Siena: This is a term I've heard so often here, prior to joining Nairaland, I'd never heard of the term.

What exactly does a Nigerian mechanic in Nigeria do, when he claims he's "serviced the injector nozzles"? Or what does he intend to do when he says he wishes to "service the injector nozzles", and he's given the green light by his client?

As an automobile owner, what do you understand when your mechanic says the injector service needs to be carried out, have you actually watched your mechanic in action?

Lastly, what's the average charge for this service?

Sequoia:

Which scanner did you get and how much did it cost?

Ikenna351:


It appears it you didnt undesrstand my ealier posts here. I said, do not buy and pour in anything that has "injector cleaner" stamped on the label. I never said dont ever use injector cleaner.

Most of the injector cleaner you see in car parts shops and some filling stations are mere chemicals mixed together to destroy people's vehicles. There is a popular brand i do not want to mention its name, but what is inside is just some colours and stuffs that will try to clean off dirt, but will after create more issues. There are so many of them out there. Some have good reputable brand names, but they never came from those companies. You should understand me now.

My point is, if I want to buy TOTAL fuel system cleaner, i will visit any of their stations and buy it from there. I wont buy any brand that is not Total in that station, neither will i will buy the Total fuel system cleaner from the market or car parts shop, because what may (most times "is", not be from TOTAL. TOTAL will not sell you a product of theirs in their station that will bring bad name to them and kill their business. But if you buy another brand from TOTAL station which is not theirs, you are on your own. Workers or managers of some filling stations bring in their goods like the injector cleaner to sell to customers when their company own goes out of stock. Some will even advice you to buy the one without their company's name, even when the company one is available, staring back at you as you are refilling your tank at the pump. Been there.

Even in US, a lot injector cleaners that dont work are their in their market. Techron is of the best so far acknowledge to be safe to use and will do a thorough job. From reviews, others were reported to clean the injectors, but would cause more havoc after. Techron might not be the only good one out there, you will just have to find them.

I dont see how your injectors will get clogged when dirts are not getting there. Thats the work of fuel filter. Yes, an injector cleaner will decarbonise your combustion chambers, only if its a good one.

Ikenna.

cardoctor:
Petrol vapor deposits left in fuel injector nozzles after an engine is shut down form hard varnish. Over time it can build up and clog the injectors. Petrol additives and injector cleaners mixed with the petrol you buy help reduce this problem, but they can’t eliminate it entirely and may end up causing more harm than good. Injectors periodically need to be cleaned. Some mechanics recommend cleaning the injectors every 25,000 to 30,000 kilometers due to so much bad fuel being imported into the country unchecked. To keep the injectors operating at peak efficiency, some mechanics or fuel pump attendants would recommend adding injector cleaners at every time you need to refuel. I have come across several weird recommendations that include adding brake fluid or paint thinner to the petrol in the tank, pouring camphor (Methyl Salicylate)into the fuel tank, and most recently, piercing several aerosol cans of carburetor and choke cleaners and letting it empty into the fuel tank to mix with the fuel.

A car that has a bad fuel injector will often have a rough engine idle. The fuel injector is responsible for injecting fuel directly into the engine cylinder where it is burned during combustion. If this fuel delivery is compromised, a rough engine idle or severe jerking could result.
A bad fuel injector can develop cracks or breaks around the plastic or rubber seals on its body especially where it connects into the intake manifold. If this happens, fuel can leak out onto the intake manifold, an occurrence that can be both seen and smelt.
Engine misfiring along with a rough idle, is a common symptom of a bad fuel injector. A bad fuel injector can restrict or stop fuel flow from being injected into the engine cylinder properly which can negatively impact fuel combustion and affect engine performance resulting in a rough idle or misfiring.(This could set up emission related fault codes and should be erased after repairs have been carried out)
A faulty fuel injector can cause an irregular or disrupted flow of fuel into the engine, a condition that can cause an engine to surge or alternate between high and low rpm (Revolutions Per Minute) continuously throughout engine operation. This results in a very up-and-down mode of engine operation.
A leaky or malfunctioning fuel injector can adversely affect a car's petrol mileage and would also waste fuel by allowing it to leak out of the fuel injector housing instead of being injected directly into the engine. A malfunctioning fuel injector may also cause too much fuel to be injected into the engine. Both conditions result in excess fuel being wasted, which in turn means poor fuel economy.

Badly clogged injectors may not pass enough solvent during a normal cleaning cycle to be thoroughly cleaned.
You may have to do some additional tests such as checking HC (Hydrocarbon) and CO (Carbon monoxide) levels in your emissions or an injector pressure spray test before and after cleaning to confirm that the injectors responded well enough to your cleaning efforts.

Although this process should ideally be carried out using an ultrasonic injector cleaning machine (which also tests and displays the spray pattern), most mechanics here in Abuja would simply pick up one or two carb and choke cleaner aerosol cans and physically blast off the residual deposits on the nozzle tips.

Strong solvents may damage rubber and plastic components in the fuel pump, injector nozzles, fuel regulator, and fuel lines.
Because of the flammability of the petrol and solvent, there may be fire risks; so be careful as I have also seen and heard of several cars being burnt to ashes as a result of carelessness.