Effectiveness of Fuel Injector Additives to Gas

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by ralphfr

I don't think any perceived improvement in performance when adding fuel injector cleaner is actually due to the fuel injectors themselves. If there were real FI issues you would probably be taking the vehicle in for service. These additives clean the entire fuel system and IMHO the majority of improvement comes from the cleaner throttle body and sensors therein being cleaned. Similar results can be had by using higher octane fuels and/or doing an Italian tune-up. That said I have used Techron and it is effective and is much safer than the Italian tune-up!

Some of the fuel and injector cleaners include a lubricant.

[AlaskaErik]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

No idea. But Some of the Heet gas dryers, which are very popular in Alaska, has Methanol. The one that sells the most is the red color can of Heet. It's used to aid with the removal of moisture in the fuel tank.

That's how I spot the cheechakoes during winter. They're the ones religiously using Heet in Southcentral. The only time I would ever use Heet is if the temperature is expected to drop below minus 40 degrees. Otherwise, it's a waste. In 50 years of Alaska driving I've never had a fuel moisture problem during winter.

[NC211]

Originally Posted by Ziggy100

This sounds like it has placebo written all over it.
Your 2015 VW is designed to work off 10% ethanol. If it were actually running rough or sluggish it would set off a check engine light. Are your low mileage cars suddenly running like crap or are your trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist?

Call your local VW shop yourself and ask them. Mine, at around 20k actually stalled on me twice in a 2 week period. Immediately took it to the dealership that I've been going to for many years with 3 different GTI's. They know me well, and know that if there's a problem, that I am not afraid to stroke the check to fix it. They pulled the codes from the ecm (yes the CEL was on). Misfire in two separate cylinders, each time with a different tank of gas at 93 octane (one Costco, the other Sunoco). They could have easily made some money on this. But instead, just tossed in their version of gumout with the instructions to drive it (official recommendation). The unofficial guidance from the shop guys, all of whom own GTI's themselves and live/breathe with tinkering with them, was to "get on it" and run a cleaner with PEA once every 10k miles or so. Said the culprit was unquestionably the ethonal. I've done that ever since and have not had any problems since. Once I sense a slight rough idle or feels a tad sluggish, I toss in a bottle and problem solved quickly.