Auto Advice From An Auto Expert

Fuel injectors are sometimes said to be dirty and thus will need cleaning.  But actually, it should not be called dirty as dirt rarely clogs up a fuel injector.  What causes the holdup is the buildup of fuel varnish deposits in the orifice of the injectors. When this happens, the fuel injector will only be able to supply very little fuel for the engine to burn.  Thus it is imperative that you should keep your fuel injectors clean.  How can you do this?

This site offers these tips:

• The best way to minimize or eliminate the need for injector cleaning is to use a quality brand of gasoline that contains sufficient detergent to prevent varnish buildup. Most brand name gasolines today have enough detergent to do this. As a rule, premium grades usually contain a somewhat higher concentration of cleaners.
  
• You can also use fuel tank additives to keep your injectors clean. Such products really aren’t necessary if you’re using quality gasoline. But if you’re buying the cheapest gas you can find, using an additive might be good insurance.

There are also two ways to clean up your car's fuel injectors - the on car and the off car ways.  The first one involves using solvent.  According to our source:  "On-car injector cleaning involves feeding solvent under pressure into the injector fuel rail or supply line. The concentrated solvent passes through the injectors and loosens and washes away the accumulated varnish deposits. The results are usually good, and make a noticeable difference in idle smoothness, emissions and fuel economy."

The other way on the other hand is described as:  "If your injectors are really clogged and fail to respond well to on-car cleaning, off-car cleaning using special fuel injection cleaning equipment would be the next logical option. Some of this equipment is designed to 'reverse' flush the injectors so any debris that’s trapped inside the injector or above the inlet screen will also be removed. Off-car cleaning also allows a mechanic to observe the spray pattern of the injectors to make sure there aren’t any streamers or problems. Off-car cleaning is more expensive because of the labor involved to remove the injectors, but the results are usually better."