add the "Techron" to every 5th filling of the car.

Porsche still recommends that fuel injectors be cleaned similar to this with a high quality fuel injector cleaner. At the time when this came out many of the gas companies only put cleaners in their top of the line fuels. These lower octane fuels such as the 87 and 89 would start to gum up the injectors and valves fairly quickly. Although most of all the fuel grades have cleaners in them now we are faced with other problems. These being the tightening of the emissions controls of the automobiles. Any deviations in the combustion of the fuel will cause a response buy the DME. These responses can be the retardation of the timing, leaning of the fuel systems and other basic mapping characteristics. All of which means the loss of power. So always use a high grade gas and use a high quality fuel cleaner when used. Preventative maintenance is always better for you and your Porsche. Scott Slauson - PCA WebSite - 12/1/2004"

I recently purchased a Fuel System Cleaner from Chevron (containing Techron). It was $9.99 for a 20 ounce container- SUV size- enought for 20 gallons. The instructions recommended using it every 3,000 miles. Probably does not need to be used that often.

I have always used a good fuel injector cleaner in my last BMW M cars with very good results... as a matter of fact, I used a bottle in my new 01 S this weekend!
Definately a twice a year thing. I usually fill up with super as usual and then add the injector cleaner.

Best of luck,
Joe
01 S
Triple Black

When I run Chevron gas consistently, there appears to be no need for the cleaner.

However, as I bring new Porsche's in stock, I almost always have to run the cleaner through them and then fill with the Chevron Premium fuel.

Nice when a product lives up to its hype!

:cheers:

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

mike

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

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

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?

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.

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??

THe idling of the car is more consistent at start up. Thats all that stood out.

the 'recommended' gasoline for Porsches in Japan is the high-octane gasoline (octane number of 96 or more). Isn't this overkill? Nevertheless, I use Redline and do notice a small improvement in acceleration. There is no difference at all in MPG unfortunately.

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

Hi,

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. Adding Ethanol to Gasoline will boost the Octane Properties and Rating, but Ethanol contains about 8% less energy than gasoline, so a Tankful containing 10% Ethanol will actually contain less energy than a tankful of non-Ethanol laced Gasoline.

Octane Rating is a measure of the Fuel's resistance to compression related Spontaneous Combustion. Using it may allow your engine to extract more Power from the Fuel it uses, but the Fuel doesn't contain any more Power.

As stated, it's useless to use Fuels with a Higher Octane Rating than spec'd by the Manufacturer. The Boxster is spec'd at 93 Octane, but can go as low as 90 Octane, the ECU (DME in Porsche Parlance) will compensate, but power will be slightly diminished by the retarding of the spark. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

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.
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.
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.

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

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.