Question about injector cleaners and similar products
 

Hi

I just bought some "Lucas Upper cylinder lubricant and injection cleaner"..some for my car with35K on it and my wifes with 160K.. I was going to add it but then remembered a post a long time ago about crap that is sold and put into cars that may actually harm them

What do you think of this product and what should I do to keep the engine clean?

Dont know a damn thing about engines so I thought I would ask here.

Thanks

I pour all sorts of shít into my cars, lol
You'll be fine, and Lucas makes a good product. Don't worry, add it and be happy

Lucas makes pretty good stuff, all the red necks around here use some stuff called C-FOAM.

LMAO!!! Seafoam IS THE SHÍT

Haha ya what ever c-foam, seafoam same crap lol

I use the Lucas Upper Cylinder Lubricant and Injector Cleaner and find that I now get full dots on the gas display and better mileage.

I use the Lucas Fuel Injector Cleaner (Upper Cylinder Lubricant) every 3k miles.

That is most likely due to it cleaning the fuel sender. They're a bit touchy on our cars.


To the OP, it certainly shouldn't hurt, but a proper fuel injector servicing involves hooking a special concentrated cleaner directly up to the fuel rail.

The Lucas product is almost definitely just adding a detergent to your gas -- similar to the techron stuff -- that theoretically will help dissolve engine deposits and such.

For a quick fix, it's okay, but a real servicing wouldn't be a bad idea.

I wouldn't use that seafoam stuff... its probably as likely to gunk up something in the EVAP system as it is to clean anything.

How often should I do a complete fuel injector service? If i listen to the dealer I am sure they will say one thing but what is the real truth?

I figured I would use this product more as a maintenance

Seafoam is usually pretty impressive stuff. I personally would not recommend any commercial do-it-yourself cleaner for the 370z, as Nissan advises against it in the service manual (section 9-5 in the 2013 manual, not sure where it's at for prior years):

Nissan, as well as other manufactuers, have been known to use BG44K for high-mileage injector services paired up to an actual machine (mentioned earlier in this thread) that cleans the fuel system while it's disconnected from the actual fuel rail.

If you're running a premium fuel which already has detergents included (such as Techron), you should not have to worry about any kind of excess buildup in the injectors, as the gas and detergent will "wash" the injectors and intake valves.

Nissan does not have a service interval specified for the injectors. Also, any dealer that tries to sell you an injector cleaning ever 10, 15, or 20k miles is just upselling you for extra cash.

I think the results from products like these are so minimal its not worth the money. If possible you should pull the injectors and have someone clean and flow test them. Not only will the ultrasonic bath clean them to like new status, you will have a flow report to ensure all are flowing equally and functioning correctly.

If this is not possible I guess a bottle of this stuff wont help.... just dont expect a miracle!

Thanks,
Alex Goodwin
AlexG@motionlabtuning.com