What's everyones favorite fuel infection cleaner they find works best with the mini?

 

How many miles do you have? You should need a fuel system cleaner until upwards of the 100k mark.

In any case, I ran Redline in my ole' 3-series; and it helped noticably (at 120k miles)

 

>>How many miles do you have? You should need a fuel system cleaner until upwards of the 100k mark.
>>
>>In any case, I ran Redline in my ole' 3-series; and it helped noticably (at 120k miles)
>>

Your old 3 series probably had a very bad case of intake valve deposits due to you a) being cheap and buying it bad gas and b) owning the most sensible engine for intake valve deposit formation since the Austin A series engine. So sensible that the industry test for these additives is based on a 3 series.

Injector clean ups are TRULY a waste of time and money IF you use Premium fuel from a reputable brand. Top of the line grades carry a VERY healthy dose of additive to keep injectors clean, intake valves clean and most importantly (Shell, Chevron, Texaco and BP ONLY) prevent the crap from accumulating on top of your pistons which eventually translates into MORE compression ratio which means more octane which means, eventually pingin and then a piston meltdown.......not pretty.....

 

I agree with PocketRocket. No one on this board should even be thinking about fuel injector cleaner. Why? Because no one on here has 100K miles, or at least it is a safe bet that no one has that many. If you do purchase a reputable gasoline such as BP Ultimate, it includes detergents to keep the engine clean.

 

I have been using Redline at every fill up in all my cars for over 5 years. Just add enough for 10 gal. regardless of actual gal. purchased. From what I have read, even the bigger brands add a miminual amount of detergent.... just enough to advertise its in there. Why wait for the build-up?

 

From what I have read, even the bigger brands add a miminual amount of detergent.... just enough to advertise its in there.
Regular gas has actually the minimum of the cheapest additive for sure, though the branded guys will go for some differentiation, mostly they just meet the law. Premiums are in a whole different ball park. If what you are putting in from Red Line is not specifically designed to clean up CCD's.....whoever bought your car will eventually melt a piston......but hey, peace....whatever floats your boat is fine with me......

 

>>>>How many miles do you have? You should need a fuel system cleaner until upwards of the 100k mark.
>>>>
>>>>In any case, I ran Redline in my ole' 3-series; and it helped noticably (at 120k miles)
>>>>
>>
>>Your old 3 series probably had a very bad case of intake valve deposits due to you a) being cheap and buying it bad gas and b) owning the most sensible engine for intake valve deposit formation since the Austin A series engine. So sensible that the industry test for these additives is based on a 3 series.
>>
>>Injector clean ups are TRULY a waste of time and money IF you use Premium fuel from a reputable brand. Top of the line grades carry a VERY healthy dose of additive to keep injectors clean, intake valves clean and most importantly (Shell, Chevron, Texaco and BP ONLY) prevent the crap from accumulating on top of your pistons which eventually translates into MORE compression ratio which means more octane which means, eventually pingin and then a piston meltdown.......not pretty.....
_______________
Have to agree with you, pocket.

 

Went in for maintenance per the computer (I'm at ~17k miles, they said it is not called "Inspection I" anymore). My dealer, South Bay Mini, is recommending a fuel injection cleaner at 15k miles which costs $275.

In the past they recommended I get the tires rotated and aligned there. Fellow NAM people balked at the price when I posted in the forums and told me to go elsewhere.

Thoughts? Newbie here, please let me know.

 

If it's not running badly, and at 17,000 it should run fine, I would say to add some Fuel Injector Cleaner
to your gas tank every 6 months and wait another 83,000 miles before the $275.00 cleaning.

I do an oil change, tire rotation and add a bottle of fuel injector cleaner every 6 months.
Right or wrong it's what I do, and have done, on all my cars.

Hope this helps...

 

Some gen2 cars do have a build-up issues in the intake....but if the car is running fine, it sounds like the dealer I'd trying to clean out you wallet!!

 

+ 1 They are cleaning you out

 

oil change every 6 months,
bottle of techron and run only top tier gas,
runs great!!
boxcars

 

If you can afford the downtime, why not send in your injectors for flow testing and cleaning. Less than $100 and they'll be just like new.

http://www.witchhunter.com/

Much better than a bottle of injector cleaner and I doubt the dealer will be as thorough as this.

It's not worth it if you don't have access to another vehicle or the desire to remove your injectors to send them in. But this would be the most cost effective and thorough way to go.

 

+1

Also Seafoam is pretty good stuff too....and BMW/MINI fuel cleaner, sold at the parts counter is Techron. BMW/MINI likes it so much, they resell it!!

 

As this is a 1st gen thread and you have a 2nd gen car, not all of the answers will be relevant. But there is a long thread regarding the carbon buildup on the intake valves caused by the direct injection engine. I believe this is what the dealer is talking about. Not a bad idea, but can be done cheaper with the seafoam.