Good morning,
I have a 2001 Jaguar X-Type 2.5 V6 with 210,000 km, a mechanic friend advised me to clean the injectors with a special additive.
It's something I've never done.
I have a concern, wouldn't using it remove old impurities/deposit which would cause malfunctions in the injectors/engine?
Thank you

 

I have half-an-answer for you:
I also am very skeptical in regards of all kinds of additives.
But I am pro cleaners, in general.
And I would also be worried about adding something into the system as is, as I would also be worried that if it does anything in the first place (like cleaning the injectors), it would then be contaminating the next stage (i.e. the engine).
But what I did before: I removed the injectors (of a Jag or Ford - can't remember) and then I cleaned the injectors. I might have used brake cleaner (not sure), maybe other cleaners are better. So you need to "stuff" all extra openings and ensure that you spray the cleaner on one end and ensure that there are no air-leaks. Trying to use the pressure of the spray-can to make the cleaner come out of the injector nozzles that way is one way, but I did it differently: I filled up the injector-unit with the cleaning fluid and then carefully created pressure with a compressor-air-gun. And afterwards I cleaned it with air-pressure and that way no contaminants get into the engine...

 

I am with Peter somewhat, and my usage was mainly with the V12 engines.

I always changed the fuel filter 1st.

Read the bottle. Most treat "up to 60ltrs of fuel".

Depending IF its to "fix" something, or to just tickle it up and return efficiency.

If I was sorting something, I would add that bottle to 20ltrs of fuel, and go for a drive, a looooooong drive, topping up the fuel as you need to of course. About 100kms was the deal.

If I am just tickling the thing, pour it in, and go for a shorter drive.

I use the tickle method on the X, S XJR6, and all the V12's.

The key is DO NOT pour it in and walk away. You MUST get it through the system, and some good old fashioned engine heat into it.

As for down the chain issues, never had it on any, maybe i am blessed, doubt that.

 

Ok...Thanks!
Maybe i change fuel filtrer before

 

Do you recommend any products?
Disassembling the engine and cleaning the injectors by hand would cost too much

 

When I worked at the dealer we had issues with contaminated fuel injectors so Jaguar issued a TSB.

Here is some info we got 'back-in-the-day'.

 

Your up there, I am way down here.

Whatever is "on special" is my usual "go to". Nulon, Wynns, Penrite, Valvoline, are popular in our market.

Fuel quality in some markets is not so flash. We have 3 versions, 91, 95, 98 RON. I run 98 is all my cars from the MK X upwards. Then a bottle of cleaner ever 3 or 4 months. Worked for me for too long to change my habits,

 

ive had good luck with techron fuel system cleaner but im sure others have great suggestions as well
also if there is any debris itll be sent into the combustion chamber and be burned away so it wont matter

 

believe it or not getting to the injectors on this engine is a fairly simple and straightforward procedure and it gives you ample opportunity to change out the intake gaskets since they commonly become a problem

 

Batman9393, changing a fuel filter is always a good idea. It is supposed to be changed every 15K miles (25,000 KM) as I recall. It is cheap insurance for the motor.

As for cleaners, I am going to offer up an option that I have not seen. I am sure you have some big name gas/petrol stations in your area (BP, Chevron, Shell, etc). If you tend to be like most, you always fill up at the same station. That fuel has additives in it to help keep your fuel system clean The problem is, no brand of gasoline/petrol has a perfect cleaning solution. Their fuel is going to leave something behind. So, my recommendation is to switch to a different brand of fuel. Their detergent package is going to be different and therefore, clean out different things. Odds are, it will catch what your normal fuel station is missing. Of note, the Techron line of cleaners is in the Chevron fuel. So, pay attention to what fuel you get. If you normally buy at Chevron, go to Shell. Different detergent package, different things get cleaned up. You will most likely notice a slight up tick in the performance of the car. Then all it costs you is a slight bit more from using a different brand of gas vice having to put a separate bottle of something into the fuel tank.

The other thing that I will recommend you do is to fill up the tank with the new brand of gas and then put say 20 miles (30 KM) on the car and then go for a drive on the local motorway. As you are getting on the motor way, get up to speed in a timely manner (within allowable conditions of weather, other cars, and your ability). Get the motor spinning. Let the kitty sprint a little bit. The big thing this is doing is raising the flow going through the fuel injector. More flow is going to do a bit of "scrubbing" for you, helping to kick off some of the stuff that is stuck behind. Do this 3 to 4 times to help clean things out. Some people call this an "Italian tune-up" referencing what you needed to do with the older Ferraris and other sports cars that were not used as they were designed to be and would loose performance from being treated too kindly.

