Fuel injector maintenance?

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Ted King - 19 Jun 2004 14:29 GMT

I have a 2002 Miata with 10,000mi. on it and I'm taking it in for
routine maintenance. I called to make an appointment with the Mazda
dealer to have the oil and oil filter changed (did so at 500mi.,
3000mi., and 6000mi.) and the tires rotated (also had that done at
5000mi.) and check the whole engine and drivetrain.

The fellow at the dealership recommended I also have the fuel injectors
cleaned (for a MERE $90!). I told him I didn't think I needed that.
Should I have that done? The car has been running fine and 90% of the
time I run premium gas in the car.

I did a Google Groups search of this newsgroup for "fuel injectors" and
didn't see any posts that address this issue directly (usually the posts
are about when the fuel injectors are suspected as being a problem). I
also looked in the "Garage"section of Miata.net under "Maintenance" and
didn't see anything about regular maintenance of the fuel injectors.

Was the shop guy just trying to get me to have unnecessary (and overly
expensive) maintenance done on the fuel injectors?

Thanks,
Ted

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Lanny Chambers - 19 Jun 2004 15:46 GMT

> Was the shop guy just trying to get me to have unnecessary (and overly
> expensive) maintenance done on the fuel injectors?

Yes. Injectors don't need frequent attention. If you like, pour a bottle
of Techron into the gas tank at 30,000 miles, just before you change the
oil.

Signature

Lanny Chambers, St. Louis, USA
'94C
the alignment page:
http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html

Reply to this Message

Ted King - 19 Jun 2004 16:08 GMT

In article
<lanny-194C74.09462519062004@newssvr23-ext.news.prodigy.com>,

> > Was the shop guy just trying to get me to have unnecessary (and overly
> > expensive) maintenance done on the fuel injectors?
>
> Yes. Injectors don't need frequent attention. If you like, pour a bottle
> of Techron into the gas tank at 30,000 miles, just before you change the
> oil.

Thanks very much for the quick and (I know from reading many of your
replies) knowledgeable reply. I'm beginning to think using the
dealership for these maintenance things may not be such a good idea. The
dealership's prices for an oil change aren't that much above other
shops, but if they are going to be trying to foist unnecessary expensive
stuff like that at me, it makes me wonder. Part of the reason I decided
to go with them is that I got such a good deal on the car (0% financing,
$18,000 for a bare bones '02) that I decided to get an extended warranty
(bumper to bumper 7 year/70,000mi.). I thought it would be easier to get
the warranty honored if I had all maintenance done at the dealership
where I got the warranty and followed all of their recommendations for
maintenance. I'm thinking that wasn't such a good plan after all.

Thanks again!
Ted

Reply to this Message

Mike - 19 Jun 2004 17:09 GMT

I ran into problems with GM when the warranty had expired and I was faced
with a $650 bill for a lower intake manifold gasket repair that was a faulty
engineering design (another story that can be verified by a google search on
"lower intake manifold gasket"). What it came down to was I didn't bring my
vehicle in to a GM garage for the scheduled maintenance. My reply was the
only scheduled maintenance in the 1st 60k miles was an air filter change
(which was not the original air filter) and oil changes (which I had printed
documentation from a quick lube at regular intervals of 2k to 3k miles).

GM said sorry, if you didn't bother to come to us for service, then how do
you expect to come to your aid now?

That is no longer a problem as I will never bother them by buying a GM or
Saturn again in my life time. I did however buy a brand new Mazda Tribute
which I will be bringing into the dealership for oil changes.

My philosophy, at least for the moment is learn to fend off the snake oil
stuff from the dealer, and continue to cover your backside by dealer
documentation. Is it right? Probably not, but you got a fair enough deal.
Run a bottle of Techron or Redline injector cleaner in the tank before your
oil changes like Lanny says and enjoy the top down summer. :-)

> In article
> <lanny-194C74.09462519062004@newssvr23-ext.news.prodigy.com>,
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> Thanks again!
> Ted

Reply to this Message

L Bader - 19 Jun 2004 20:12 GMT

Don't know the laws in your state, but in Texas, dealers MUST
recognize maintenance performed at ASE certified shops. -- They
cannot void the warranty for taking it to another qualified mechanic.

