LS1TECH - Camaro and Firebird Forum Discussion

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-   -   fuel injector cleaners? (https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-maintenance-repairs/624643-fuel-injector-cleaners.html)

chevygirl 12-20-2006 11:10 AM

Who else sells the CRC maf cleaner? We don't have a pep boys.

01WS6er 12-20-2006 11:32 AM

You can use any non-chlorinated clearner. We used electronics cleaner on his. Just make sure it does not leave a residue. It should be labeled on the can. Autozone, Advance or O-reily's should have it. I believe any brank will do.

I buy my stuff directly from the BG distributer that delivers it to my dealer. The kit has 2 cans of induction cleaner. I put it in the canister that hooks to the fuel rail, attach shop air to it, crank car and unplug the fuel fuse/relay to make teh car run only on the kit. The other can is a TB cleared that I spray into the TB to clean it and the intake. The the 44K is seperate. There are several kits that BK makes or the distributer puts together.

PopaPork 12-21-2006 07:40 AM

I use Chevron with Techron in it. Love it. Read some reports on it and it's one of the best injector cleaners out there.

Camaro98 12-21-2006 01:41 PM

if your loosing power and feels sluggish, eithers either your spark plugs, cylinder coils, or maybe fuel injectors or bad fuel. but sounds like it wasnt bad fuel so have the spark plugs and cylinder coils checked. And it doesnt matter if your in idle or not, that has nothing to do with it. when you give your car gas, it is not firing correctly so your loosing power and the source of the fire comes from the cylinder coils and spark plugs. 90% of the time if your losing power, you could have maybe just 1 coil bad. or maybe your spark plugs are carroding. you gotta check those things often. If it were my car, I would probably just replace all the cylinder coils b/c its inexpensive and it doesnt hurt to change them after as many miles as you have. And check the spark plugs, maybe replace those too its up to you. And then I'd do like what other ppl were saying, testing your fuel injectors and filters etc.

chevygirl 12-21-2006 04:52 PM

I can hear an air leak sound when I rev the car. I think it might be that. I would think the coils would last longer than 52,000 miles. The plugs are suppose to last 100,000 miles supposely according to GM. The plugs look hard to get to. I am going to start with the air noise and see what I can find. I have another vehicle that wore me out trying to figure out what was wrong with it. I still haven't figured it out and I swapped alot of stuff and money. Hopefully it is just something small that is holding it back some. I believe the coils can be tested in ohms.

RPM WS6 12-21-2006 06:22 PM

Chevygirl, what motor do you have, I don't think you mentioned that anywhere?


Originally Posted by Camaro98
If it were my car, I would probably just replace all the cylinder coils b/c its inexpensive and it doesnt hurt to change them after as many miles as you have.

If the motor is an LS1, then you have 8 coils. The only way that all 8 coils would be inexpensive is if you steel them.

Replacing all the ignition coils at 52,000 miles just because the motor feels down on power makes no sense. I'd be scanning for cylinder specific misfires and DTCs first, then ohm test each coil to see if one is significantly different than the others.

MJK 12-21-2006 10:17 PM


Originally Posted by rich Z
I agree with the maf being dirty. Get some CRC maf cleaner at Pep Boys or if you can't find it then some rubbing alcohol and q-tips. Just be extremely careful.

I would have to agree with this as well...

My brother was having a hard time with this same problem...

He was down on power and the car would kinda skip out or sputter at times...felt sluggish.

He cleaned his MAF REALLY well (But be careful,those thin wires are delicate!) and the hesitation stopped and the car felt much more "punchy" if you will...very responsive.

I believe the K&N filter was mentioned not because of it being dirty but more so because the oil (if over oiled or over time) can dirty your MAF sensor..

Beyond that you should check the cheapest things first of course...

Fuel filter

Check for vacuum leaks along the air intake tubing...etc...

Plugs/wires (if not the problem and yours are old,just think of it as maintenance)

Check fuel pressure (These cars seem to be notorious for failing fuel pumps!)

