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I use Lucas Injector Cleaner and Upper Cylinder Lubricant about every 5th tank. It could be made from whale sperm for all I know, and I cant see inside the cylinder so I cant tell what, if anything, it really does (that's about ditto for any of the injector cleaning juices). But the truckers all use it, and buy it in 4 gallon case lots, and claim it cuts down on detonation in diesel engines from carbon build up. I asked the Lucas people once at a car show- they didn't know jack schit either.
But I do know it hasn't hurt. I figure its a little like religion: I have faith that it works, the sacred book- written by the creator- says it works, and the other followers say it works. So religiously, I used it every fifth tank. And I use Sta-Bil in the winter.
2 stroke oil tc-w3 will do the same thing for less money. The truckers use it because low sulfur diesel has less lubricity than diesel used to contain,so it kills the injector pumps real fast. 2 stroke oil or Lucas helps keep the pump lubricated.
My uncles(3) are farmers out here in the prairies and were having big problems with their fuel systems when low sulfur diesel became the mandated fuel. So after 1 nightmarish season they began to dose the diesel with low ash 2 stroke oil. I think they mixed a gallon per 1000 gallon tank and fuel issues aren't so frequent now.
Lucas or 2 stroke oil mixed 1 ounce per 5 gallons won't do any harm,and may lessen wear because the engine oil lubricates from behind then fuel mixed with oil lubricates from the front. Sounds good in theory. I do know 2 stroke oil has detergents that will keep the fuel system spotless.
I don't count on the fuel companies to put additives in to keep the engines fuel system clean however the ethanol that's in today's fuel does have some cleaning capability.
I use seafoam regularly with no fuel related problems,techron is great stuff too and the red line offering is top of the line as is the amsoil stuff. Use whatever you can get easily.
Use a major company gasoline. All gasoline sold over the pump is required by law to have additives in it. Name brands have better additives and with that better cleaners, injector cleaning included.
That's one reason the name brands get better mileage. Better additives mean you don't have to use as much & you're getting more gasoline per gallon than the cut-rates, who use higher additive amounts per gallon.
Yep, Your right. I've been buying gasoline for My company since the early 80's. I think it was 1993 that the Gov't (EPA) required that all gasoline would have additives to clean the fuel injectors and the rest of the fuel system. We had a lot of fuel injector problems before that.
Any name plate gasoline regular blend will keep Fuel Injectors clean (even the old Bosch pintle style), and the premium grades carry more than enough detergents to actually clean a dirty system. If you are running a name plate premium grade, even if only once and awhile, any improvement you're seeing after putting any Gasoline Additive in the tank is purely in your imagination.
Once a season if I remember (or actually get out and ride) I will pour some Marvel Mystery Oil in the tank. The Stabil we use for the Winter also has some cleaners in it.
Service writer at my truck dealer came out once while I was waiting for service and said my truck was due for injector cleaning. I asked why? All gas is required to have injector cleaner in it now doesn't it? He said yeah but we have to ask anyway. ...I think he wrote in my file "customer knows this is BS, don't ask again"
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