Injector Cleaner

Mozambiquer

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Mar 21, 2015
Location
Versailles Missouri
TDI
2004 VW Touareg V10 TDI, 2012 Audi Q7 V6 TDI, 1998 VW Jetta TDI. 1982 VW Rabbit pickup, 2001 VW Jetta TDI, 2005 VW Passat wagon TDI X3, 2001 VW golf TDI, 1980 VW rabbit pickup,
I put liqui-moly diesel additive in once in a while, then run diesel purge directly every 30k miles.
 

jmodge

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Location
Greenville, MI
TDI
2001 alh Jetta, RC2 w/.205's 5speed daily summer commuter and 2000 alh Jetta 5spd swap, 2" lift, hitch, stage 3 TDtuning w/.216's winter cruiser, 1996 Tacoma ALh
I run silver stanadyne for lubricant. Can’t definitively say it helps, but with the anti gels that they add in the north and the condensation from temp and humidity changes I figure it’s not going to hurt
 

Andyinchville1

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2016
Location
Virginia
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, 5 sp, 226K miles
I've been running gray bottle Powerservice every tank since I got the car....

Previous owner ran Commercially made Bio Disesel , I go the car with about 211K on it and the pump lasted until about 300K miles ( I'll have to double check that because it could have been 315K but pretty sure 300K ) ...

My new pump was installed after the first one quit and I am at 444 K miles now ..... hoping this one lasts way longer.

Andrew

PS - I also run 2 stroke oil at 1 oz per gallon
 

JohnTF

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Location
St. Paul , MN.
TDI
2003 Jetta 1.9 TDI ALH A.T. Wagon
Been around for over 68 yrs. & been in the auto , truck & heavy equipment repair for a few + decades .
Also owned many diesels , used commercial bio-diesel and went along with University studies & farmer coops to learn to make real bio-diesel .
Have used most of the long lived major brands of diesel / injection cleaners , without taking things apart & using magnification to check before & after using all of these products , what - if any difference was hardly noticeable .
So about 15+ yrs. ago , after buying my 1st commercial bio-diesel [ and knowing in advance to carry a spare fuel filter - when 1st using bio-diesel ] about 4-7 days & maybe 50-100 miles , I stop at my regular coffee shop , get back into the truck [ 1994 Dodge Ram with Cummins 5.9 ] it would not start .
So got out the spare fuel filter , installed the filter and truck started right back up and no issues .
Got rid of the truck do to rust - well actually the auto trans failed and I was not going to spend 3-4 thousand dollars for a rebuilt trans on a truck this rusted , had about 380,000 mile on truck .
From all of my experience , and what I learned about bio-diesel , it was proven to be the best cleaner --- no other cleaner ever plugged up the filter - bio-diesel cleans the entire fuel system - from fuel tank , lines , lift-pump , main pump & injectors .
This is a well known issue to be ready for when using bio-diesel in a fuel system that has run for some time on petro-diesel .
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
you are supposed to change your fuel filter every 10K miles, yea i know.. its diesel so its actually kinda makes sense. You NEVER EVER put fuel from the pump or any can or anything into the filter to fill it up. you are supposed to pull a vacuum on the fuel output of the filter to prime it so that all fuel that gets to the injectors is filtered. these filters are in the 10 to 2 micron range depending on what you get. the nictane ones are 1 to 2 micron. thats FREAKING SMALL. there is NO way you can tell if anything got into the filter and you cant guarantee that the liquid moly additive stuff isnt clean either. never FILL your filter. EVER. what you should do is put the liquid molly stuff into the from the tank line to the filter. draw a vacuum from the IP return line until its almost sucked up then put the line back together and dump the rest into your tank. this is the ONLY acceptable way to clean your nozzles unless your just dumping it into the tank.
If you added fuel to the filter from a container from the pump , you jsut damaged your IP a little and maybe the nozzles. many people have done this and many will say its no big deal but that's just old school ignorance from common sense and good practice.
 

kennethsime

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Location
California
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon GL TDI 5-Speed Baltic Green
I run a can of LiquiMoly Diesel Purge with each fuel filter change. Always makes the car feel happier.
 

kennethsime

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Location
California
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon GL TDI 5-Speed Baltic Green
Does it go right in the tank ??
No - the consensus is that if you put it straight in the tank, it gets diluted quickly and has next-to-no effect.

The method is to disconnect your fuel lines and run it straight out of a bottle instead, varrying the throttle for about 20 minutes or until it gets close to running out. The dump the rest in your filter to prime it, or the tank if you already primed the filter.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
No - the consensus is that if you put it straight in the tank, it gets diluted quickly and has next-to-no effect.

The method is to disconnect your fuel lines and run it straight out of a bottle instead, varrying the throttle for about 20 minutes or until it gets close to running out. The dump the rest in your filter to prime it, or the tank if you already primed the filter.
No. Never run anything past your filter.
You can do the same job by connecting the line to the filter to the can.
No reason to put debris into your IP and injectors.
Live and learn.
There is a reason why this is the procedure now that we have gone from the campfire and cave paintings!
 

Andyinchville1

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2016
Location
Virginia
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, 5 sp, 226K miles
Hi

I was reading with great interest as far as the pros and cons of filling a fuel filter up (or for that matter an oil filter).

