injector cleaners - to use or not to use?

[hewking]

just bought xc60 d5 2012 150k milesand would like to take care of it hence questions regarding injector cleaners- are they helping or harming?
people claim that they clean various deposits also from the rubber but others claim that the cleaning process can clogg injectors as well.
Could you pls share your opinion?
my mechanic mentioned that wurtz diesel verbesserer is quite good but i forgot to usk whether for me or him

[Tannaton]

Injector cleaners like LiquiMoly diesel purge are effective on high milers but only if used when the fuel supply is interrupted and the engine is run on the cleaner in neat form for circa 30 to 60 minutes.

Any cleaner that’s added to the tank is likely a waste of money. If it was any good it would dissolve the sediment in the tank and fuel filter and then pass the lot through the HP pump and injectors - not what you want...

Generally though improvements from cleaning are marginal, Volvo do not recommend it either. If a clean cost say £100 and you got an extra 1 mpg - it will take a long time to pay back.

Hence if it’s running well, I wouldn’t bother, it won’t prolong the life of any parts.

[XC90Mk1]

Originally Posted by hewking

just bought xc60 d5 2012 150k milesand would like to take care of it hence questions regarding injector cleaners- are they helping or harming?
people claim that they clean various deposits also from the rubber but others claim that the cleaning process can clogg injectors as well.
Could you pls share your opinion?
my mechanic mentioned that wurtz diesel verbesserer is quite good but i forgot to usk whether for me or him

I can see you have asked a lot of questions regarding your car and it sounds like you really love it which is great!

My question, and the real question, is what mechanic skills and such like do you have? Your XC60 is probably the very last car that is still very easy to work on. You can change the oil yourself every 6,000 miles for way less than a tank of diesel, change the oil in the gearbox yourself, change all the filters etc etc.

The power steering fluid is also a good one.

Your list of priorities is this I would think.

1). Make sure your AUX belt and Timing belt have been changed in the last 50,000 and 100,000 miles respectively. If either of these break you no longer have a car... 😟.

2). Change the air filter, pollen filter, engine oil, filter and sump plug washer. If you have no tools and no experience but are physically fit you should be able to buy all service stuff and tools to do the job for less than the cost of the service else where.

3). Gearbox oil change. You should be able to do this yourself.

Getting basic mechanical skills dialled in will save you thousands of pounds worth of money and keep your car going a long time.

Regarding injector cleaners and the like. Personally every car I buy I shove a double shot of redex cleaner through. Redex has been going for years and years and seems well tolerated. I can smell the ‘crap’ burning of the injectors etc and see the smoke and the vehicles always drive better afterwards. That’s my personal experience only, personally I have never had an issue.

I don’t think you need to in reality, and I am not sure I would do it at 150,000. You are far better filling up with super diesel in my opinion. If you really do want to get your engine totally clean again and all systems A1 then google ‘Terra Clean’. Not something I have done but I think generally accepted as being the very best form of inlet and outlet cleaning for the engine you can do.

Then I would also change the engine oil next.

*unless you are competent mechanic I would leave the AUX belt maybe, and certainly the timing belt to a pro as these have the potential to go a little wrong.

[XC90Mk1]

Originally Posted by Tannaton

Injector cleaners like LiquiMoly diesel purge are effective on high milers but only if used when the fuel supply is interrupted and the engine is run on the cleaner in neat form for circa 30 to 60 minutes.

Any cleaner that’s added to the tank is likely a waste of money. If it was any good it would dissolve the sediment in the tank and fuel filter and then pass the lot through the HP pump and injectors - not what you want...

Generally though improvements from cleaning are marginal, Volvo do not recommend it either. If a clean cost say £100 and you got an extra 1 mpg - it will take a long time to pay back.

Hence if it’s running well, I wouldn’t bother, it won’t prolong the life of any parts.

Do you have a take on terra clean. I agree with what you say but the Terra clean does seem to have measurable improvements doesn’t it??

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by XC90Mk1

Do you have a take on terra clean. I agree with what you say but the Terra clean does seem to have measurable improvements doesn’t it??

I've not personally used Terraclean so I can't offer a view. I have some friends with big Jags and Audi's who have used it on Petrol engines (V8's etc) and the swear by it.

With LiquiMoly, I did use Diesel Purge on a 2003 XC90 I had which had 145k on it at the time and it did seem smoother and more responsive afterwards, but significant impact on MPG. I used it also on a 2007 V50 2.0D (PSA engine) which had 160k-ish and it made no noticeable difference.

I also used it on Land Rover Discovery 300 Tdi which had done north of 120k, also felt smoother but probably a 2-3 MPG improvement. However that was the earlier 300 Tdi with an entirely mechanical injection system, the common rail technologies I think are much more resilient to components ageing.

[XC90Mk1]

Originally Posted by Tannaton

I've not personally used Terraclean so I can't offer a view. I have some friends with big Jags and Audi's who have used it on Petrol engines (V8's etc) and the swear by it.

With LiquiMoly, I did use Diesel Purge on a 2003 XC90 I had which had 145k on it at the time and it did seem smoother and more responsive afterwards, but significant impact on MPG. I used it also on a 2007 V50 2.0D (PSA engine) which had 160k-ish and it made no noticeable difference.

I also used it on Land Rover Discovery 300 Tdi which had done north of 120k, also felt smoother but probably a 2-3 MPG improvement. However that was the earlier 300 Tdi with an entirely mechanical injection system, the common rail technologies I think are much more resilient to components ageing.

I used to have a 300tdi discovery and wish I never sold that! That was land rover at their very best wasn’t it!

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by XC90Mk1

I used to have a 300tdi discovery and wish I never sold that! That was land rover at their very best wasn’t it!

Yes indeed... I had two. I bought a 1996-P reg "XS" model in around 2011 which had been stood for 4 years, never been off road, a chap owned it who had a bad hip and needed something high. It was intended as a fix up and sell, I was restoring a 110 Defender at the time, but in the end I sold the Defender as it was worth a lot more but the Disco was just as capable and infinitely more comfortable. I sold that Disco not long after I got my XC90 (which I also bought to fix and sell but liked it too much) and regretted it ever since.

Then about 5 years ago I bought another 300 Tdi, one owner from new (school teacher who lived in the sticks) kept it 2 years but it had severe rust issues just about everywhere, wheel arches, sills, inner wings, floors, pillars, front panels... it would have been a full resto and I didn't have the time or the motivation.

I do miss an agricultural diesel engine that started on the first piston to hit TDC, whatever the weather...

[Kev0607]

With the mileage on your car, I wouldn't use injector cleaning products.

I'd be more tempted to use premium diesel & make sure the car is serviced regularly, particularly the fuel filter.

[Bashy]

Originally Posted by hewking

just bought xc60 d5 2012 150k milesand would like to take care of it hence questions regarding injector cleaners- are they helping or harming?
people claim that they clean various deposits also from the rubber but others claim that the cleaning process can clogg injectors as well.
Could you pls share your opinion?
my mechanic mentioned that wurtz diesel verbesserer is quite good but i forgot to usk whether for me or him

I had good results from this, its already double strength, but i doubled it again by adding it to about 1/2 a tank, i think it should have been 1 bottle to a full tank.

[hewking]

Very sound advice - a lot money can be saved on simple stuff. I could certainly do it over weekends but need to find out some reliable drive on ramps plus extra protection as i am scared of being under the car.