injector cleaner

[pr0n]

a few days ago i purchased nullon injector cleaner. i poured just under half the bottle (220mls) into my tank and put 45$ of petrol in.
as on the container it says if there really dirty use double the ammount. also on the bottom it says overuse will not cause damage.
now the engine is running rough as, really hard time starting. have to use full throttle. and it shakes really badly unless u keep your foot on the gas for like 20secs. then its perfect accept when u go to take off .
i put it in D and then the revs drops really low so i let the brake out and quickly put it back in and it goes as normal.
is this the injector cleaner working or is it problems elsewhere?.
im thinking of doing a full service my self in the next week or 2.
im gonna drain the oil and top it up some good oil. replace air filter element. spark plugs. and possibly change fuel filter if i can.
also im gonna run the fuel thats in it out. then top it up with premium like 30$ worth then take it on a massive drive and burn every drop of it.whats a good brand of oil and what do i need.like 10w-50. i wouldnt have a clue i just made that up. maybe ngk spark plugs there like between 25 and 29$ ea here. and like a ryco fuel filter.
also ive just got my first car and i dont know hell of a lot. since my dad wont help me he just tells me i need to try stuff my self to find out how to do it.

[peter65]

I have not used Nulon so can't comment on it, but i have used Lucas and have not seen what you saw. When i cleaned out my throttle body in situ (with a rag moistened with kero) the motor did cough and fart and blow a little smoke for about 15 seconds when first started...

whether it does this when you use injector cleaner would depend on how much crap the cleaner dissolves & tries to burn in your fuel. i have not seen any ill effects with the Lucas stuff and i use 1 dose every 2500km.

re servicing - i put a set of Delco platinum plugs in, use Castrol GTX II oil, and a K & N cloth filter. The motor has 300kkm on it and runs nicely - does not burn or leak oil and starts first time, every time. I get about 12l/100km which is ok but nothing to rave about. i am trying premium ulp in it at the moment (1st tank). No data on what impact that has had BUT it looks to have improved the fuel economy (but my odometer just died so i am basing that on same usage as every other week but looks like less fuel used....). hope this helps. peter.

[Fu Manchu]

There is only two you would ever want to use!
Go to your Holden dealer and get some Holden Top End cleaner. This is amazing stuff and is used not only by Holden but other manufacturers. It is added to your fuel tank. The other is the Subaru product which is used via the throttle body. Once you use these you will know why I have mentioned them There is nothing better on the market.

By the way try useing the K'nN oil filter and either Royal Purple 10W60 oil or the castrol Edge 10W60. I will never use a GM or Ryco oil filter again after useing a K'nN oil filter.

[Scooter79]

Pretty much any by Nulon is good stuff. I recently ran two full bottles of injector cleaner in one tank after a dodgy mechanic outsourced by my smash repairer put in a 2 dirty second hand fuel tanks afer a serious rear ender. First one was wrong size. and it caused a 4 month old fuel filter to block up.

Anyways... As for spark plugs, don't waist your money on expensive things unless you done big mods to the ignitions system. Standard Bosch or NGK's do the job. for about $3.50 each. If you've got a multimeter check the resistance of the ignition leads. Have a look in the 'How to' section for that.

First thing though is to change you fuel filter. Check the old filter by tapping some fuel into your hand and see how dirty the fuel is. Then blow through it following the flow direction to see how much restriction there is. Compare that blowing through the new one.

Oil will depend really on what type of engine you have, how many k's are on it and if it burns oil or not. You really need to give us more details about the car. I used castrol GTX2 in my first VS and got nearly 400,000k's before I sold it. Generally you get what you pay for. Stay away from cheap and nasty. Make sure it has an API rating of SL or SM. SL and SM offers far better protection and quality than SG or SH which is old technology and becomming obsolete. People swear by Penrite, Valvoline, castrol and Mobil. I'd stick with good mineral oil in a VP and change it every 5,000ks. a 15w/50 or similar will work fine.


I wouldn't bother with the K&N air filter. I had one and not much difference. If you really wanna go all out give the radiator and cooling system a good flush and if you feel confident and cashed up service the auto tansmission while you're at it. Let us know how you go.

