How often should the injector be flushed?

Injector - part of the fuel injection system, the feature of which is the forced supply of fuel using nozzles to the cylinder or intake manifold of the internal combustion engine. The fuel supply, and hence the operation of the entire internal combustion engine, depends on the serviceability of the injectors. Due to poor-quality fuel, deposits form on the elements of the injection system over time, which interfere with a uniform and targeted fuel injection. How can you tell if the injectors are clogged?

Before talking about how often cleaning of the injection system is required, some characteristic symptoms of a contaminated injector should be noted:

• Difficulty starting the engine.
• Unstable operation of the internal combustion engine at idle and when shifting gears.
• Dips with a sharp press on the gas pedal.
• Deterioration of the dynamics of acceleration of the internal combustion engine and loss of power.
• Increased fuel consumption.
• Increased toxicity of exhaust gases.
• The appearance of detonation during acceleration due to lean mixture and an increase in temperature in the combustion chamber.
• Pops in the exhaust system.
• Rapid failure of the oxygen sensor (lambda probe) and catalytic converter.

The pollution of the nozzles becomes especially noticeable with the onset of cold weather, when the volatility of the fuel deteriorates and there are problems with starting a cold internal combustion engine.

All of the above makes injector owners worry. By their nature, injection pollution can be completely different: dust particles, grains of sand, water, and also resins of unburned fuel. Such resins oxidize over time, harden and settle tightly on the parts of the injector. That is why it is worthwhile to carry out timely flushing, which will help get rid of such unpleasant symptoms and return the engine to proper operation, especially if replacing the fuel filter did not help.

The frequency of cleaning the injector depends on the type of your car, mileage and, of course, the quality of the fuel you fill your vehicle with. But even regardless of operating conditions, flushing the injector should be done at least once a year. Usually, most motorists drive about 15-20 thousand kilometers on average per year. This mileage is just right for at least one injector cleaning.

But if most often you travel short distances or are in traffic jams for a long time, and you still refuel at all gas stations in a row, then experts recommend that all car owners clean the internal combustion engine fuel system every 10 km.

If you are faced with the symptoms of clogging listed above, then flushing the injector is definitely needed. But if there are no symptoms, then you should act on a different principle and analyze your driving style, and also, take a closer look at the behavior of your car. Remember that injectors are most often contaminated in the injector, with regard to which there is a set of recommendations:

1. Clean the injectors every 25 thousand kilometers, then their performance does not have time to decrease, and the removal of contaminants has a preventive effect.
2. If you are flushing after 30 thousand kilometers, remember that then the performance of the sprayers has already fallen by 7 percent, and fuel consumption has increased by 2 liters - removing contaminants will help to cope with the problem.
3. If the car has already traveled 50 thousand kilometers, the nozzles have lost 15 percent of their performance, and the plunger could break the seat and increase the nozzle cross section on the sprayer. then flushing will remove the dirt, but the nozzle will remain with the wrong diameter.

If you encounter symptoms similar to injector contamination, but you know for sure that the atomizers are not the problem, diagnose: fuel sediment, filter and fuel collector mesh. It turns out that we figured out how often it is necessary to flush the injector and found out that in addition to general recommendations, it is worth monitoring changes in the operation of the internal combustion engine.

Currently, there is a set of ways to clean the injector.

cleaning additives.

Adding a cleaning agent to the fuel through the gas tank, which dissolves deposits during operation. This method is suitable only in the case of a small car mileage. If the machine has been in operation for a long time and the system is suspected to be very dirty, this cleaning can only make the situation worse.

When there are a lot of contaminants, it will not be possible to completely dissolve them with the help of additives, and sprayers can become even more clogged. More deposits will get from the fuel tank to the fuel pump, which can cause it to break.

Ultrasonic cleaning.

This method of cleaning the injection, in contrast to the first, is quite complicated, and requires a visit to a car service. The ultrasonic method involves the dismantling of the nozzles, testing on the stand, immersion in an ultrasonic bath with cleaning liquid, another test, and installation in place.

Cleaning-in-place nozzle cleaning.

It is carried out using a special washing station and cleaning fluid. This method is becoming more and more popular due to its balance, safety and high efficiency. If desired, such washing can be carried out not only in the service, but also independently.

The essence of the technology is to pump a detergent into the fuel rail instead of fuel while the engine is running. This technology is applicable to both gasoline and diesel internal combustion engines, it performs well on direct and direct injection.

Flushing, acting on deposits in a warm engine, is highly effective, cleaning not only the nozzles, but also the fuel rail, the intake tract on a distributed injection.

Each car owner should not forget to periodically clean the injector from formations and deposits using special chemical cleaners. Of course, many motorists are unreasonably afraid of such tools, they consider them unsafe for internal combustion engines and other car components. In fact, all injector cleaners presented on the sales network today are completely safe for internal combustion engines.