I will be going on a long trip in a few days and was wondering if I can add some fuel injector cleaner in the gas tank or should I just leave well enough alone. I have 60,000 miles and just dont know if it is worth it or not. I will be going through several tanks of gas so it will be the best time to do it if it will help on fuel economy or power. All input is appreciated, thanks.

 

What fuel do you MOSTY use.

If it is Chevron it already has a good shot of Techron and your injectors are clean.

I suggest changing the fuel filter if it has greater that 30K on it....they seem to be the weak link in the system.

If you feel that injector cleaner is needed, please read your owners guide and pay attention to the cautions to fuel additives...they spell out the compounds to avoid... With that knowledge take a magnifier to AutoZone, or where ever, and read the small print on the injector cleaners... many of them use stuff Ford says to not use.

 

got 85,000 miles on my V10 and have no idea when the last fuel filter change was. Going to attemt to change it out for a new one myself. Where it it located on the truck and is it fairly easy to change?

 

Hey Mike the river Rat

The fuel filter is usually right under the drivers side inside the frame rail and you need a tool to release the fittings. The filter is not too expensive. About a five min job.

I usually lay some rags on top of the motor and into a glass jar spit the little bit of fuel that flows when releasing the pressure. How you ask. On the left (passenger side) top of the engine is a schraeder valve (tire air valve) that you can use to bleed air out of the fuel rail. Do NOT just poke in something and see how this valve spits fuel...It WILL spray in your eyes...ask me how I know?!

Once the fuel pressure is released the special tool ($4.50 auto-zone) is used to release the hidden inner keeper holding the fuel line onto/into the filter. Most of the cheapo plastic tools will work for the life of your truck.

Slip the correct size (most tools have two sizes) around the outside of the fuel line. Holding the filter and tool push in and the keeper will release then the fuel line will slide out...same on other side. No tool needed putting back together and I am pretty sure the filter is idiot proof and only will go in in the proper direction of fuel flow. (Been over three years since I done one).

 

Thanks Fred, Maybe I will just stay away from the whole mess. I will change the fuel filter and be done with it. I dont want any problems with the trip.

Brian

 

Brian

I don't want to totally shy you away from injector cleaners some of them work very good and some are just all packaging and hype.

I do not for one min think that a simple 8-16oz of them can damage the fuel system used one time.

And for an engine that sits in storage more than on the road, there is a good argument for finging the right blend of fuel Stabilizers and injector cleaners to keep the crap, shellack, and varnish deposits at bay.

But if you have good filter, buy quality fuel, and use the motor daily, there is not much that can seriously get in there and muck them up.

 

Thanks, I'll do a little looking in the manual. It is not a daily driver, weekends only, and that varies also. I try to buy quality gas, I dont usually stop at als gas n feed. I am going to do a fuel filter so i might look into an injecter cleaner. I am going to be driving about 1200 miles and dont want any problems but thought it would be good time to add a little cleaner where I will be going through alot of gas.

Brian

 

Thanks for all the info. I will do that soon.

 

Fred, how much do you know about Techron/Techroline? On occasion, in other vehicles, not my truck, I have used Techron additive. You know, one of the black store bought bottles that mixes with 12 or so gallons. I dug one up the other day and it says it contains Stoddard Solvent and other proprietary ingredients. Now I have this great big 32 ounce clear bottle of Techroline that says it contains Naphtha and other proprietary ingredients. Matter of fact the whole bottle says not for sale and for proprietary use only. I got this bottle from a friend of a friend. I had heard 8 of these quart bottles were mixed in the tanker or where ever they do the mixing. You know anything about this stuff?

 

keith W

The truth is I do not know any more than you do on the truth or myth of how additives get into the specific blend of fuel.

There are folks out there that claim every drop out of XYZ refinery is exactly the same raw fuel and then the distributors add packages to make Shell or Mobile or Chevron... I really do not know

Same goes for the different recipes of additives; octane boosters, cleaners, and so called fuel lubricants.... I just don't know, and there does not seem to be any real industry guidelines or consumer protection requirements like on food or drugs.

Then you get caught up in the packaging and advertising hype.... if you try to ferret it all out your head will spin.

Years ago I would have sworn by Slick 50, and other fix all panacea drugs for my motors and trannies. Then I got involved in the testing business. We try to use the largest sample size practical, very thoroughly control the environment (test conditions), and use time proven statistical analysis to describe the capabilities and limitations of any set of "things".

When you test the common low tech oil or oil filter or air filter against some "new and Improved" super duper whiz bang product. What you find most of the time is that any improvement or gain usually is a very small percent better than what it is compared against. Then you have to analyze if the small amount of improvement warrants the added cost of the XYZ brand "new stuff".

After going through this drill several hundred times with various products, you start to see in the advertising; The exaggerations, implied benefits that don't really exist, and some pretty outrageous lies.

What does all that crap above mean.... In my experience I have frond that simple and cheap are usually good enough. I find that frequent services with good enough products works and is cheaper in the long haul.

Prevention is the key. Understanding how things work can greatly enhance an owners ability to prevent problems and rapidly correct conditions that can promote problems.

The weakest link in the fuel delivery and distribution game is the point of sale tank. They collect water and dirt sediment.

To flow properly a filter must do two things, trap particles of a certain size but still allow enough surface area for full flow.

We know from experience that our little fuel filter tends to clog and reduce flow at 20, 25, 30 thousand (what ever your experience is) then we could very easy do a Little mental math and figure that (using 20K miles and 10 mpg) figure we put 2000 gallons of fuel through it and it was clogged.

So next time you are at the gas station ask your self how many gallons went through the pumps filter system this week... Any chance they change 3 or 4 filters a month?

In 35 years of driving and filling up I have only ONE TIME ever seen a service station pump have the filter replaced... If it was done on any schedule or frequency I am certain I would have observed it more often than that. Curious ..... no?

 

True about the pump filters, I have never seen one replaced. In 20 years of driving and as much gasoline that I have used, I think the odds would be I would have seen it.