[VHSLX3300]

could be the leads or maybe plugs are stuffed? I use Penzoil Multi-Vis in my Vn and its stayed clear as a bell for 2000 kms so far. With your problem it could either be spark or fuel pressure.Id guess fuel pressure by the sounds of your dianostics but VN/VP use electric fuel pumps so the pressure would be constant. Next thing id look at would be the injectors as well. Maybe the injector cleaner blocked them? But yeah start with the basics give her a service and replace all the filters including the fuel filter theres a guide on here about replacing it and also dont worry about a K&N filter just use the paper ones for now. Sort out the problem before getting some things like that. I just dont see how a bottle of nulon would ever do such nasty things to your engine. When I did work at a garage we used nulon injector cleaner with about 100 cars + when i was there and never a problem. But in saying that id contact nulon and see what they have to say about the matter. Anyway good luck and keep us posted about what happens

[Bungle]

Hey pr0n, have you done the service yet? I put a bottle of Wynns Injector cleaner (cheap crud!) in on the weekend, topped up with premium fuel and it ran great for a day, but now Im having the same problem..
I need to give it a good service, just wondering if it fixed your problem..

Cheers.

[coolvxss]

I just came back from a 700km roadtrip with mates. Before i left i put a bottle of nullon injector cleaner, and some 98fuel and its made my car run heaps smoother.

[V8 Berlina]

Putting the cleaner in with low fuel can cause the fuel pump to start to fail and even kill it within days. I dont reccomend any of these fuel injector cleaners at all.
Id only use a system called 3in1 By Chem Tune. That stuff works.

[Lost_Pete]

When I used some injector cleaner in the VN I found that afterwards I had to change the fuel filter. When I drain the fuel out of the filter there was a lot of black sediment in it. Not sure if the injector cleaner loosen it up in the tank.

[V8 Berlina]

Most injector cleaners try to disolve carbon build up in the engine so i carnt see it doing anything to the filter. Although some cleaners are thicker then fuel it could have caused it to block up. With the fuel coming out black the filter was probley about due to be replaced anyway

[Scooter79]

Putting the cleaner in with low fuel can cause the fuel pump to start to fail and even kill it within days. I dont reccomend any of these fuel injector cleaners at all.
Id only use a system called 3in1 By Chem Tune. That stuff works.

Please explain how this is possible. A fuel pump doesn't care what it's pumping as long as it clean liquid.

[fazz1977]

I've run the nulon stuff a few times. Never had an issue. Haven't done it in a while. Been running BP ultimate 98 PULP and Shell V-Power 100 PULP. Amazing results from both. On the V-Power I'm pulling close to 600kms a tank. Never been there before.

From the symptoms I'd say the cleaner has dislodged some crud in the tank and blocked the filter partially.

[V8 Berlina]

Please explain how this is possible. A fuel pump doesn't care what it's pumping as long as it clean liquid.

This is because the cleaner will get all the crap out of the pump. As the pump wears all the **** collects where the wear has taken place so with out that in there the pump is simply worn out.
Its abit like a cooling system. With ****t and old coolant, you give it a flush out and all the crap and corosion leaves whre it has been collecting and starts a leak.

[Bungle]

Did my service, air/oil/fuel filters, spark plugs.. Took it for a drive, still running bad and started to overheat... Water pump has killed itself... Just a co-incidence it happened when i tried the injector cleaner making me think it could be that... D'oh!!

[Scooter79]

Did my service, air/oil/fuel filters, spark plugs.. Took it for a drive, still running bad and started to overheat... Water pump has killed itself... Just a co-incidence it happened when i tried the injector cleaner making me think it could be that... D'oh!!

You saying injector cleaner could have killed your water pump or the water pump has been causing the problem? I don't know if a faulty water pump could be causing rough idle and if it was it would have been overheating before...

[Bungle]

I presume the bearings are shot and belt is slipping? I know the cleaner had no effect on the water pup tho..

[pr0n]

well today i was bored so i was checking all the wiring under my bonnet and my earth strap was old and when u wiggled it copper and green **** came off it. i went a baught a really good one and put it on put the key in and just as my key went to turn it on it instantly turns on in like 0.01sec of u turning the key, its amazing i think my problems mighta been caused by a faulty earth. im still gonna do a service , i didnt do it last week because i only worked 1 day and that was only just enough for me to survive, but im changing fuel filter,air filter,oil filter, oil and filling it up with premium tomorrow. thanks for all the help everyone.

[fazz1977]

Sounds like a likely suspect. One bad earth can cause all sorts of issues.

Nice one.

[AttaBoy]

Where can I find the earth point??? I bet a vs is similar to vp??

[pr0n]

mine just went from the negitave terminal on the battery to the panel closest to it it was only like an 8 guage cable but i replaced mine with a nice 4 guage one