So what's the deal with the bottles of fuel injector cleaner that they sell at gas stationes/auto parts store?  Do they actually work to clean your injector, or is it a gimmicky waste of money?

its my understanding that many of the brands may not be so good, but chevron techron is supposed to be one of the better ones and is often used when manually cleaning injectors. how this was concluded i don't really know, but i've seen it repeated in several auto enthusiast type forums.

anyway, here's my experience. i had an older car that was experiencing clogged injectors and running horribly. hesitating, surging, sputtering, etc. i know this because when the injectors were removed, there were usually one or two that were fouled pretty badly. after cleaning, the car ran fine for a few tanks of gas and and the process repeated and the injectors were again removed, tested (clogged) and cleaned. then everything was fine.

after the second cleaning, as soon as the injectors started acting up again, i started using techron...adding a bottle to the tank. the hesitatioin and other symptoms decresed and went away after about a quarter tank. the car ran fine for the remainder of the tank and would be ok until another tank or two went through. then the clogged injector symptoms would return. id add techron and theyd go away.

this went on for a few cycles, then i just started adding techron to every tank. that's not really recommended, but if i couldn't keep the injectors clean the car wasn't worth keeping...or reselling. at times i would run it through rather concentrated...like with only a half a tank or a quarter. after about ten bottles of techron, the car was continually running welll and i decided to stop using it.

it's been a year or so since...and there have been no further injector problems.

do i swear by it? no. but im not willing to call it completely worthless either.

I have also used some of the Techron with good results in an older truck.
TS

chevron and possibly texaco use techron.  theres something with the gas up here in ak that clogs the injectors quickly in gms, so have to add techron if not already in the gas.  before i moved here, i ran the lucas oil treatment through my vehicles.  it does not flow in the cold though.  injectors are not cheap to replace.

I periodically pull the injectors and clean them, if necessary (it usually isn't). I leave the "tune-up in a can" products on the shelf.

only thing I use regularly is Heet.  Seems like our fuel here is cut with seawater or something.

You aRe what you eat - samething applies to car motors. Stready diet of quality gas and oil and regular maintenance.

bein g a mechanic i dont believe in 99% of the snake oils out there.

if your injectors are gummed up to the point that it drasticly impeads proformance. its time to replace them or have them rebuilt(i prefer the latter, but it means down time) i send all my injectors to www.witchhunter.com or RC engineering.

witch hunter is cheaper, they are what i used on my semi-race RWD corolla.  RCs prices have gone up quite a bit from the last time i used them.

Real injector cleaners arent put in the fuel tank. If you really want to clean your injectors get the type that goes into the fuel rail at the schrader valve. Most low intel parts types have never heard of this and will point you to the stuff in a bottle. This type dose an excellent  job of restoring power as well as the often overlooked throttle body cleaning. I use an entire can of valvoline throttle body cleaner each time I clean the cokeing from the idle air control motor passage and the throttle plate.

Quoted: Real injector cleaners arent put in the fuel tank. If you really want to clean your injectors get the type that goes into the fuel rail at the schrader valve. Most low intel parts types have never heard of this and will point you to the stuff in a bottle. This type dose an excellent  job of restoring power as well as the often overlooked throttle body cleaning. I use an entire can of valvoline throttle body cleaner each time I clean the cokeing from the idle air control motor passage and the throttle plate.

a BIG +1