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Likely all VG and depending on the needs though LM has a broad base of offerings designed for specific needs. Look for PEA as the cleaning agent and it's in many gasoline brands. That's what Techron essentially is PEA. Thus try Techron Marine as it's highly concentrated (look at the SDS for the % of PEA). You only need 10z per 10 gallons of fuel. It covers a lot of the bases too as it not only cleans but offers great corrosion and moisture protection plus it's also a fuel stabilizer. Marine environment is so harsh that our land driven cars can really benefit from such too.
What is the forums opinion on the use of fuel additives such as BG 44k, Driven Defender, Lubro Moly, etc.
BG 44k and Techron are both known well. Techron a little easier to purchase than BG44. Used both from time to time. Either way, it is suggested to do an oil change following use so best to wait until you're just ahead of an oil change. Their was a TSB on this years back.
Hi Gh,
My experience was and is anecdotal over the last 70K miles on a daily-driver car with 110K miles on the odometer. I put Techron in two consecutive tanks of gas once a year. I do this to manage any deposits in the engine or injectors. I haven't needed any fuel system servicing over this time. What prompted me to do this was a youtube borescope video showing the positive effect of doing this on cleaning off deposits on the piston heads.
In my opinion, frequent oil changes are the best thing to do for maximizing the service life of our cars. The heads on our cars get very hot and so really cook the oil. I fill my oil to the lower 1/4 to 1/3 of the dipstick range and my experience is that the engine really consumes little to no oil until some time between 5000 and 7500 miles on the oil change. This usage increase seems to indicate that the oil has lost some of its ability to maintain its viscosity and so should be changed.
Andy
Last edited by pp000830; Feb 19, 2023 at 11:38 AM.
I just provided the info to Lake on Techron Marine and he thanked me for the reminder. It's a great product and very cost effective for continual use with incredible benefits as it basically covers all the bases to our land vehicles see attached link from Chevron:
I generally buy the 10 oz bottle for $9 on Amazon and you only use 1oz per 10 gallons. It has a very high concentration of PEA vs. their "Complete" product per the SDS.
By the way, Chevron site has a very good deal running and up to 30% off their products when you buy in significant quantity.
Good luck on their advice for avoiding E10 on "older " cars like ours. Around here (NH) almost all pumps are E10. Isn't it mandated by the govt to have at least 10% ethanol? Don't want to have to do a 40 to 60 mile round trip just to find some pure gas.
I've used Lubri moly valve cleaner and injector cleaner on my old '85 GTI. About every year or so it would have a very mild "dieseling" upon shut off , maybe a sec or so. I attributed it to carbon buildup. I would let my gas tank get very low, pour in the Ventil Sauber and Jectron, go for a spirited 30 min drive. It solved the problem every time. Oil change after that. Personally put 240k miles in 17 yrs I owned that car.
After some painful lessons, I settled on StaBil Marine 360 on a maintenance dose. Back in the Dark Ages, I used only MMO (for corrosion protection in steel fuel tanks...British stuff) and lead substitute where needed. At one point I had drivability issues on my very low mileage TR6 and pulled a carb after ~7 years since complete overhaul, the pic of the ethanol damage is below. At the same time, I was learning boating and folks recommended the StaBil Marine which I started using. The same carb was pulled after ~6 years of use (stuck float valve....piece of rubber from a recent but failing fuel line), that pic is below. Despite a sample size of exactly one, me, I was convinced of the effectiveness of StaBill. 1974 Tr6, pics at 42K and 48K miles, rear carburetor.
Last edited by WingsWheelsHulls; Feb 20, 2023 at 02:17 PM.
Amazon seems to only sell Techron Marine in bulk - probably enough for a few years.
Is Stabil Marine 360 an equivalent product?
That presentation recommends using an ethanol treatment for gas - Lucas makes a good one.
I wonder if adding an ethanol treatment and a product like Techron/Stabil injection cleaner together would create problems with the gas in our cars?
They also talking about bore scoring (an issue in the 997, not the 993)
I used to have a 997. Some of theses end up as toast due to bore scoring of the cylinders. In those engines the cylinders and pistons were made of AL impregnated with Si. Cheaper quality gas in conjunction with ethanol causes excess wear of the of the silica leading to aluminum on aluminum in the cylinder/piston interface in about 6% of these cars.
997s have crept up in value and the demand for them is increasing. It's a bit of a crap-shoot. If you end up having to rebuild your engine - you might be looking at a big expense $ wise.
I have used LubroMoly's Jectron and Ventil Sauber for maybe coming on 20 years now. Toss in a can maybe 2-3 two tank fillups before I do an oil change ...since 2001 or thereabouts. I now have 184k miles, the car consumes 1qt/2500 miles or so, which is the same as when I bought her (I keep records so this is accurate). Today, she sprints to redline and pulls as strong as the day I got her at 50k miles. Who the heck knows if the LM stuff helped. But way back when Steve W. suggested it so why wouldn't I heed; and today the car is still amazing. Oh, 95% of all my fillups are at Chevron so I trust the techron helps there, as well.
Way back when for the SC, I was told to use Stabil Blue (marine) every tankful as it's supposedly good for the entire injection system (CIS), and benefits the engine, too. Well these many years later, same thing: car is strong, uses almost no oil, and is a testament of the "SCs are bulletproof" mantra.
There is a lot of different information out there regarding these products.
1. PEA is good
2. Ethanol is bad
Chevron lists there ingredients:
Techron consists of five components:
Distillates, hydrotreated light at 40-70% weight.
Stoddard solvent at 15-40% weight.
Solvent naphtha (petroleum), light aromatic at 5-10% weight.
1,2,4-trimethylbenzene at 1-5% weight.
Polyetheramine (PEA) (detergent), polyether amines at 20-49% weight
Stabil won't tell you whats in theirs (proprietary BS is the excuse)
Lucas lists what is in theirs, but they don't give a complete breakdown like Chevron, but essential has the same ingredients.
This is the confusion part:
Chevron will tell you to do it only every 3,000 miles.
Other sources tell you to do it before an oil range
The guys in the presentation above say there is no need to do an oil change.
The Luca and Stabil products tell you to add to each tankful of gas.
Some people say they use the marine for of these products which has much higher concentration of active ingredients
People that gas-up at a Chevron station are getting Techron every time they fill up.
The goal is to treat the ethanol in the gas.
The other goal is to keep your engine/injectors free of deposits.
Is there too much of a good thing? - yes
A small amount of fuel additive will make its way to your oil and will dilute it over time - hence the reason for the more frequent oil change.
Too much additive will potentially damage your cats - an issue for those that live in States that still do emission checks on older cars..
The thing to remember is that when manufacturers of these products give recommendations, they are lumping all cars together - so what applies to a 991,997 etc. may not apply to a 993.
This is what works for me, since I drive < 3,000 miles a year. I am just going to use the Lucas Ethanol Safeguard product - 3 ounces per tank of gas. It treats the ethanol is the gas and also helps to keep the injectors/valves/other internal free of deposits.
Lucas has a good reputation industry wide, so I am comfortable using it as such.
