# Fuel additive?



## Coyotex (Feb 10, 2019)

Does anyone use a fuel additive? If so, have you experienced better gas mileage with using it?


----------



## TomTheAnt (Jan 1, 2019)

Almost as contested topic on teh interwbs than the famous "best oil" threads. LOL!!! :roflmao: Some people say they are snake oil, others swear by the brand they use which is THE best since sliced bread and so on and so on...

I dump a bottle of Techron in the tank every now and then to maybe keep things in good shape. Has no impact on fuel mileage that I can tell. Not saying it wouldn't ever have an impact on anything. If you have dirty injectors and you use a bottle or two, it could very well have an impact.


----------



## amazinghl (Oct 31, 2018)

What does the fuel additive say it is for, exactly? Just random "improve mileage"? Even a 0.0001 mpg increase can count as "improve mileage".

Top Tier fuel have the cleaning agent in them, so there is no additional "cleaning" fuel additive ever needed.
https://www.consumerreports.org/car-maintenance/study-shows-top-tier-gasoline-worth-extra-price/
With most fuel additive, you're literally burning your money.


----------



## 1974toyota (Jan 5, 2018)

TomTheAnt said:


> Almost as contested topic on teh interwbs than the famous "best oil" threads. LOL!!! :roflmao: Some people say they are snake oil, others swear by the brand they use which is THE best since sliced bread and so on and so on...
> 
> I dump a bottle of Techron in the tank every now and then to maybe keep things in good shape. Has no impact on fuel mileage that I can tell. Not saying it wouldn't ever have an impact on anything. If you have dirty injectors and you use a bottle or two, it could very well have an impact.


Whoa, i dump Techron in the car a few times a year,been doing it forever,jmo


----------



## SamuelB (Aug 29, 2018)

In my 2003 Toyota Avalon I was getting 15-18 mpg. I used 1 bottle of Gumout. After that it was consistently 18-22 mpg.


----------



## Coyotex (Feb 10, 2019)

SamuelB said:


> In my 2003 Toyota Avalon I was getting 15-18 mpg. I used 1 bottle of Gumout. After that it was consistently 18-22 mpg.


Now this is interesting. hmmmmmm


----------



## amazinghl (Oct 31, 2018)

Time to do some tune up on your car to get it back up to par.


----------



## KD_LA (Aug 16, 2017)

All you need is... Liquid Schwartz!


----------



## SamuelB (Aug 29, 2018)

amazinghl said:


> View attachment 305234
> 
> 
> Time to do some tune up on your car to get it back up to par.


Not sure where you got that from. From https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/18755.shtml










My average since January is 19.05
Just had the thermostat replaced. Mechanic said codes says it is running lean so may need to have some adjustments made.


----------



## Juggalo9er (Dec 7, 2017)

Look it up on YouTube.... Some pretty good videos using bore cameras that prove additives do likely to nothing


----------



## Coyotex (Feb 10, 2019)

I was getting right at 22-23 mpg, no matter how I drove. I put in a bottle of Gumout (Walmart, $1.39) and the first tank, same kind of driving, got upper 23s! I put in another bottle and this tank I got over 25mpg! Holy Cow! I couldn't believe it!


----------



## SFOspeedracer (Jun 25, 2019)

Royal purple = gold


----------



## R3drang3r (Feb 16, 2019)

Coyotex said:


> Does anyone use a fuel additive? If so, have you experienced better gas mileage with using it?


Techron is techroline an ingredient found in Chevron gasoline. Just use Chevron.


----------



## losiglow (Dec 4, 2018)

I've used a variety including Seafoam, Gumout Multi-System Tune-Up and Marvel Mystery Oil. I can't say that any of them have made a huge difference. 

I still use Marvel Mystery oil on occasion. It quiets the valves on my wife's Pilot, which has about 250K miles on it. And it seems logical that it would lubricate the fuel pump. It's caused more soot on the tailpipes however, so I don't use it frequently. 

What I can say is that my valves and piston heads are sparkly clean when I take a look at them using a boroscope. Nearly no carbon buildup whatsoever on the piston head. The valves are shiny clean but that's usually the case with port-injected vehicles.


----------



## SinTaxERROR (Jul 23, 2019)

R3drang3r said:


> Techron is techroline an ingredient found in Chevron gasoline. Just use Chevron.


Unfortunately Chevron is not available in the North East.

Chevron is all that I used in my vehicles when I lived down south. It definitely is a superior fuel.


----------



## DriverMark (Jan 22, 2018)

I use a fuel injector cleaner additive whenever I change the oil, which is 10k miles (full Synth with high end filter). I'm not saying it actually does anything, but I get warm fuzzies thinking it's helping keep the engine rolling to 300k miles. I'll let you know in another 185k miles if it worked!


----------



## Coastal_Cruiser (Oct 1, 2018)

There is a product called Zmax. They used to run TV commercials where after adding Zmax to the engine, they drained the oil from the car, then drove it from LA to Santa Barbara non-stop. The engine did not blow. BS, right?

I tried some because I was having mechanical problems and was desperate. Zmax actually comes in the form of an additive for fuel, transmission, and motor. At two different times over the years I bought two different Hondas that each showed signs of transmission failure after purchase (both were automatics). In one case the car would slip in and out of overdrive on the freeway. In the other case the transmission made a loud noise while backing up.... like two trash can lids being rubbed together. In both cases a container of Zmax poured into the transmission completed cured the problem in one to two days... and the issue never recurred.

