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Good fuel injector cleaner recommendation?

4xcrazy

4xcrazy

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Just thought I'd ask you guys, I don't normally buy the stuff and if I do it's usually cheaper stuff anyways, but just curious if any of you have had any positive results from any certain brands.

This is for the '05 Avalanche with a 5.3, issues I feel are a weird idle, idles decent but not as smooth as I think this engine should. It has a slight, random stumble in the idle, I used to call it the Chevy shake on the older engines, but this new design and this motor with only about 40k miles on it now I really don't think it should be doing this, I felt it's something in the fuel delivery, maybe I'm being too picky...

I checked the fuel pressure a month or so back, seems to hold steady even during these little stumbles, it almost sounds like a half a misfire at times, but doesn't continue constantly.

So I figured I'd ask about a good injector cleaner, see what you guys say. I thought I read somewhere about a GM procedure that is recommended after a certain number of miles. And I also can't find any info on the flow rate of the factory injectors either.
 
hard to beat a couple cans of Sea Foam in the tank....
 
X2 on the Seafoam. Also a good intake cleaner if sucked in through a vacuum line (slowly). Lots of vids on youtube if you've never done it.
 
Seafoam is good,Chevron Techron is one of few that really cleans fuel deposits good too...

I have avoided having to take lawnmower carbs apart to clean them by running some Techron thru the gas tank...ones I couldn't keep running without the choke having to be partly closed,eventually cleaned up good enough to run with the choke fully open again...ethanol leaves a crusty dried up grain type of crud that few carb cleaners seem to work at removing...boiling the carb in cider vinegar or lemon juice works good to remove that pasty white crap nothing else touches..
 
Another vote for Seafoam. Some don't know it is also a fuel stabilizer- I use it exclusively in the Vette and Camaro for winter storage and also throw a can in the tank once every summer.
 
I use Seafoam too. Actually not too expensive and has seemed to work really well everytime I have used it
 
Gm has a fuel system cleaner and that stuff is very potent. I believe it is called top engine cleaner and can be purchased at a dealer.

88861314.jpg


Also do you have a pressurized can you can run off the fuel rail so you can pull the fuel pump relay?
 
Babaganoosh said:
Also do you have a pressurized can you can run off the fuel rail so you can pull the fuel pump relay?
Click to expand...

Uuuhh, what? Lol...

Not sure what you're asking, this is only the second vehicle I've had in my possession that has a fuel rail, first one was the 89 IROC Camaro with the tpi, and I never did any sort of fuel system work to it other than a new pump.

Only thing I have for the fuel rail setup is the pressure gauge kit.

But that kind of goes along with something I thought I read about a good product you'd place on that Schroeder valve fitting and run directly into the fuel rail system. ???

I was throughly annoyed a few years back when I learned the fuel pump AND the filter are one unit inside the tank on these. I get the pump, used to that now, but integrated as a unit with a non serviceable filter? What moron thought of this?
 
Yes you are correct it goes off the Schrader valve.:thumb: you run a air hose up to the fuel pressure psi.
 
Babaganoosh said:
Gm has a fuel system cleaner and that stuff is very potent. I believe it is called top engine cleaner and can be purchased at a dealer.

88861314.jpg


Also do you have a pressurized can you can run off the fuel rail so you can pull the fuel pump relay?
Click to expand...

Does this stuff simply pour into the gas tank? Or need other tools for proper/better use? I was reading reviews on it and someone said something about a shop having to complete this cleaning procedure. Some sort of adapter if hose setup to attach to the fuel rail fitting?
 
I was lucky enough to piece one together from a vendor at work for free. If you were in az I would say come on over.
 
I'd like to hear some fuel injector rebuild/cleaning guys their opinions, but my feeling is that with todays fuels, injector cleaners do nothing. In the past some cleaners actually hurt the injectors, and with the filters IN the injectors, if there is crud plugging them up, it's most likely not coming out without a rebuild in any case.

I suppose if it's ok for the injectors you have, then what will it hurt, other than the pocketbook a bit, but I've not run injector cleaner through the GM TPI injectors I installed 6+ years ago, and I've never used cleaner in my '04 Hyundai either, which knocks down the same (or better) MPG now than it did when I bought it new.

FWIW, with little exception, both vehicles only get 87 octane from AM/PM, since day one.

Perhaps some have had miraculous results from injector cleaner, but IME most operating problems aren't cured by a bottle of miracle fluid.

I can't see the pics here, but from the text, appears they actually did some testing http://www.superstreetonline.com/how-to/engine/impp-1106-fuel-system-cleaners/
 
Babaganoosh said:
Gm has a fuel system cleaner and that stuff is very potent. I believe it is called top engine cleaner and can be purchased at a dealer.

88861314.jpg


Also do you have a pressurized can you can run off the fuel rail so you can pull the fuel pump relay?
Click to expand...

This is my suggestion. The downside to tank fed cleaner is it breaks crud loose in the tank and on the sock etc. Should it break that down enough that its now picked up you'll be needing a filter change at the least. Its not to say Ive never used it, but in some cases it can do more harm than good.

A friend of mine is a GM tech. He did this to his 110k impala because he works at the dealer ship and it cost him $12 to do. He told me he thought going in it was bull**** they sold to customers to pull in money. When he was done he said he was up 4 mpg, his idle smoothed out, and he felt like the car returned to the power it had when he bought it a lot of miles ago.

The tool to put it in really isnt hard to make. Im not quite sure what your tool access/fabrication skills are, or even what it costs to buy the proper tool but its basically a power bleeder for the fuel rail. I would imagine a piece of black pipe capped and tapped for an air fitting on one end and a bike pump hose on the other would probably do it. The gasoline fuel system cant get air locked like a diesel. Im not really sure if putting 45psi of air through an injector would hurt it though. The proper tool may have a diaphragm to put the pressure on the fluid that then closes when the fluid is used up.
 
BG is the product that you run through the schrader valve after pinching off the return hose back to the tank and disabling the fuel pump of the vehicle. My buddy ran that stuff through a vehicle of mine years ago and IT WORKS. It is probably the best product on the market but IIRC you cannot buy it unless you're a shop which would mean having a shop do it for you. IIRC it is around a $125 service to have this done.

https://www.bgprod.com/catalog/gasoline-fuel-system/bg-fuel-injection-system-cleaner/
 
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