Check for codes

And please...if you find the answer to your problem,post up about what is was.Spread the knowledge for members having the same problems in the future! ;)

Good luck!

chevygirl 12-22-2006 11:59 AM

Where on the intake would there do a leak? Mine has clamps on them. Do those sometimes come loose? I do know how to check ohms. My car seems better since now I am on the new tank of gas. Still a little off. I hope I can figure out this air noise I am hearing. The car does not miss at idle at all. I have no codes on the scanner. What is the safest method to cleaning the maf sensor? My K&N is not new so it is not soaked in oil but I can see how that makes a difference.

TX_SS 12-22-2006 01:20 PM

you really dont need any injector cleaners. i bet you need to change your plugs/fuel filter.

RUDE SS 12-22-2006 03:58 PM

I like using the BG 44k. We seel it at my work and use it in our services. From what Iv seen it works great :)

chevygirl 12-27-2006 10:42 AM

Do they clean the maf sensor when they do the fuel and air induction service at the dealer? I found the first clamp from the front on the air induction was not tight. I tightened all the way until it will not turn anymore. With a hose you can hear a slight different air noise at the tbi on one side. I didn't find any hose problems leaking. I can clean the maf next but I was not sure if I should take the whole air intake apart to get to it. The two middle clamps are turned down where I can't get to them.

Is it the wires on the maf sensor that can get messed up if you are not careful cleaning it? I just didn't want to mess anything up.

jmilz28 12-27-2006 01:37 PM

The BG service is excellent (used it myself) but the intank deal by itself is insufficient to clean, but good to maintain or accompany the real cleaning. The real cleaning is when the shop disconnects your fuel line and runs the car off the cleaner/gas mixture. It smokes like a seafoam treatment. Do that and change your fuel filter once a year. If you use Chevron or a cleaner preventatively, you can prolong the interval on the cleaning. Do the filter once a year.

Clean/change your air filter. MAF may or may not need cleaning at that mileage.

It's unlikely your plugs need changing at that mileage. Almost certainly doesn't need coil(s). If it did, you'd get codes, especially on the coils. Factory Delco plugs should go 100k+ with decent maintenance. Coils go a long ass time generally. The ignition system on these cars is very good. Most misfires are fuel related on our cars.

At that mileage the only thing you SHOULD need is a fuel filter (should be on AT LEAST the second or third one) and injector service. Anything else is an actual problem that needs to be fixed. An injector cleaning CAN fix a problem sometimes, like a sticky injector, so you can try that first since you need it anyway. Sometimes you have to do it to see if it fixes it. A good tech/service consultant should tell you that.

jmilz28 12-27-2006 01:42 PM


Originally Posted by chevygirl
Do they clean the maf sensor when they do the fuel and air induction service at the dealer? I found the first clamp from the front on the air induction was not tight. I tightened all the way until it will not turn anymore. With a hose you can hear a slight different air noise at the tbi on one side. I didn't find any hose problems leaking. I can clean the maf next but I was not sure if I should take the whole air intake apart to get to it. The two middle clamps are turned down where I can't get to them.

Is it the wires on the maf sensor that can get messed up if you are not careful cleaning it? I just didn't want to mess anything up.


A combination induction and fuel system cleaning, like BG's, will not really clean the MAF. The cleaner is injected directly at two places - into the fuel system and directly onto the TB. A quality, thorough service (actually two) by a reputable shop will run around $200-250. The induction and fuel system services are separate, though many shops sell them as one.

A cleaning MAY fix your problem, and many times will, but they shouldn't sell it that way, IMO. Be wary if they tell you something vastly different. Sometimes you have to perform the fix to see if it fixes it, dirty injectors fall into this category. At that mileage, you have a high chance that they are dirty but a fairly slim chance that any are actually bad. It happens, but not really often.

chevygirl 01-24-2007 10:41 PM

Well guys it seems I got some bad gas. I am still going to get the BG fuel injection service done just for maintenance. Thanks guys!


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