Is fuel injector
auto maintenance worth the expense? Auto repair expenses are
high enough!
Do I need this too? Is injector cleaning part of my regular auto maintenance schedule?
Here's the article....
Car
Repair Prices: Fuel Injection Services, Are They Worth It?
Fuel injection services are growing in popularity
for the following reasons in the order of motive.
-
Increases service
center's profit
-
It's an easy sell with
today’s gas prices
-
Offsets manufacturers'
maintenance reductions
-
Poor gas quality
-
Poor adherence to
vehicle maintenance
Notice
that "It's required" did not make
the list. That's because fuel injection services are not required as
much as service centers would have you believe. In short, if your fuel
efficiency is fine
don’t bother with a fuel injection service—Save Your Money!
However, injector services are at times beneficial, even necessary. See
the following frequently asked question and answers…
What do they do?
Depending
on the product, injection services clean naturally forming carbon
deposits from the fuel injectors and fuel rails—some will
even clean the fuel tank, and valve carbon deposits.
Do
they work?
In
short, yes. Provided it’s a premium product (such as BG), and
the service is performed correctly, fuel injection services can do
amazing things. They can improve fuel efficiency, increase horse power,
and repair some performance concerns - although attaining all of these benefits together are rare.
Fuel
injection services have been known to quiet horrendous carbon knocks--a knocking noise from the engine
due to excessive carbon build-up coming in contact with internal engine
components.
Are they worth it?
Maybe.
It really depends on the condition of the vehicle. If the service
achieves any of the advertised claims, it may be worth it. However, the consistent use of quality fuel,
and proper vehicle maintenance should be all that is necessary to keep
a car running properly.
Consistent use of cheap gas and poor adherence to an auto maintenance schedule, as
well as certain driving styles can significantly increase the
accumulation of carbon deposits. Thus the possibility of poor fuel
efficiency, decreased horsepower, and performance issues increases - all
of which could be helped by injector maintenance.
The other
factor to consider is the expense. How much fuel savings justifies the
cost of the fuel injection service, and how long is the pay off. BG
claims that their product will pay for itself in a year's time.
However, remember that the condition of the vehicle is a big variable!
How often should it be done?
It
depends on the product, but generally between 15,000 to 30,000-miles.
Are
they necessary?
It
depends: See the discussion under Are
they worth it?
Can a fuel injection service do any damage to
my engine or car?
Not
if done correctly. Done incorrectly, anything goes. A technician could
conceivably hydro-lock your engine, or blow a hole in the
piston—although both scenarios are rare.
Why doesn’t my manufacturer
recommend fuel injector cleaning auto maintenance?
No
manufacturer recommends fuel injector cleaning auto maintenance under
normal operating conditions. From a manufacturer’s viewpoint:
take care of your car right (i.e., as the manufacturer dictates) and
you’ll be fine.
However, depending on the problem, some manufacturers will recommend
fuel injector cleaning auto maintenance as the
cure—especially for carbon knock, and also to clean out fuel
system contaminants caused by the use of certain low grade fuels
available on the market.
With so many fuel grades and quality differences, manufacturers may
eventually consider adding fuel system cleaning as part of regular
service intervals. In the mean time, one can suspect, that
they'll be happy to blame any car problems on an "external" source like
gasoline.
How much
does fuel injector cleaning auto maintenance cost?
Prices
vary depending on the service center and the actual procedure
performed, and product used. The procedure you want should clean the
entire fuel system including the tank and should not cost more than
$150.
Important: make sure the service is actually performed
as fuel injector maintenance is a common scam across the industry.
Learn More inside the our eBook Trilogy
Lastly, fuel injection maintenance is often presented in such a way as
if it is the magical cure for all your car's quirks - it
not!
When in doubt, don't do it.
Note: with BG products, there are two
"fuel-saving" services. The injection
service, which we have been discussing, and an induction service (air induction).
The induction service
is a separate service, which focuses on cleaning the throttle body of naturally
forming carbon deposits. Cleaning the throttle body is nothing new.
Technicians have been doing this service for years (with a $4.95 can of over-the-counter
carburetor cleaner) to address a variety of concerns from stalling to poor gas
mileage, and even emission failures.
The induction service
is a fabulous service for vehicles with excessive carbon deposits in the
throttle body. If you decide that an injection service is right for you,
negotiate to have the induction service done as well at no extra cost.
The
following two links will provide some additional information on
injection/induction services from BG - the leaders in fuel system
cleaning products...
Injection Services News Video
Fuel System Cleaning Video
To learn more about eliminating repair scams Click Here
-Theodore P.
Olson ©
http://www.repairtrust.com/
MLA Style Citation:
Olson, Theodore. "Car Repair Prices: Fuel Injection Services, Are They Worth It?" RepairTrust. 23 December 2006. http://www.repairtrust.com/articles_fuel.html
APA Style Citation:
Olson, Theodore. (2006, December 23). Car Repair Prices: Fuel Injection Services, Are They Worth It?. RepairTrust. http://www.repairtrust.com/articles_fuel.html
Chicago Style Citation:
Olson, Theodore. 2006 Car Repair Prices: Fuel Injection Services, Are They Worth It?. RepairTrust (December, 23), http://www.repairtrust.com/articles_fuel.html |
