I'm considering having mine cleaned. Advise from the pros or people who've had it done would be appreciated. Is there any process that's better than others? I've tried the Techron method several times and got no results.

more expensive than the techron route. have heard it is effective.
Re: bg44k[200/88] posted by Dave Stevens on
Tuesday, 31 July 2001, at 6:27 p.m.

BG44K is supposedly not a consumer product and is sold only to the trade. You can try getting it through a friendly shop or auto supplier or you can try getting it from one of the auto e-tailers. The prevailing wisdom seems to be that BG44K is an excellent, but very strong cleaner, really only appropriate for use on badly carboned/neglected engines, especially considering its cost. I mean, you don't need oven cleaner to do the dishes.

Other top end/injector cleaners you may want to try are AMSOIL PI (through distributors like our Paul S), Chevron Techron (concentrate) and Redline SI. That's more or less the order of preference I've seen. Some of the house branded injector cleaners (like GM and Mazda) are reportedly as strong as BG44K. There are many other injector cleaners out there, some may be okay, especially for routine use. Just be sure to avoid the cheaper, older solvent based cleaners that might attack the fuel system and injector seals.

Periodic use of additives (like every year or so) should be the most that's necessary if you use quality gas, your engine is properly tuned and you do a reasonable amount of highway driving. If you buy cheaper gas with minimal additives or lower octane than the engine requires or if you do strictly stop and go driving, then more frequent use (like every few months) may be required.

One of the simplest tune-ups for improving engine operation is a throttle body cleaning and a shiny new set of plugs followed by a long, high rpm drive through the mountains. I'm guessing the optimum engine speed for this is probably close to the max torque for your engine and under load. If you don't want speeding tickets, hey, just stay in a lower gear.

Another thing that I have heard of is something called a MotorVac. It is a machine that taps into your fuel line by the motor and circulates a pretty strong cleaner through the fuel system. The shop here wants to charge me $110 to do it. Not sure if I want to or if I am going to. If anyone here knows anything more about this MotorVac, let us know.

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'86 420SE Euro
904 Midnight Blue, Gray Velour
Dad bought it new, now I own it.

"A Mercedes-Benz is like a fine wine, it only gets better with age."

Thanks for the advise, but I'm thinking more along the lines of removing the injectors and taking them to a shop that has the equipment to clean them and bench test.

About the MOTORVAC. If your car idles fine with no hesitation on grades or acelleration, don't waste your money. It's kinda like tunning your car every 15,000 miles. In the days of leaded gas, ignition points, and poor engine design before computers, tune ups were necessary. Today with lead free fuel, plugs don't foul and there are no points to change dwell and timing. Cars built in the last decade have non adjustable distributors, and many don't even have distributors. The only tune up I would recommend is a vacuum tune. Check for and correct any vacuum leaks. Getting back to the MOTORVAC, a friend of mine has the system in his shop, and he only sells the routine to poor running CIS cars. It is like running a dialysis on a car. He says that after about 15 minutes you can hear the engine smooth out and start idling quieter than a mouse peeing on cotton. I hope this info helps.

Peter

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Auto Zentral Ltd.

If you're considering removing your injectors, and having them cleaned, I would first check out what new injectors cost on FastLane (at the top of the page). New injectors for my car ('92 201) are only $23 each. I think the going rate for cleaning/reconditioning is $20 - $25 each. With these figures, the choice is easy.

Jeff Pierce

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Jeff Pierce

Current Vehicles:
'92 Mercedes 190E/2.3 (247K miles/my daily driver)
'93 Volvo 940 Turbo Wagon (263K miles/a family truckster with spunk)
'99 Kawasaki Concours
Gravely 8120
Previous Vehicles:
'85 Jeep CJ-7 w/ Fisher plow (226K miles)'93 Volvo 940 Turbo Wagon
'53 Willys-Overland Pickup
'85 Honda 750F Interceptor
'93 Nissan Quest
'89 Toyota Camry Wagon
'89 Dodge Raider
'81 Honda CB 750F Super Sport
'88 Toyota Celica
'95 Toyota Tacoma
'74 Honda CB 550F

On one of my cars, I removed the injectors to have them cleaned & blueprinted.
The difference was amazing.

I also remember, when I took Computerized Engine Controls 101 ( looooong time ago ), the instructor suggested, if you ever buy injectors over the counter, to take a DVOM with you & check the resistance of each injector on the spot.

The idea was to match them, since there is usually a no-return policy on anything automotive electrical.

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2007 C 230 Sport.