Fuel Injector Cleaning and Care

Copyright (c) 2011 JD Durham

The top three most profitable services that shops perform are Fuel Injector Cleaning, Power Steering Flush and Transmission fluid exchange. Of the three, the most profitable is Fuel Injector cleaning. The reason for this is the equipment necessary to perform it is minimal in cost, some product suppliers will even give the equipment to the shop with a first qualifying order.

The per vehicle product cost varies from a low of under $10 to a high of about $25, which the shops retail including labor between $70 and $135. The time required varies from about 30 minutes to over 90 minutes. Sometimes parts are required (eg: throttle body gasket)

Many quick lube and tire stores have gotten into the business and promote it heavily with incentives to their employees because of the high profitability of the service. Unfortunately they are also the least qualified to perform it. I have personally observed tire store mechanics damaging 3.8L Ford engines from failing to monitor the vehicle in the cleaning process. Others run the chemicals in so fast they wash the cylinders of the oil protecting them (grey oil smoking badly during the "cleaning") or Hydro Lock the engine.

Today Fuel Injector cleaning is not about cleaning the Fuel Injector any more and it does not really clean the fuel injectors. It is about cleaning the air induction system, the carbon off the valves, the pistons and out of the combustion chamber. It is also about cleaning the throttle body to improve idle quality. All of which is necessary on most vehicles. There are some vehicles that are so prone to carbon, gum & varnish build up that they need cleaning yearly. Others do not need it until well over 50k miles with normal scheduled maintenance.

Fuel Injector cleaning is no longer recommended by many vehicle manufacturers since the switch in design to cope with alcohol fuels. The new style Fuel Injector for alcohol blended fuels is made of plastic and is about ½ inch in diameter. The new style Fuel Injectors typically fail from overheating but rarely clog up.

Fuel Injector cleaning was and still is necessary for the older style injectors that are either Bosch origin or mimic Bosch. This style is identified as being about 1 inch in diameter and is usually made of metal. If your vehicle has been properly diagnosed as needing Fuel Injector cleaning, not just Air Induction and Carbon Cleaning, then take it to a professional mechanic in a garage or dealership as most there have the expertise and training to perform it correctly.

Do not fall for the marketing hype and purchase any additional Fuel Injector cleaning additives either from the parts store or your fuel distributor. You are wasting your money. Most of them have so much filler in the bottle that it would require purchasing almost a case of these to equal the cleaning additives in one bottle of the professional products

If you want to do preventative maintenance on your own, go to your local General Motors dealership parts department and purchase an anti sulfur additive. One can one time a year is sufficient to protect the fuel pump and fuel sending unit from the harmful effects of sulfur in the fuel you buy. This simple thing can save you hundreds of dollars from replacing parts. This was the subject of a TSB from General Motors a few years ago.


------

JD Durham is a World Class Technician, an Automotive Hall of Fame honoree with 45 years experience in the automotive service and repair industry. He is a staff writer at http://straighttalkautomotive.com where you can find other articles, tools and information to help you with maintaining your vehicle.