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74 of 80 people found the following review helpful.
Best and most cost-effective product of it is type
By Glenn Carpenter
Short version:
Among all fuel scheme cleaners I’m conscious of, Redline SI-1 holds the most eminent amount per dollar (based on manufacturer MSDS) of the critical fuel-system-cleaning compounds known as polyether amines (PEA). Primarily for this reason I believe SI-1 to be the best available and most cost-effective fuel system cleaner product at marketing pricing. [...].
In my case it has not been necessary to use Redline’s commended amount of approximately 3 oz per fill-up. The effects of 1 oz per fill-up are indistinguishable in terms of tested results (see my basis for this statement below). This results in an approximate cost of $0.35/tank or less than a tenth of a penny per mile. A full case at this usage rate is sufficient to treat 180 full tanks of fuel or to last approximately 80,000 miles. (Figures based 15gal/tank, 25-35mpg).
Long version:
As far as I know, each effective fuel system cleaner on the market uses a class of compounds known as polyether amines (PEA), in varying proportions, to efficaciously clean deposits from fuel system components, and in particular from fuel injectors, which may quickly affect engine efficacy and performance when not operating correctly. My understanding is that these compounds were firstborn developed by Chevron and sold under the Techron name, and have since been made available to other blenders of fuel treatment products. Until not long ago BG 44K, Chevron Techron Concentrate, Gumout Regane Fuel System Cleaner, Amsoil P.I. Performance Improver Concentrate, and Redline SI-1 (among others) listed polyether amines on their Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) in proportions varying from approximately 25% to 50%. Most of these merchandise no longer list PEA on their MSDS, having changed their terminology to camouflage the precise nature of their products’ constituent components. Whether PEA is still contained in those merchandise is a matter of uncertainty. As of this writing Redline’s SI-1 MSDS still specifies that the product holds 30-50% PEA. Consequently it is one of the few remaining fuel system cleaner merchandise that undoubtedly does incorporate PEA in significant quantity.
I have been capable to test the efficacy of fuel scheme cleaners in one of my own vehicles using a method I stumbled on after having it is injectors in a professional manner cleaned while out of the vehicle. The car in question uses a Bosch engine management scheme that reports fuel injector info to an on-board computer, which then uses that info to calculate and report instantaneous and intermediate mpg to the driver. I brought up after the professional cleaning that the accuracy of the reported mpg, when used to measure intermediate mpg over each full tank of fuel, bettered all of a sudden from a prior error of around -3% – -5% (that is, the reported mpg was ~3-5% underneath the actual mpg, or distinctively just over 1mpg low) to an error as close to zero as I could measure (that is, normally amongst -1% and 1%, wavering above and underneath a perfective “match”). This may be explained on the basis that the engine management system will compensate for a dirty injector by keeping the injectors open somewhat longer for the duration of each combustion cycle, in order to confess the proper amount of fuel. The on-board computer interprets that as a somewhat higher rate of fuel consumption, reporting a lower-than-actual mpg figure.
After various thousand miles – not long – the perfective mpg accuracy I’d noticed begun to deteriorate, likely indicating that the cleaned injectors were beginning to suffer from a heap of sort of renewed impedance to fuel flow. Out of a desire to retain near-perfect injector performance, and also out of curiosity, I started experimenting with respective commercially-available fuel scheme cleaners and keeping records of the results at each fill-up.
Leaving out the long details, I’ll merely say here that the results were breathtakingly clear and unambiguous. Each time I went various tanks without using a fuel system cleaner (usually as a result of plainly forgetting to use it or not taking the trouble), the on-board computer (OBC) accuracy would deteriorate. This would fluctuate from tank to tank, of course, as a result of inevitable measurement errors, but the trend was very clear even over a little number of fill-ups. Returning to the use of a fuel system cleaner (Chevron Techron Concentrate, Gumout Regane or SI-1, all of which at the time did integrate PEA), the accuracy would improve again very quickly – within 2-3 fill-ups. I started out using the SI-1 completely seven months ago based on it is evident cost-effectiveness and since then I have scaled down the amount I use in each tank to the current 1oz per ~15gal fill-up. The results stay unambiguous. If I use this little amount of SI-1 consistently, the accuracy of the on-board computer is excellent, with an intermediate error of under 1%, or a fraction the error rate seen when not using such a product.
Based on the above I feel I may confidently conclude that SI-1 works very well, even at scaled down treatment rates, at keeping fuel injectors clean. Fuel system types and injectors will vary, and other elements of the fuel system – for example intake valves and combustion chambers – might gain from higher treatment rates (or, conceivably, might not gain at all). Actual engine efficacy will not vary almost as much as injector cleanliness, since the engine feedback scheme ordinarily corrects for imperfect injector flow rates. However, as the flow is more principally impeded, or impeded differentially among the person injectors, mpg will be affected to a heap of degree. I feel it is well worth the tiny cost to systematically use a little amount of SI-1. Other benefits, such as to combustion efficacy as a result of combustion chamber cleanliness, to volumetric efficacy as a result of intake valve cleanliness, and to fuel scheme lubrication, probably subsist as well though I may not evaluate them and have not attempted to do so. Other fuel scheme cleaners may work as effectively, or almost as effectively, but I do not believe them to be as good in terms of value per dollar spent.
In my experimentation I did try numerous less costly fuel system cleaners, those not containing PEA. They appeared to have no effect. I may not categorically state that only PEA-containing fuel system cleaners work, of course, but my observations did match the traditionalisti wisdom on this point. I likewise experimented with using top-tier fuels only, without any further and added fuel scheme cleaners. The results were the same as when using non-detergent (Costco and others) fuels. I don’t doubt that top tier fuels comprise little amounts of cleaners and will keep a fuel scheme functionally and acceptably clean, but the quantities involved are reputed to be tiny and my observations seem to indicate that even a little amount of further and added additive is far more effective.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
Raised my gas mileage 3-4 points
By C. Perluss
My ’06 Civic SI has when it comes to 40,000 miles on it. It had been getting around 22 mpg (mostly city driving) but even with long distance freeway driving (around 75mph) I’d only get in regards to 23 mpg. I commonly use Chevron or Shell gas. I likewise have used Techron fuel cleaner in the past with no results.
So I used Red Line SI-1 a few tanks ago, and my gas mileage has increased to with regards to 26 mpg for my last few tanks. Right now I’m at 318 miles on one tank of gas, and i have one bar left on my fuel gauge (it’s digital). Prior to the Red Line the best I’d ever gotten was 312 on one tank of gas, and that was after driving the ENTIRE tank on the freeway, and driving 10 miles with no bars left on the fuel gauge. Typically I would get 250-270 miles on one tank.
I’m stoked!
I will confess that using this stuff ain’t going to do anything to support you if your injectors aren’t clogged… but if you suspect they are, this is the fuel cleaner to get!
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
I Trust It
By Jerry Palmerino Jr
I belong to an online forum of Colorado owners (coloradofans.com) and devised a poll to see which fuel system cleaner the members liked best. This one did very well, so I tried it and I like the results. I have poured a bottle in the tank prior to each oil change recently.
I also like Techron, because it seems to give me a smoother idle over each tank of gas. Redline seems to fetch out the raw power of my engine though.
I am not a mechanic, but it seems to work for me.
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