 

I don't think we have Chevron in Australia, but I knew that Shell fuels (especially the 98 RON octane fuel of Shell) comes with additives, which are supposed to be good.

 

Peter, the idea is to simply change the brand of gas that you are normally using for a tank or two. That is all it takes to clean up the injectors. Every country has different brands. But ,I know Chevron, Shell, and BP are world wide companies and most likely are in most people's area.

 

Yes, I understood what you wrote regarding swapping fuels.
I do that anyway.
I googled now, what the story is with Chevron and Australia and learned something:
We have Caltex everywhere in Australia, and Caltex is owned by Chevron.

 

And Caltex is South Australia now Ampol, duh.

 

Trying to clear the dreaded lean issue on my 2006 X-type.

I changed up the gas station
ran two bottles of Sea Foam
one bottle of Lucas cleaner
changed fuel filter

Didn't fix my problem, but the cleaners did not damage the car either.

good luck

 

Ronks, normally a lean code has nothing to do with the injectors. When was the last time you changed "The Big 3"? (if you don't know what I am talking about, just say so). Odds are, that will clear up your problem. I am assuming you are getting a P0171/0174 code (one or both of them).. this is a common issue with the X-Type and "The Big 3" will normally clear things up. Lets start there and then we can go further into things should we need to.

 

Just saw your post and i am going to search the big three now.

Thanks,

Ron

 

Post #2

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...e-help-214554/

 

Sorry to join this thread late and to make such a lengthy post. I had forgotten about the document Bob (motorcarman) posted in which Jaguar recommend's Wynn's Fuel Injector Cleaner, and it sent me down the research rabbit hole again

Back when I set up my home-built jig to clean fuel injectors, I did a lot of research into the effectiveness of fuel injector cleaning additives because I wanted to use something known to be effective in my cleaning jig, which opens and closes the injector valve while forcing cleaning solution through the injector under pressure.

Obviously, most of the "documentation" we can find are the marketing claims from the additive makers themselves, so not to be trusted without due diligence. If you dig deeper and study the Material Safety Data Sheets, which list all toxic or potentially dangerous ingredients not claimed to be "trade secrets," most fuel injector cleaners are composed of solvents in the paint thinner family, such as mineral spirits, white spirits, naptha, light hydrotreated petroleum distillates, Stoddard solvent, etc. There are a few exceptions, such as the Lucas brand, that are oil based.

I was very pleased to come across a document from BMW (attached) which discloses that the fuel injector cleaner BMW brands for sale in its dealerships is Chevron Techron, based on actual tests of the product by BMW engineers:

"Chevron and BMW have run an extensive "no harm" tests with polyether amine technology. When used as directed, it
will not harm catalytic converters, oxygen sensors, or any other mechanical components of the engine, or fuel delivery
system.

The effectiveness of the additive depends on its presence in the gasoline in large concentrations for short periods of
time. One treatment is usually sufficient, but a second treatment (one 20 oz bottle per each, consecutive full tank of
gas) may give additional benefits. To keep your fuel intake system clean, we recommend usage at every 3000 miles."

The statement that stuck out to me was "polyether amine technology." Apparently this is something that distinguishes Techron from other additive brands. But what is it?

A review of the Techron MSDS shows these disclosed ingredients:




As far as I have been able to determine, none of the disclosed ingredients would be classified as a polyether amine, so that ingredient must fall into what Chevron calls a "trade secret," and is therefore not included in the MSDS. But it was the apparent effectiveness of this ingredient that led the BMW engineers to approve Techron for use in BMW dealerships.


It is interesting that the composition of Wynn's Fuel Injector Cleaner, which is recommended by Jaguar, is similar to that of Techron, except Wynn's missing "trade secrets" are apparently polyisobutylene amines, according to one of their product sheets:




Here are the disclosed ingredients of Wynn's:









Here's a snip from an SAE White Paper that investigated the mechanism by which Polyetheramines help clean carbon from fuel systems. Note the recommendation at the end to change the oil after the use of a strong fuel system cleaner(!):

