Diesel injector cleaner that works

[saskak]

Hi all,

Just to share my experience with injector cleaners so far, maybe it will help someone.

I am in general really sceptical about fuel treatments and the claim that they will clean your diesel injectors, etc. I always treated them as good as haruspex, the ancient art of interpreting omens by looking at the entrails of animals. Since my last test I have changed my mind a bit.

I previously had used BG245 (aka Techron) and did before and after treatment injector leak-off test to kind of approximate how clean the injectors are, I know it is not the perfect test, but still better than nothing. The BG245 did nothing to the injectors or at least the amount of fuel returned, no difference before and after.

This time I had a go with the Wynn's diesel injector cleaner. I can confirm that this cleaned the injectors in my 1.6HDi (2007; M59) to some extent. I made a video of the process and results (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxJJtPArD9Y) in case you want to see it.

The before tests comprised reading 3 times the amount of fuel returned by each injector in my M59 when the fuel tank was nearly empty before pouring the Wynn's diesel injector cleaner. The car was also warmed, so not to affect the readings. These 3 tests for each injector were done in a quick succession. Overall it takes me ~1.5h to do the 3 measurements for the 4 injectors. The Wynn's diesel injector cleaner was then added to the nearly empty fuel tank and filled with normal diesel (Texaco). I drove 450 miles with the Wynn's diesel injector cleaner, mainly shorter journeys (~70%), but also some motorway as well (~30%) for about 1.5 months, so lots of stops and goes and sometimes the car stood not driven for a few days (due to the pandemic). The fuel tank was again nearly empty and I did the same 3 measurements of the fuel returned by the injectors.

My simple before/after leak-off tests suggest that the Wynn's diesel injector cleaner has cleaned the injectors. How much? Overall each injector was cleaned by ~6-7% after the Wynn's treatment and this is really statistically significant. In other words, each injector returned on average ~6-7% less fuel, so a bit cleaner. Unfortunately, the Wynn's label suggests to put the 325ml with minimum of 20L of diesel. When I was filling up, I got somewhat distracted and filled 37L of diesel. There were also a few litres of diesel in the tank. I suspect that had I put only 20L of diesel the cleaning would have been better. I will repeat that after a couple of tanks, but will put only 20L and compare these again.

On the really positive side, on a cold start my M59 had engine shaking for ~3-5sec. I would say that within ~5 days with the Wynn's in the fuel tank, the shaking on cold startup completely disappeared. One of the injectors (N: 3) is rather on the blocked side and returns ~50ml of fuel for 3mins. The rest return ~37-40ml of fuel for the 3min tests. So, even with the 6-7% improvement per injector that was enough for this shaking to stop. Probably the engine was running on almost 3 cylinders at the beginning of the cold startup.

Here is how my results look like in a graphical format. On the y-axis is the fuel returned for the 3min measurements. On the x-axis are the 4 injectors before the Wynn's and after. I can supply the numbers if someone is interested.

So, if you want to buy something, I would suggest Wynn's diesel injector cleaner. Other cleaners might work better, but at least I know this one works. It is also considerably cheaper than other fuel system cleaners. I think the BG245 is ~£24 and it does not work.

   

[cancunia]

Thanks Saskak, I'll put some Wynn's in next time ready for the MOT. It would be interesting to know if other brands with the same active ingredients do the same or similar job and also if greater concentrations have an effect.
I used Miller's Eco Max last time at a double dose, which according to Millers is fine.

Both Millers & Wynn's have amongst other ingredients, 2-ETHYLHEXYL NITRATE but Wynn's seems to have a bit more exotic stuff also.

https://wynns2021.wpengine.com/wp-conten....00-EN.pdf

[saskak]

Thanks Saskak, I'll put some Wynn's in next time ready for the MOT. It would be interesting to know if other brands with the same active ingredients do the same or similar job and also if greater concentrations have an effect.
I used Miller's Eco Max last time at a double dose, which according to Millers is fine.

Both Millers & Wynn's have amongst other ingredients, 2-ETHYLHEXYL NITRATE but Wynn's seems to have a bit more exotic stuff also.

https://wynns2021.wpengine.com/wp-conten....00-EN.pdf

Yes, next test is Wynn's double dose to see if there will be bigger improvements. I got distracted when filling up at the petrol station and filled quite a bit, 37L. I meant to fill only 30L, which both are a lot more than the minimum of 20L that Wynn's recommend. Somehow I forgot that I was doing this test and almost filled to the top.

Thank you very much for the 2-Ethylhexyl nitrate component. I only have that 1.6HDi car and have to wait a few months before doing another test, who knows if using cleaners continually will be detrimental and I do not want to risk it.

[geoff]

A test after a tank of Super Diesel would be interesting reading .................

[saskak]

A test after a tank of Super Diesel would be interesting reading .................

You mean something like shell v-power or the equivalent from other suppliers? That might be interesting actually, I'll have it mind.

[pluggit1]

Been using Redex for years...many years,miles and cars and I swear by it. Ive stripped combustion and fuel parts down on my highest mileage to-date engine - this one and its like new, and thats 163K. Some argue that the odd tank of premium does the same job so its down to choice. At least I know how much additive is going in and at what price where the other is a bit of an unknown quantity.

2- ethyl nitrate just increases the certane level, it doesnt do the cleaning, thats done by combustible solvents and this is where additives can be a bit dodgy if used too strong so always stick to the correct dosage.

Do they work.. definately. and I tend to think that adding your own works out cheaper.

[cancunia]

Yep, 2-ETHYLHEXYL NITRATE is a Cetane improver & common to most additives so it's the other components that'll make any difference to cleaning.
As to the safety of increased doses, there was the "Formula Shell" debacle in the 80's where the magic ingredient was added by tanker drivers at the point of delivery to petrol stations as a reminder to take care.

[saskak]

Yep, 2-ETHYLHEXYL NITRATE is a Cetane improver & common to most additives so it's the other components that'll make any difference to cleaning.
As to the safety of increased doses, there was the "Formula Shell" debacle in the 80's where the magic ingredient was added by tanker drivers at the point of delivery to petrol stations as a reminder to take care.

Yeah, I bet they keep the important secret ingredients secret. I bet the "Formula Shell debacle" has made a few people to never use Shell again. I only meant to increase the dose upto the recommended level as I still want to make use of my car for a few more years.

[benoliver999]

I have been using Eco Max because someone gave me a bottle to try. So far so good but if you told me it was snake oil I wouldn't refute it.

[saskak]

@cancunia suggested to maybe expand this into injector cleaner thread.

Here is my other experiment with BG245. Same experiment as before, no difference in the testing procedure, 3 leak-off measurements per injector before the treatment and the engine in operating temperature and the same after the treatment. Maybe I filled a bit too much (full tank for one bottle of BG245), but this was according to the label of the BG245. If you want to see the whole experiment: https://youtu.be/WZRwFliZl8g

In essence, no difference whatsoever with respect to fuel returned. Maybe slightly blocked/clogged after the treatment, but I noticed that they get more and more clogged with time, so overall no difference.

Here is the graph with the results before/after the BG245.