Engine cleaner..

My dad was telling me it's not a bad idea to put a bottle of engine cleaner through my car once a year. Is there any particular type / brand of cleaner that I should be putting in there?

The car is a 90 Civic LX 4 door. Thanks

If you mean fuel system cleaner or fuel injector cleaner then yes. STP fuel system cleaner runs about 7 bucks and should be used to clean the lines once and awhile. STP fuel injector cleaner is like 2-3 bucks and can be used every oil change. A new fuel filter doesn't hurt either...

speakin of engine cleaners, do you think its ok to have a fresh coat of wd40 on a clean engine? or would it smoke from the heat?

smokey....i think. and for the cleaner... seafoam...

I use Simple Green to clean the Engine... that stuff is Great.... I Use Simple green to clean the Whole damn car.

Yeah Fuel injector cleaner and Fuel filters are a good Idea.

i think he was talking about cleaning the internals.

Complete rebuild with getting the block dunked and acid washed. get everything spic and span, inside and out ... lol

smokey....i think. and for the cleaner... seafoam...


i've been looking for seafoam for over a year with no success.

list of local stores that do not carry it

walmart
autozone (they don't have ANYTHING. picayune autozone sucks)
o'reilly's auto parts
advance auto parts
putnam auto parts
carquest (another store that has nothing. old. rundown. decrepit. scary)

O'Reillys does carry it.

kind of unrelated but I put about a table spoon of oil in my engine through the spark plug holes in each cylinder to check for piston slap, it smoked quite a bit in the garage, but I took it for a drive afterwards, LOL the whole STREET was convered in a thick smoke almost like fog, I was half embarassed and half apologetic.

kind of unrelated but I put about a table spoon of oil in my engine through the spark plug holes in each cylinder to check for piston slap, it smoked quite a bit in the garage, but I took it for a drive afterwards, LOL the whole STREET was convered in a thick smoke almost like fog, I was half embarassed and half apologetic.
try trans fluid if you think oil smoked bad :lol: Trans fluid in place of engine oil can clean the inside some what due to the detergants in the fluid. Drain all the oil, fill it up with trans fluis, run for a min or two, drain & flush out with new oil.

If you can't find seafoam in the stores, you do have access to the INTERNET.

i've been looking for seafoam for over a year with no success.

list of local stores that do not carry it

walmart
autozone (they don't have ANYTHING. picayune autozone sucks)
o'reilly's auto parts
advance auto parts
putnam auto parts
carquest (another store that has nothing. old. rundown. decrepit. scary)


skotman,
Seafoam is available at:
Advance Auto Parts (East Coast) - $5
Napa Auto Parts (East Coast) - $7+
or check seafoam online for more store listings.

If you want a really good internal cleaner for your injectors, fuel lines and what not, use Gum Out's 3 step professional. You ahve to buy the canister and line to tap the brake booster, but it works better than most of the others out there that you just dump into your tank. They recommend every 9K miles I believe, and once you buy the canister and line you can reuse the kit over and over and jsut pick up the cleaner fluids for it.

Those "injector cleaners" that hook up through a vacuum line DO NOT clean injectors, it's impossible. The chemical gets sucked directly into the engine and burnt during combustion, cleaning only the tips. The only real way to do is to hook it up to the fuel rail. In most cases you disconnect the fuel pump or loop the feed & return lines together so you get all chemical going through the injectors, that's the type of service we offer at our shop. The engine runs off the cleaner only.

There is one more way, remove the injectors and send them out for cleaning.

The only real way to do is to hook it up to the fuel rail. In most cases you disconnect the fuel pump or loop the feed & return lines together so you get all chemical going through the injectors, that's the type of service we offer at our shop. The engine runs off the cleaner only.
thats how i was taught to do it at school