If you're the type of person who cares about the health of your car's engine, you likely use high-quality, brand-name gasoline. The detergents in that gasoline are responsible for keeping injectors clean and removing harmful deposits. But they might not be doing enough, according to one expert.
Lake Speed Jr. of The Motor Oil Geek YouTube channel explains that while "Top Tier" gasoline from brands like Shell, Mobil, Chevron, and Sunoco helps to keep deposits down and injectors healthy, adding a bottle of purpose-made fuel detergent to your tank every few thousand miles can do much more of both.
This detergent is responsible for ensuring your injectors work properly, without any faults or blockage in the spray nozzles. If your car uses port injection, the detergents can also help to clean intake tunnels and valves, removing carbon deposits that, if left untreated, could decrease performance and efficiency.
If you think fuel detergent is a waste of money, think about it this way: One bottle of detergent costs about $13. If you add a bottle to your car's gas tank every 3,000 miles, that means it would only cost you about four cents per mile. For that extra peace of mind, we'd say that's worth it.
Speed Jr. says the easiest way to remember when to add detergent is to do it whenever you perform an oil change. So long as you're running high-quality, brand-name gasoline, you won't need to do it very often.
