Fuel injector cleaning

[aoriii]

I'm still trying to get my 85 coupe back to fighting trim, and my next 'issue' is the fuel injectors ( I think). Here's the history:

I bought a neglected garage queen...1985 with 59K miles (that equals about 3800 miles per year--- barley enough miles for a standard oil change)...Anyway, as with any think that sits, she's got some issues. The first biggie was the tranny seemed to be quick shifting from 2nd to 3rd, but that was fixed easily enough with some fresh fluid and a new transmision filter. Now I'm working on a hesitant start problems. It is laborious to start in the mornings, but after I've driven it a while it fires right up (2-5 second starting in the AMs). But just running the engine doesn't always fix the problem, sometimes it hard to start after its been running for a while...no pattern here that I can see. Anyway, a retired mechanic friend who has worked on the TPI Chevy 350's in the past suggested that the injectors may be varnished from sitting dormant and not being started for long periods throughout the car's lifespan. He suggested getting some fuel injector cleaner for it. I told him that I had already run a bottle of fuel injector cleaner through my last fill-up (92 octane...always), but he said I may need some "professional strength stuff", but he didn't know where to get it anymore. He told me that this is cleaner that is injected directly into the fule rails (I think). He said the kit comes with a pressurized can and hose to connect to an inlet valve on the fuel rails.

Has anyone ever heard of this, or know where I can get some.




Thanks again.

Trey

 

[Gman]

I haven't tried it myself, but I read in this forum that the cleaner produced by red line oil is as close as you can get to a professional cleaning. I tried to locate some locally yesterday, but no luck. I'm going to do a search here and try to find the post.

 

[patsnitrovette]

i use to have the kit myself when i had a gas station and repair shop.you would disable the fuel pump and screw the hose to your schraeder valve onthe fuel rail.You would start the car up and keep adjusting the pressure on the guage to keep it running till the solution ran out,then rehook the fuel pump back up and start the car.It worked wonders on old clogged injectors.I endd up selling it when i got out wish i still had it.

 

[FX GS]

You are referring to Redline SL-1 cleaner. Pep boys sells it

 

[Gman]

Thanks, FX. The Pep Boys here didn't have it. Is it a product you have experience with?

 

[FX GS]

Yes, I use the Redline regularly and it has never caused any problems.
The cleaner kit your friend is referring to is made by 3M. Noticed you live in Fl. Ecklers sells this. (www.ecklers.com) They are in Titusville

 

[rrubel]

I've had very good results with BG 44K, but again that's a professional product and hard for consumers to get. Occasionally I'll run into the BG distributor guy as he's restocking a local dealer and he'll sell me a couple cans at a good price.
[RICHR]

 

[Eagle85C4]

I have an 85 that had a similar problem...I used Lucas brand injector cleaner....stuff worked great. Every now and again I throw a bit more in to keep it clean.

 

[44 Mag]

You might want to try a shot of 'Techron' first. I've used this stuff for years and found it works great! You can do a search on these pages as well cause there was a recent post on how this product was discovered. Great stuff, give it a shot.:cool

 

[afree]

Injector Cleaning

It might be a bit over the top but TPIS will clean and calibrate your injectors for $15 bucks each. For an additional $10 bucks they will even blueprint them. If an old clogged injector can be cleaned and re-used it is a significant savings as opposed to replacing a supspected bad injector.
Also if the car has setup for a long time the O-rings on the injectors may also need changing out.
This is relatively inexpensive and pretty easy to do.
This would at least allow you to eyeball each of injectors to see if there are any obvious clogs or blockages.
Check out TPIS at www.tpis.com

 

[Alfonso Gomez]

I think there is a product from 3M company that is in a pressurized can. It connects via a hose to the schraeder valve. The fuel pump has to be disabled (pull out the fuse). Open the valve of the hose and start the engine. The engine runs on the cleaner until the can is empty. Then reconnect the fuse, disconnect the hose and put the cap back in and Voila!!!!!
It was done a few years ago to my wife's Lumina. Have not done it to the Vette. Every month or so, i pour a can of cleaner in the tank and fill it up. No problems yet.

 

[Ken]

Keep this one in mind too...

I posted this a while back: Fuel Injectors: Clean 'em instead of replacing 'em!, but only 33 people looked at it.

 

[afree]

Ken -
Sounds like a great service. Will keep them in mind as I am about to start Stage II of my mods. This time I'm going deep into the engine...or I guess I should say the engine is coming out and completely apart for this one. Will keep you guys informed as I progress and try to offer some before and after commentary for those interested.

 

[SR94]

I sent my injectors (and wholeheartedly recommend) Rich Jensen at Cruzin Perrformance (www.cruzinperformance.com). He charges $11/each to clean/recondition the injectors. New o-rings are included in the price. Mine were clogged up pretty badly and Rich ran them through his cleaning system 3 times before he was happy with the results. He emailed and called me up several times just to let me know what was going on. He replaced one (that wouldn't clear up) from his stock at no additional charge. He seemed to care very much that I was happy and satisfied with his work.

 

[Bob Yates]

I read some where in a post in this site that cleaning the injectors was not needed because the injectors were self cleaning.I purchased the 3M kit and the how to's but have not used it yet because I read here it would do no good. .... Hey are we going to clean them or not? That would be a good post.... To clean or not to clean that must be the question. I'm itching to use my kit.

 

[FX GS]

Bob, go ahead and scratch your itch. You WILL NOT harm anything. If anything, you will be helping