are fuel additives harmful to your engine?

Question

there are products which claim to enhance your vehicle's mileage and performance, when added into the gas tank. do these work, and more importantly, are they harmful in the long run?

Answer 1

Leech, The trick claims in my opinion is a way for these companies to lift funds out of peoples pockets.There a two products that I'd stake my life on that are worth their weight in gold. Both are fuel injector, intake manifold,valve and combustion chamber cleaners.
#1. 3-M Fuel system cleaner
#2. Chevron fuel injector cleaner.

You can rest assured that either of these companies is not into trick snake oil stuff. I've used the Chevron product for ten years with great success. Lately, I've been using the 3-M product and I'm leaning toward it because it cleans things more thouroughly. Both of these products are avalable at your local NAPA or Car Quest auto parts stores.

Answer 2

They are not harmful to your engine. Most of the components are basically octane boosters with some additives that are supposed to help clean deposits off certain parts of the engine. I will use some oil additives when i start getting high miles on my engine but very seldom use gas additives. The only time i have used gas additives is in the winter I will add a bottle of "Heat" to my gas which will remove water and keep the fuel lines from freezing. During normal driving I usually just use the middle octane gas which gives you basically the same end result.

Answer 3

most are not, but read the back to make sure that they are O2 sensor friendly. and see if there is an expiry date on it too. I recently put a more expensive one in and the next morning my engine light was on. I bought a scanner with a display, and it told me it was my O2 sensor heat circuit was gone. Luckily I got a good used one or else it woulda cost me 250 bux for a new one. Just be careful and read the labels. I never had any trouble with STP products. usually with the more high tech stuff I have troubles. Hope this is helpful to you!

Answer 4

no usually most are recommended. like fuel injector cleaner or even octane booster. i run booster in every tank of fuel in my truck it help burns all the junk in the fuel up. i would use STP products if you can get those.

Answer 5

MOST OF THEM ARE NOT BUT YOU NEED TO READ THE BACK OF THE FUEL ADDITIVE LABEL THAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO ADD TO THE VEHICLE.

Answer 6

In my opinion none of them work.

Answer 7

Some can be

Answer 8

most no