Clean injectors at 25k miles?

Retired Bob · October 3, 2014

I was listening to a service manager tell a young female customer that she should come in every 25k miles or so and have the fuel injectors in her new Chevy cleaned. He was telling her that the use of ethanol gas was the primary reason for this. After she left I asked about the 2014 Silverados and he said the same exists for the trucks. I told him I was not planning on having my truck serviced for this.

Seems that a cleaning every 25k miles is excessive unless a fuel related problem is diagnosed. Is this just another profit maker for the dealer?

DanMan_S · October 3, 2014

Based on my experiences, it's a great way for them to make quick margin. Last time I was in, they were trying to quote me like 400 dollars for a fuel servicing kit. As I'm an Amsoil distributor, a case of fuel injector cleaner is pretty cheap.

ifixedit · October 3, 2014

I don't know exactly what it is they'd even do other than dump a bottle of their expensive ($30 a bottle) injector cleaner in it, charge you an hour for labor, and then tell you they did something special. I was told the GM stuff they sell at the dealer is the same as the Chevron injector cleaner sold at the auto parts store for about $7 a bottle. Interestingly when comparing the two bottles side by side, the GM and Chevron bottles are the exact same shape, just a different color. If you're truck is running fine I'd just let er' buck, but it sure doesn't hurt to run a bottle of the stuff through it every 25K or so, changing the inline filter in or around that time-frame is probably just as important. I've ran a bottle of injector cleaner through my truck a few times and it does seem to run a bit smoother afterwards. I've got just over 200K on my 03' HD1500 and with little fussing in this area and it still runs as good as the day I bought it.

DanMan_S · October 3, 2014

I don't know exactly what it is they'd even do other than dump a bottle of their expensive ($30 a bottle) injector cleaner in it, charge you an hour for labor, and then tell you they did something special. I was told the GM stuff they sell at the dealer is the same as the Chevron injector cleaner sold at the auto parts store for about $7 a bottle. Interestingly when comparing the two bottles side by side, the GM and Chevron bottles are the exact same shape, just a different color. If you're truck is running fine I'd just let er' buck, but it sure doesn't hurt to run a bottle of the stuff through it every 25K or so, changing the inline filter in or around that time-frame is probably just as important. I've ran a bottle of injector cleaner through my truck a few times and it does seem to run a bit smoother afterwards. I've got just over 200K on my 03' HD1500 and with little fussing in this area and it still runs as good as the day I bought it.

That's pretty much ALL they do last time I've seen them do it. They charge you the cash, dump the bottle into your fuel tank, sometimes they run it through the vacuum line, then run your truck for 5 minutes. So effectively it's a giant scam, especially when the vehicle isn't demonstrating any problems.

ifixedit · October 3, 2014

That's pretty much ALL they do last time I've seen them do it. They charge you the cash, dump the bottle into your fuel tank, sometimes they run it through the vacuum line, then run your truck for 5 minutes. So effectively it's a giant scam, especially when the vehicle isn't demonstrating any problems.

Ha, that's what I figured! $400 bucks to unscrew the cap on the bottle and the gas tank and pour it in, or about $7 total and do it yourself. Hmmmm......... tough decision. This is exactly why unless it's still under warranty anything I own will never see the light of day at a dealership.

DanMan_S · October 3, 2014

Ha, that's what I figured! $400 bucks to unscrew the cap on the bottle and the gas tank and pour it in, or about $7 total and do it yourself. Hmmmm......... tough decision. This is exactly why unless it's still under warranty anything I own will never see the light of day at a dealership.

The cost of the bottle of cleaner and a 6 pack of beer!

KARNUT · October 3, 2014

Run top tier gas its in it already.

MNDaveC · October 3, 2014

Look for Gumout with Regane. Same stuff as techron

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

MNDaveC · October 3, 2014

I do a bottle of Gumout with every oil change. I buy gas at sams club, so I'm not sure if they use top tier additives.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

mymaggiebell · October 3, 2014

i dump a can of sea foam in the tank every 10000 km's. lucas gas treatment is good stuff too!!

Colossus · October 4, 2014

Folks- If you are using a top tier fuel then you likely will not need to add any additives. The detergents and cleaners in top tier fuels more than do enough to keep those injectors clean.

http://www.toptiergas.com/

Retired Bob · October 4, 2014

My dealer was showing the young lady he was talking to the valves from 2 different engines - one valve was clean of deposits and the other valve had visible deposits on the bottom of the valve and on the valve stem - so he told her to have the injectors cleaned every 25k pr so miles.

That brings us to possibly adding a fuel additive cleaner to the gas on occasion, or use Top Tier gas brands - some say YES, some say NO NEED. Here is some 'words' from Edmunds.com:

http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/is-cheap-gas-bad-for-your-car.html

Bottom line seems to be - buy gas from a clean station with lots of traffic to insure getting fresh gas and maybe add a bottle of additive if you experience a fuel related issue, otherwise ....

And don't pay the dealer to do PM to the injectors.

ifixedit · October 4, 2014

Thanks for the link, Retired Bob. Very interesting read. I just had the intake off of mine 2 weeks ago and yeah, with 200K on the clock the stem and bell area of the valves had "some" deposits on them, nothing horrid and is to be expected. But, no matter what, they're not going to stay perfectly clean regardless of what a person does, especially with that amount of miles.

2014 Sporty Shorty · October 4, 2014

The fuel cleaning they do if it's that expensive would be the type that's hooked up to your fuel rail. They run two cans of cleaner right through your fuel rail with the fuel pump turned off. The car/truck runs for 15 min solely on the stuff in the can. As far as cleaning valves go, non of these products will ever work on modern day direct injection engines. The valves will never be touched by the stuff. Only way to properly clean valves on a di car/truck is to take your intake manifold off and start scrubbing ha ha.