Any harm from fuel injector cleaner?


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Old 11-30-05, 05:59 PM
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Any harm from fuel injector cleaner?

My wife has a 2003 merc sable [3.0] with 51k miles. Occasionally the valves clatter under light acceleration. I intend to put a bottle of inj cleaner in the tank which I'm sure will stop the clatter. my wife says NO! the owners manual says to not use any fuel additives or high test gas.

I'm don't know why the manufacture says that although I'm sure when the motor is new and under warranty it wouldn't need it. What can I tell my wife to put her mind at ease. I know I could just dump the cleaner in her tank when she ain't looking but.....
 
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Old 11-30-05, 07:09 PM
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Are you sure it's the valves marksr?
It's not a light knock?
Well, no matter
The FI cleaner won't hurt anything
In fact, if it is a knock, the FI cleaner would probably clear it up (raising the octane a bit)

Although Fords and Mercs are designed to run on 87, and normally I'd say anything more than that is a waste for these vehicles, sometimes things happen in an engine and a switch is in order

For example:
Some engines experience Octane Creep
Carbon builds up on the pistons effectivly raising the compression ratio, and raising the need for higher octane (anti-knock) fuel

It can result in a light knock under load

Really the most simple thing to do is put a tankfull of 92 in there and listen
A tank of 92 won't hurt anything
And if the noise goes away, well, there's your answer
You need to step up the octane

Personally, I'd throw a bottle of FI cleaner and a tankfull of 92 and see what happens

PS Mine's the opposite, she'll only put super+ in her Escort, and it runs fine on the 87
 
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Old 12-01-05, 06:23 AM
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I know from experience that carb/injector cleaner or high test will stop the valve noise. When we first married she had an olds that required either high test or a bottle of cleaner every so often.

My biggest question was why the owners manual says to never use injector cleaner. Is it just an emissions issue?
 
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Old 12-01-05, 07:10 AM
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Originally Posted by marksr
My biggest question was why the owners manual says to never use injector cleaner. Is it just an emissions issue?
No it's a CYA issue
They want to discourage owners from messing with things
And rightly so from their POV
If they say throw in a bottle of cleaner every 10K miles and you throw in 3 bottles of Gunky Smith's Fly-By-Night Octane Boost Tune-Up-In-A-Can and mess up the O2 sensors or suddenly have drivability problems, they don't want you to come in saying it's a warranty problem

I questioned my brother-in-law who worked at a dealership about this
The manual specifically said no additives, fuel, tranny, oil...
But the guidelines at the dealer service called for regular adding of all of them
My bro-in-law said simply "It's factory approved and we can control what's put in there, so that's OK"
 
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Old 12-01-05, 10:43 AM
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Originally Posted by slickshift
If they say throw in a bottle of cleaner every 10K miles and you throw in 3 bottles of Gunky Smith's Fly-By-Night Octane Boost Tune-Up-In-A-Can and mess up the O2 sensors or suddenly have drivability problems"

GEE I was all set to buy a couple cases


BTW thanks for the 'factory' explanation.
 
 

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