White Paper - P.E.A. and Aminic Fuel Additives used by Permission of the Author. "PolyEtherAmine (PEA) fuel additives are composed of specialized amines, which is the Subject of this White Paper. The primary use of PEA’s in fuel is to control intake valve and combustion chamber deposits. Amines in various forms are also used as anti-oxidants in lubricants. Chemistry Classification: Amines are classified as “Aliphatic Nitrogen Compounds” because these molecules contain at least one Nitrogen atom. The most basic amine molecule has three hydrogen atoms and one nitrogen atom linked as in: H / H-N-H One of the primary amines is 2-propanamine Isopropylamine with the formula structure: H / CH3-C-CH3 / NH2 Most amine compounds are made by the reaction of some form of ammonia, NH3, with other chemicals. The household version of ammonia is actually a weak solution of ammonium hydroxide, or NH3 in water, H2O. Fuel Additive: The actual amine fuel additive is a form of polyetheramine or P.E.A and is seen in blended fuels, and in fuel additives such as Techron and other OTC fuel system additives. The basic polyetheramine is added to fuels at about 50ppm but the level of polyetheramine depends greatly on the components of the blended fuel. Recall that gasoline or diesel fuels are actually blends of various light hydrocarbons of various cuts. Newer versions of the polyetheramine are actually esterified polyetheramines called, “esteramines.” The esteramines adds polarity to the amine. The polyether esteramines for OTC additives are added to solvent neutral oils at levels of approximately 400 ppm. The basic polyetheramines found in blended fuels are very synergisticic with the newer esteramines. It is believed that the polar polyetheramine’s attach to the hydrocarbon deposit and via thermodynamic activation, softens the carbon. The flowstream across the valves and inside the combustion chamber then blow the hydrocarbon deposits to the exhaust stream. Increases in hydrocarbon loads not only exit the exhaust stream, but can also enter the oil. It is always a good idea to change the oil after using a strong fuel system cleaner."

Another SAE white paper reports findings that butylene oxide-based polyether amines may be more effective than propylene oxide-based PEAs, and that higher dosages of PO-PEAs may provide reduced protection against sludge formation.

Sludge and Varnish Evaluation of Polyether Amine Gasoline Fuel Additives at "Complete Fuel System Cleaner" Aftermarket Fuel Additive Concentrations 2020-01-2100 "Sludge and Varnish deposits that can build up in the crankcase originate in large part from fuel and fuel components that enter the crankcase through blow-by. These deposits can lead to a variety of engine issues including piston skirt deposits, cylinder bore scuffing, stuck lifters and oil filter plugging. A test has been developed to evaluate the contribution of “Complete Fuel System Cleaner” (CFSC) aftermarket fuel additives to crankcase sludge and varnish deposit formation. CFSC aftermarket fuel additives are typically formulated with polyether amine (PEA) chemistry and at concentrations that exceed 2000ppm. Three different commercially-available CFSC products were tested, containing two different classes of PEA chemistry - propylene oxide-based PEA (“PO-PEA”) and butylene oxide-based PEA (“BO-PEA”). Two of the three products contained the same PO-PEA chemistry, but at different concentrations, to show the effect of additive dosage. Using the Sequence VG sludge and varnish test rating criteria, it has been shown that PO-PEA can lead to a borderline failing result for varnish formation at the lower treat rate, and an extreme failing result at the higher treat rate. BO-PEA chemistry did not lead to noticeable varnish formation. All three of the tested additives yielded passing sludge formation results, though a slight degradation in sludge control was observed with PO-PEA at the higher concentration. Analysis of the used test oil demonstrated that the BO-PEA chemistry led to a 73% improvement in oxidative stability, when compared to used oil from PO-PEA testing. It is hypothesized that the lower solubility of PO-PEA can contribute to the formation of sludge and varnish precursors that have the potential to cause significant engine harm."

Anyway, all that to say, since the BMW engineers found to their satisfaction that Chevron Techron is effective when used as instructed, I have been using Techron as instructed. However, I think I may give Wynn's a try before my next oil change. I don't depend on fuel tank additives as a cure-all for clogged injectors, carboned valves, etc., but I do consider them to be part of an overall long-term maintenance strategy.

Thanks as always to Bob for being a wealth of Jaguar information and so generous with his knowledge over these many decades.

Cheers,

Don

 

I don't believe in "fix it in a can" stuff. I will say I knew a guy that had a VW Rabbit back in the day, a worn out daily with rust in the tank. The car would start to run bad as the injectors would become clogged. He would run a bottle of techrolene and the idle would clear up and the car would would run well for another X amount of miles, he did this consistently. I also had a buddy with an M5, ran rough and the shop told him his BMW needed new injectors, he ran a bottle of techrolene and car cleared up and ran perfect. It can't hurt to run a couple tanks with the techrolene and see if it it helps.