Dealer recommended fuel system cleaner for $143

[ProdigyDude]

Took my truck in at 22k miles for the recommended 20k mile maintenance. I know I’m 2k miles over but that’s because I drove from Texas to California, then back so I wasn’t able to go in when I wanted to. Dealer recommended fuel system cleaner because of its mileage (note technician stated it would help with gas mileage). Also windshield wipers but aside from that everything was good. What are your thoughts on this?


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[Willwork4truck]

Bottle of Techron additive for what, $6.00 every couple of tanks for a month...

 

[jdefoe0424]

Amsoil has some great fuel additives out there as well. I'd recommend the performance improver for someone who has not used any Amsoil additives before, then there's the upper cylinder lubricant which will combat corrosion from ethanol and keep fuel pumps and injectors lubed and give them a longer life.

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[piening2150]

Skip it. As WW4T said, buy a couple bottles of stuff from the auto parts store and run it thru a few tanks of gas if you really feel the need, but most gas has detergent additives already. Dealers make most of their profit from service, not selling vehicles. Expect "suggestions" for unnecessary (profitable) service add-ons from pretty much every dealer's service department, every time.

 

[Bubba33]

What's the manual say. Some dealers try to upsell everything.

 

[Goatmann]

Page 552 of my owners manual states:
Indiscriminate use of fuel system cleaning agents should be avoided. Many of these materials intended for gum and varnish removal may contain active solvents or similar ingredients. These can harm fuel system gasket and diaphragm materials.

i am at 18000 miles, I run top tier shell fuel, along with 89 non ethonol fuel I splurge on at Buc-ee’s. Skip the overpriced dealer cleaning. Run a tank every month or so of some good top tier fuel.

 

[Ranger482]

That's a hard no. If you really feel compelled to add something, then the over the counter recommendations mentioned above will be much cheaper and do the same thing. In my opinion, if you run top tier gas, there should not be a need for additives.

 

[Nails]

FI service will be a good idea at 30-50k. That’s early mileage for PFI engine. Gdi on other hand yes if not every 10k depending on what engine.

 

[GearHeadJoe]

I wouldn't go with anything the dealer trying to add on....stick with the reg maint. schedule , good gas and regular oil changes lived by that code and its never failed me in 20 cars/trucks ownership

 

[brian42]

Dealer recommended fuel system cleaner because of its mileage (note technician stated it would help with gas mileage)...What are your thoughts on this?

What's the manual say. Some dealers try to upsell everything.

There is not any recommended fuel system related inspection/maintenance/cleaning in the owner's manual other than to replace the spark plugs every 100K miles.

From page 520 of the owner's manual:

Materials Added To Fuel

Besides using unleaded gasoline with the proper octane
rating, gasolines that contain detergents, corrosion and
stability additives are recommended. Using gasolines that
have these additives will help improve fuel economy, reduce
emissions, and maintain vehicle performance.

Designated TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline contains a
higher level of detergents to further aide in minimizing
engine and fuel system deposits. When available,
the usage of TOP TIER Detergent gasoline is
recommended. Visit www.toptiergas.com for a list of TOP
TIER Detergent Gasoline Retailers.

Indiscriminate use of fuel system cleaning agents should be
avoided. Many of these materials intended for gum and
varnish removal may contain active solvents or similar
ingredients. These can harm fuel system gasket and
diaphragm materials.

With my old truck I filled up wherever was cheapest and put additives in the fuel but it was a much simpler design (and a diesel).

My personal plan with this truck is to stick to Top Tier fuel (89 octane or better) and not use any additives/cleaners, especially after reading that last paragraph.

Just my .02

 

[Gen3CoupeTX]

Hard pass on that! Experience tells me the dealer needs that $140 profit much more than your engine needs that additive.

 

[Dynamite]

Service Technicians gets paid for flag hours rate so they need to sell things to do their own paycheck .
I recommend fuel additive but i think fuel injectors do an autocleaning at highway speeds on long trips.

 

[Trooper4]

Save the cleaner for the lawn mower. Modern fuels already have enough chemicals to take care of that.

 

[Snakes709]

Dont listen to the dealerships. I worked at a Mitsubishi dealership. They make their money off of service more then sales. Had a dealership try to upsell me on a **** load of things i didnt need. Brought my truck in for the tail gate recall and thats it. They asked me if i wanted the peace of mind inspection. I said no. They claimed it would void my warranty if i declined. I called them out on that. In any case my warranty was up in 1200kms so about a couple weeks worth of driving. Pick the truck up and they claimed i was over due for an oil change (i wasnt), claimed i needed an alignment (i didnt), claimed my injectors and throttle body was dirty and required cleaning. I asked them did they inspect it or are they going by a book that says that. They said inspected, so i asked them who gave them authorization to pull my intake off to inspect the throttle body, because i didnt. They back peddled like a mother ****er. Then claimed i needed a mew cabin air filter because mine was dirty and never changed. Funny thing is, i replaced it 8 days prior and discovered ram never installed a cabin air filter in the 2016’s. Asked to speak to the gm, instead they brought out the service manager who just said “we waved the fee for the inspection, you are the first person to ever complain about a free inspection”. Over $1000 in **** i didnt need.

 

[mike_ct]

its a dealer profit center. save your money.

 

[cheyfinn]

Bottle of Techron additive for what, $6.00 every couple of tanks for a month...

I do Techron once a yr' on our truck & car works wonders