- L

> I ran into problems with GM when the warranty had expired and I was faced
>with a $650 bill for a lower intake manifold gasket repair that was a faulty
[quoted text clipped - 43 lines]
>> Thanks again!
>> Ted

"Oh bother," said Pooh Bear when he saw the mushroom cloud...

// Change TEJAS to TX to reply via eMail //

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Mike - 20 Jun 2004 05:04 GMT

My GM case was post warranty, and I'm not sure the quick lube place is ASE
certified to change oil and a filter. I guess it doesn't matter much if I
don't keep the vehicle past the first 50k miles. Time will tell.

> Don't know the laws in your state, but in Texas, dealers MUST
> recognize maintenance performed at ASE certified shops. -- They
[quoted text clipped - 53 lines]
>
> // Change TEJAS to TX to reply via eMail //

Reply to this Message

Dana Myers - 21 Jun 2004 19:19 GMT

> The fellow at the dealership recommended I also have the fuel injectors
> cleaned (for a MERE $90!). I told him I didn't think I needed that.
> Should I have that done? The car has been running fine and 90% of the
> time I run premium gas in the car.

I frankly have come to regard the "fuel injector cleaning"
scheme as something barely short of dishonest. It's an add-on
service that doesn't do a damn thing unless your car is already
running poorly. If you're using a name-brand fuel, you're
certainly getting an effective cleaning package in your gasoline,
and even if you're using no-name fuel, you're probably getting
an effective cleaning package in your fuel.

Sure, I buy the 4-packs of Chevron injector cleaner at Costco
for $11 and run a bottle every 1500 miles or so, but that's
almost certainly major overkill.

Unless there's actually something wrong with your car,
the $90 injector cleaning serves primarily to increase
service revenue.

Dana

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KWS - 22 Jun 2004 05:49 GMT

We have four fuel injected cars. Three of them we have had since new and
they have never had the fuel injectors "cleaned". The accumulated miles on
these cars are 168K, 144K, 104K and 55K miles. They are, respectively, a '90
Miata, '96 Chrysler Town and Country, '97 Mazda Prot?g? and '00 Audi A4. As
another poster noted: modern auto fuel apparently has cleaning agents that
ensure the only stuff going through the injectors are molecules of fuel.

If this cleaner stuff is necessary, you can't prove it by me.

Best,

Ken

> I have a 2002 Miata with 10,000mi. on it and I'm taking it in for
> routine maintenance. I called to make an appointment with the Mazda
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> Thanks,
> Ted

Reply to this Message

Ted King - 22 Jun 2004 14:12 GMT

> We have four fuel injected cars. Three of them we have had since new and
> they have never had the fuel injectors "cleaned". The accumulated miles on
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Ken

Thanks Ken (and Dana in another post) for verifying my suspicion. I had
never heard of fuel injectors as something requiring maintenance - much
less something to be cleaned at 10,000miles! I think I am going to look
into having my work done at another shop I know (run by the father of a
student of mine) that I can trust to only do what really needs to be
done.

Ted

> > I have a 2002 Miata with 10,000mi. on it and I'm taking it in for
> > routine maintenance. I called to make an appointment with the Mazda
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> > Thanks,
> > Ted

Reply to this Message

KWS - 23 Jun 2004 06:03 GMT

Finding a good mechanic that you can trust is quite a trick. Fortunately, I
found one. Unfortunately, it's me.

Ken

> > We have four fuel injected cars. Three of them we have had since new and
> > they have never had the fuel injectors "cleaned". The accumulated miles on
[quoted text clipped - 40 lines]
> > > Thanks,
> > > Ted

Reply to this Message

Pete Breemhaar - 25 Jun 2004 21:30 GMT

I think I know how you feel... whenever any mechanical problem arises, I
feel compelled to find out as specifically as I can, exactly what is wrong,
then decide if it's something I can remedy, before I even consider going to
a mechanic.
And the situation gets even more complex when you have 3 kids who have grown
accustomed to coming to 'Dad's garage' for the same reason. Consequently,
I've been doing all the regular maintenance (oil/filter changes, tune-ups,
brakes, exhaust, shocks/struts/links) on five family autos for the last 10
years.

Pete Breemhaar
Georgetown, Ontario

> Finding a good mechanic that you can trust is quite a trick. Fortunately, I
> found one. Unfortunately, it's me.
[quoted text clipped - 53 lines]
> > > > Thanks,
> > > > Ted

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