I use the motor additive as well. Gas mileage sometimes has shown slightly improvement, but mainly it protects and extends the life of the motor. You can actually add the stuff when the crankcase is full of oil, because it's not like other oil additives. Zmax penetrates into the metal. It sets up a barrier so that there is little or no contact/friction between moving parts. Even when the engine is cold. I have been able to perceive the motor running more smoothly after adding it.

Although I drive an electric car for ridesharing, my back up car - a cherished '96 Toyota Corolla wagon- just a few weeks ago somehow ran so low on oil that nothing showed on the dipstick. I discovered this upon pulling over on an uphill section of the freeway because the car was running funny. No oil whatsoever on dipstick. Agh! Poured in a quart of oil I always keep in a catch-all box in the back. Drove to Napa and topped off. Drove the 50 miles home. Car ran as smooth as silk. Yes, I had treated the motor with Zmax about 6 months before. No problems since. I did throw in another container of Zmax though upon returning home.

EDIT: Ha ha. Apparently you can't say t-r-a-n-n-y in the forum.


----------



## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Coyotex said:


> Does anyone use a fuel additive? If so, have you experienced better gas mileage with using it?


ysell.yup.
And yup 2-3 mpg difference.

Especially in south louisiana where underground fuel tanks are also often UNDERWATER FUEL TANKS !



1974toyota said:


> Whoa, i dump Techron in the car a few times a year,been doing it forever,jmo


Every month.

A mechanic bought one of my cars with an old v8.
Said it had the cleanest heads he had ever seen.

I only burn regular unleaded and only the cheapest fuel available.


----------



## Coastal_Cruiser (Oct 1, 2018)

tohunt4me said:


> Every month.
> 
> A mechanic bought one of my cars with an old v8.
> Said it had the cleanest heads he had ever seen.
> ...


That is saying something. A testament to that additive. I had a mechanic show me the innards of an engine that had been run on regular gas. It was clogged up with sludge. The mechanic kept the engine to urge customers to only run premium gas.

BTW - interesting anecdote on using regular gas, _and_ cheap gas (from no name gas stations). I have a friend who lives off the grid and uses a Honda 1000 generator to power lights and TV. When they use regular gas and/or cheap gas of any grade, the generator runs for about 4 hours before the tank is empty. When they splurge for the high octane name brand stuff the generator runs for 6 hours.


----------



## Atavar (Aug 11, 2018)

The only additive I have ever used that made a difference is StarTron. It claims to be enzyme based to eat ethanol. I get about 75 miles more per tank when using it, which is valuable when driving rideshare. 
The cost is about a wash when compared to E10 87 octane straight, but more range means more minutes driving.
https://dirtwheelsmag.com/product-evaluation-star-tron-fuel-stabilizer-a-cleaner-for-your-gasoline/


----------



## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Coastal_Cruiser said:


> That is saying something. A testament to that additive. I had a mechanic show me the innards of an engine that had been run on regular gas. It was clogged up with sludge. The mechanic kept the engine to urge customers to only run premium gas.
> 
> BTW - interesting anecdote on using regular gas, _and_ cheap gas (from no name gas stations). I have a friend who lives off the grid and uses a Honda 1000 generator to power lights and TV. When they use regular gas and/or cheap gas of any grade, the generator runs for about 4 hours before the tank is empty. When they splurge for the high octane name brand stuff the generator runs for 6 hours.


Shell is often cheapest with my 10 cent discount


----------



## islanddriver (Apr 6, 2018)

I buy it a Walmart have for year in New York. Might just be NJ that doesn't have it.


----------



## Kembolicous (May 31, 2016)

R3drang3r said:


> Techron is techroline an ingredient found in Chevron gasoline. Just use Chevron.


There are no Chevron stations around here. There are also no Phillips 66, Union 76, Texaco, Sinclair, ect.
And these so called cleaners added to fuel are worthless. So called valve cleaner in the fuel is useless. I found out when replacing a bad valve, and it looked like my intake valves were coated with black concrete. Maybe a take additive is needed.


----------



## SinTaxERROR (Jul 23, 2019)

tohunt4me said:


> Shell is often cheapest with my 10 cent discount


Shell tends to be on the more expensive side here.



Kembolicous said:


> There are no Chevron stations around here. There are also no Phillips 66, Union 76, Texaco, Sinclair, ect.
> And these so called cleaners added to fuel are worthless. So called valve cleaner in the fuel is useless. I found out when replacing a bad valve, and it looked like my intake valves were coated with black concrete. Maybe a take additive is needed.


These cleaners and detergents work well with older vehicles. Today's vehicle's use direct injection where fuel is sprayed directly into combustion chamber, never actually hitting the valves. So they keep injectors clean, not much else.


----------



## brick656 (Jun 18, 2017)

SamuelB said:


> In my 2003 Toyota Avalon I was getting 15-18 mpg. I used 1 bottle of Gumout. After that it was consistently 18-22 mpg.


Over what number of miles did you track?


----------



## SamuelB (Aug 29, 2018)

brick656 said:


> Over what number of miles did you track?


A few thousand. I use Fuelly and record every fill up and monitor my mpg. I sold the Avalon and now have a Prius v. Good bye 18mpg....hello 44mpg average!


----------

