WW7

I found this video on YouTube where the guy gave Techron a fair test to see if it works like advertised...Very disappointing results to say the least...Of course he only gave the results on the piston tops and cylinders but it's not showing me what I expected......WW


He also tested Seafoam , the results were much better using this product..He called it a product that actually worked....


Here's the test on "Lucas deep clean" cleaner, results were also disappointing..

extrapilot

I've seen this guy on YT also.
I think that the only thing that will work well enough is to be using the better fuels on a regular basis, IMO

WW7

After seeing this video I have to agree with you..Doesn't look like the one shot fixes do what they say.I think a steady diet of fuel system cleaner like what's in the Top Tier fuels would have more impact..Of course he only tested the cleaners use on the cylinders/pistons and not the complete fuel system.It seems that Seafoam did the best job on the pistons.....WW
.
.
.

ruxvette

I have always held firm to the belief that fuel additives increase your fuel mileage ever so slightly for that tank of fuel. Period.

RagTop69

So much for the "bitter clingers", clinging to their guns and bibles and top tier gasoline. That Techron may not have worked too well for the guy conducting the test, but it works like a mother for Chevron.

windyC6

:I don't use any of them for better mileage. Not really worried about getting 26.1 MPG's as opposed to only 26 MPG's. But if theres any hope of something helping to keep from having to spend a gaziilion dollars on having a fuel sender installed....then i'll bow and try something hoping that its helping a little......

dmk0210

Top tier additives must be doing some good:

https://goo.gl/kb2TKh

http://newsroom.aaa.com/wp-content/u...heet-FINAL.pdf

http://newsroom.aaa.com/2016/07/aaa-...created-equal/

http://www.consumerreports.org/car-m...h-extra-price/

Uncle Meat

I think the guy doing those videos is actually a member here isn't he?

U.M.

Ben101er

I agree. Just because some guy gets on you tube and says that a one time use of an additive is ineffective doesn't mean that the same additive in top tier gasoline, that is used for months, has the same results. I guess if someone wants to use this guy's claims as a reason to quit using top tier gas, and he feels confident in doing so, that is his business. As for me, I will continue to pay another 3 cents a gallon and continue to pay for the added detergent.

Corvette_Ed

The bottle also states that more than one treatment may be needed for exceptionally dirty systems, but he left that part out....

RagTop69

Lots of links but they're all the same AAA study. I trust AAA to tow my car or jump the battery. Meantime, I'm sort of guessing that paying up to fifty cents a gallon more for top tier gasoline will add up faster than the carbon deposits on my cylinder crowns, valves and rings. Especially when you consider the mean time between rebuilds on these LSX engines. I must be missing something here because Chevron premium gasoline (with Techron) is selling for a lot more than 3 cents a gallon more than Arco.

Kent1999

Bonjour!

CriticalmassGT

Yeah, SEAFOAM will work, but realize 90% of the "smoke" coming out of the tailpipe is the mineral oil burning off. Carbon deposits are black.

The fuel additives like Techron work over the life of the car and are not meant to be a 1 time additive.

Seafoam also it's own problems if it isn't used properly.

dmk0210

Fifty cents a gallon?! That's either massive hyperbole, or you are getting ripped off. Around here Top Tier stations are just a few cents more than the cheap skate places. (I usually get BP or Texaco. No Chevrons around here)



.

LDB

Hopefully I won’t come across as trying to throw mud at this guy. He’s seemingly a well intentioned person trying to do what he can with home equipment. That said, his tests do not come even remotely close to measuring what needs to be measured to judge additive effectiveness. What you can conclude from these videos is that in engines that are relatively clean to start out with, there’s not much visual difference on piston crowns after treatment added to a tank or two of gas. In a way, I suppose I should be more enthusiastic, as his data tend to illustrate a point I’ve made often on the forum, namely, that an occasional shot of Techron (or other additive) is not a very good way of keeping an engine clean. But if you really want to know what’s going on, you need to do it right, which is way more expensive.

Doing it right means testing engines side by side in test cells for extended mileage periods, then tearing them down and cleaning off and measuring deposits from various parts, of which piston crowns are the least critical. Injectors, plugs, and valves are more important. If you do that, you’ll find that top tier additives will result in substantially cleaner engines. It’s not a gimmick, or a conspiracy of oil or auto makers, or a Communist plot. It’s just reality. Standard additive packages are not terrible in the sense that they will ruin your engine. But I can personally guarantee you from my own eyes and experience at such testing, that a 50,000 mile engine run on top tier will be noticeably and measurably cleaner.

Chevron gets a lot of good publicity from Techron, and as added to their gas, it’s one of the good, top tier additives. But as added in a bottle here and there to normal gas, it’s not all that effective, nor is any other additive. Deposits are hard, and well-baked, sort of like a pan you’ve left on a stove too long that’s burned stuff on. How easy is it to clean up burned on stuff? Not very. Yes, additives including Techron do have some “clean-up” capability, but it’s far more effective to use them in lower, constant doses, to keep the deposits from forming in the first place.

SSWEET

Dang! I guess that Costco deal for 6 bottles @ 19.99 isn't the bargain it's suppose to be....or is it?

Corvette_Ed

Regardless of anything else, Techron still does a great job in reducing the sulfur build-up on the Corvette's very touchy fuel sending unit.

hope2

Maybe Techron is not the same formula it used to be? When I used it years ago the fuel injectors got a little louder, thus indicating to me they were cleaner. BMW tech's used it to clean deposits off intake valves.

Rjhctrapp

So I've watched a lot of Chris Fix videos and I tend to agree with some in that prolonged use on regular intervals would create better results. If you've run AmPm Arco gas for 100k miles and your intake valves are coked up and carboned up and your looking for a miracle cure, this is not it. Running name brand (top tier) fuel with known detergents in it the life of your engine is truly the only way to prevent carbon build up.
I've never put much credibility in the techron additive, that's not why I ran Chevron fuel. I ran, run it because I know there are detergents in the fuel. Shell, 76. I'm still skeptical about Costco, Fred Meyers, Safeway fuels having detergents in the fuel. I shop for groceries and clothes there. That's what they are known for. I buy gas from known fu l companies, because that's what they are known for.
Go ahead, unload on me. I can take it, I have broad shoulders. Lol

Chiselchst

(FWIW, I use Chevron primarily) It is a different formula now, changing as the blend recipes have changed, especially in CA where we are on like CARB phase IV? Techron levels also used to vary based on the grade of fuel, as represented by the size of the Techron logo above each grade. That's been stopped, and the same amount is used in all grades now.

And BMW has now teamed up with Shell Premium (but apparently not the other grades?).