A little while back, I had seen a YouTube video titled something like "never do this when doing an oil change" basically showing a picture of somebody prefilling an oil filter straight from the oil can.

To be honest it was interesting to see that video and when mongler mentioned it's application as far as fuel filters Etc it seems to make sense as far as being Ultra cautious.

Admittedly though , I have filled many a fuel and oil filter straight from the can right into the middle of the respective filter.

I can understand the potential danger of doing that but short of putting in something hard like a piece of metal or a pebble or dirt I would imagine most things are soft enough not to cause any damage if it did get put through the system without filtration first?

I do realize there is a potential danger in that but I suppose opening a brand new can of oil Etc the odds of something happening would be very minimal .... maybe bordering on non-existent?

I have to admit even after watching the YouTube video about oil filters I continue to pre-fill oil filters whenever possible because thought of a dry start is not good.

The fuel filter on our cars ... I will admit I've only filled several times myself personally.... I guess i wonder how other mechanics have worked on the car donr it previous to me .... did they prefill or vac fill?

I know there's always a slight Danger to doing anything in a non-optimal way but I guess I've been doing it that way for years until I just now learned about it being done the other way as far as either not filling an oil filter or sucking fuel through the filter via vacuum.

Andrew
 
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Stupendous60

Veteran Member
Joined
May 18, 2019
Location
.
TDI
.
Thanks John and Mongler!

Has anyone tried Seafoam?
At work we put Seafoam in every diesel in the fleet. At home all my gassers, generators and mowers get Seafoam. I currently and for about the last 10 years or so run Diesel Kleen in my TDI's but would not hesitate to Seafoam them.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
When building an engine, things like rag lint and floor dust are a serious enough offender that it must not be allowed in the build. The issue is not the dust or rag lint it's about the 10 micron sized metal dust that is on every shop floor that ever once used a grinder or file or anything with abrasives or welding that might get kicked up and land on that rag. All auto manufacturers now all have this as a standard practice in all oil and fuel procedures.
What baffles me is that some oil filters like the ones on the mk3 are at such an odd place I'm sure jm knocking crud into the air when working under the car or trying to get the filter on.
 

B100

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Location
Berkeley, Eastbania
TDI
2003 Golf
What do people see, coming through the return line, when they run a can of Diesel Purge through their IP? I helped someone do this yesterday, and the DP in the container quickly enough turned dark brown as it was cycled through the IP.
 

03TDICommuter

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2016
Location
So. Cal
TDI
01' NB, 5spd
What do people see, coming through the return line, when they run a can of Diesel Purge through their IP? I helped someone do this yesterday, and the DP in the container quickly enough turned dark brown as it was cycled through the IP.
When I did my 03' Jetta with 350K miles, the return fluid was just as clean as what was going in. Previous owner and myself only ever used pump diesel, no biodiesel. I did not notice any difference after running DP straight from the can into the IP.

I still need to give it a try on my Beetle, but I've got other issues lined up first, not to mention my broken wrist is still a problem (it's not healing up correctly).
 
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Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Should be clear. If its brown that's varnish good thing it's getting cleaned. I would inspect it for metal shavings/ pixy dust.
 

B100

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Location
Berkeley, Eastbania
TDI
2003 Golf
When I did my 03' Jetta with 350K miles, the return fluid was just as clean as what was going in. Previous owner and myself only ever used pump diesel, no biodiesel. I did not notice any difference after running DP straight from the can into the IP.

I still need to give it a try on my Beetle, but I've got other issues lined up first, not to mention my broken wrist is still a problem (it's not healing up correctly).
The person I helped only runs Biodiesel, the real stuff, no "renewable" diesel. Butt she bought the car with 200k, and so who knows what was run through before. Good points, that the return should be clear, and if it's not then good thing to be running the DP through.
 

tikal

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2001
Location
Southeast Texas
TDI
2004 Passat Wagon (chainless + 5 MT + GDE tune)
Been around for over 68 yrs. & been in the auto , truck & heavy equipment repair for a few + decades .
Also owned many diesels , used commercial bio-diesel and went along with University studies & farmer coops to learn to make real bio-diesel .
Have used most of the long lived major brands of diesel / injection cleaners , without taking things apart & using magnification to check before & after using all of these products , what - if any difference was hardly noticeable .
So about 15+ yrs. ago , after buying my 1st commercial bio-diesel [ and knowing in advance to carry a spare fuel filter - when 1st using bio-diesel ] about 4-7 days & maybe 50-100 miles , I stop at my regular coffee shop , get back into the truck [ 1994 Dodge Ram with Cummins 5.9 ] it would not start .
So got out the spare fuel filter , installed the filter and truck started right back up and no issues .
Got rid of the truck do to rust - well actually the auto trans failed and I was not going to spend 3-4 thousand dollars for a rebuilt trans on a truck this rusted , had about 380,000 mile on truck .
From all of my experience , and what I learned about bio-diesel , it was proven to be the best cleaner --- no other cleaner ever plugged up the filter - bio-diesel cleans the entire fuel system - from fuel tank , lines , lift-pump , main pump & injectors .
This is a well known issue to be ready for when using bio-diesel in a fuel system that has run for some time on petro-diesel .
This is pretty strong stuff and, in my experience, it did get close to plugging the fuel filter:

BG 245 Premium Diesel Fuel System Cleaner
 
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