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Fuel injector cleaners claim to help your engine run smoother and more efficiently. We've put together a list of some of the top over-the-counter EFI cleaners you can buy.
Pulling out all the stops in trying to squeeze every last cent out of your fuel dollar these days? I am right there with you. From checking the tire pressure daily to washing the car more often to driving it less, every little thing I can do to improve my mileage I am doing right now.
If you're thinking about using a fuel injector cleaner to help your car run smoother, we've put together a list of some of the top over-the-counter EFI cleaners you can buy. Whether you should try one in your vehicle's engine is up to you.
The verdict is mixed on the effectiveness of OTC fuel injector cleaners. (To be clear, I'm talking about liquid fuel additives.) I talked to a bunch of folks about it, and they all agreed: It's really, really hard to say. There are so many of them on the market that surely, some of these products work for some people in some cars. Right?
There's no doubt clean fuel injectors will help any engine fire more efficiently and burn more cleanly, increasing efficiency and fuel economy. But without a comprehensive, laborious, and time-intensive test—which would include inspecting every injector on the same vehicle after every tank, using the various types of cleaners in almost identical conditions (whew)—there's no way to tell if any fuel injector cleaner works. The only practical yardstick is to evaluate how an engine runs after using it.
Ah, but there's the rub. Lots of people claim to feel a positive difference in power and performance after using an EFI-cleaning fuel additive. Was it the product? Without taking apart the engine, it's impossible to say. At the same time, a lot of people report even rougher-running engines after using a fuel injector cleaner. When this happens, the general consensus seems to be that these products are too good at cleaning the entire fuel system, causing particles of buildup to dislodge, run through the lines, and clog up the very part they were intended to clean.
Our suggestion? If you've got a newer car that's never had engine problems and you're just trying to get the best mileage you can, go ahead and try a fuel injector cleaner if you want to, but please—check your owner's manual before ever putting anything in your fuel tank. The chances of it causing expensive damage to a newer, relatively clean engine is far less than on an older vehicle, where caked-on debris might get loosened and cause a different set of problems or, worse, aged internal components might get damaged and result in expensive repairs you otherwise wouldn't have had to make.
Do fuel injector cleaners really work? Some call them snake oil, while others swear by them. Let me assure you that the Hears Autos Gear Team intends to do our best to get to the bottom of this mystery. In the meantime, here are some of the top-selling and most popular fuel injector cleaners on the market.
Tools for Spring Cleaning Your Garage
Chevron's Techron is one of the more popular fuel injector cleaners on the market, and it's the only one Car and Driver Testing Director KC Colwell would recommend. It's an entire fuel system cleaner that claims to clean, restore, and protect not just your fuel injectors but carburetors, intake valves, and combustion chambers. It also won Autoweek's 2019 Reader's Choice Award for Best Fuel Additive. It's good for both modern and older engines and comes in various formulations for diesel, marine, powersports, and high-mileage applications.
This stuff is the number-one choice for diesel engines, although it's safe for gasoline engines, too. It's a blend of oils and additives with a high detergent action that allows the engine to operate at maximum efficiency. Also, it cleans and lubricates the carburetor and injectors, causing fuel to burn more thoroughly and leave less residue and deposits. It's great for carbureted and fuel-injected engines and is a must if you run any kind of leaded fuel.
An OG company that's been supplying trusted products to mechanics worldwide since 1942, Sea Foam's fuel additive claims to help clean fuel injectors and restore injector spray patterns for better engine performance. It says it works to help recover lost power and restore lost fuel economy caused by dirty injector fouling. Safe for all types of gasoline fuel injection engines, it gets near-perfect ratings on Amazon from thousands of reviewers. Clearly, it's working for a whole bunch of people.
Direct injection engines have mushroomed in popularity in recent years. By injecting gasoline at high pressure directly into the combustion chamber, direct injection results in more complete combustion and cooler cylinder temperatures, for a higher compression ratio and better performance. If you own a DI engine and want to keep it clean, this might be the stuff for you. Specifically made to dissolve the hardened deposits that accumulate in DI systems, it claims to free both hard and soft carbon deposits, as well as buildup, in the fuel lines, fuel pump, and on sensors.
The only fuel injector cleaner on this list that claims to stabilize ethanol, Max-Atomizer contains highly concentrated polyether amine (PEA) detergents. It says it cleans clogged and coked injectors, optimizing spray patterns and better atomizing your fuel as it enters the combustion chamber. The apparent result is improved fuel economy, enhanced power and performance, reduced emissions, smoother idle, and quicker and easier starts. It's made specifically for direct injection engines but can be used with any type of fuel injection.
Got a lot of miles on your engine? Gumout High Mileage might be what you need to keep it running for another 100K. One of the main reasons it works so well on older high-mileage engines is that it doesn't dissolve existing deposits, sending them down the line to clog your injectors; instead, it claims to prevent new deposits from forming. It's safe to use in turbocharged and supercharged vehicles. Best of all, there's no need to use it with every tank; it's recommended once every 3000 miles.
Another fuel injector cleaner that scores nearly perfect Amazon ratings from thousands of reviewers, German manufacturer Liqui Moly is a trusted brand name in automotive products. It claims to remove deposits from fuel pipes, fuel distributors, injection systems, and inlet valves, resulting in no lean surging, smoother idling, good throttle response, and "environmentally compatible combustion." While that sounds great, we must reiterate: Your results may vary.