Customer Reviews

Red Line 60103 SI-1 Fuel System Cleaner - 15 oz.

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Short version:

Among all fuel system cleaners I'm aware of, Redline SI-1 contains the highest quantity per dollar (based on manufacturer MSDS) of the critical fuel-system-cleaning compounds known as polyether amines (PEA). Primarily for this reason I believe SI-1 to be the best available and most cost-effective fuel system cleaner product at retail pricing. [...].

In my case it has not been necessary to use Redline's recommended quantity of approximately 3 oz per fill-up. The effects of 1 oz per fill-up are indistinguishable in terms of tested results (see my basis for this statement below). This results in an approximate cost of $0.35/tank or less than a tenth of a penny per mile. A full case at this usage rate is enough to treat 180 full tanks of fuel or to last approximately 80,000 miles. (Figures based 15gal/tank, 25-35mpg).


Long version:

As far as I know, every effective fuel system cleaner on the market uses a class of compounds known as polyether amines (PEA), in varying proportions, to effectively clean deposits from fuel system components, and particularly from fuel injectors, which can quickly impact engine efficiency and performance when not operating correctly. My understanding is that these compounds were first developed by Chevron and sold under the Techron name, and have since been made available to other blenders of fuel treatment products. Until recently BG 44K, Chevron Techron Concentrate, Gumout Regane Fuel System Cleaner, Amsoil P.I. Performance Improver Concentrate, and Redline SI-1 (among others) listed polyether amines on their Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) in proportions varying from approximately 25% to 50%. Most of these products no longer list PEA on their MSDS, having changed their terminology to disguise the precise nature of their products' constituent components. Whether PEA is still contained in those products is a matter of uncertainty. As of this writing Redline's SI-1 MSDS still specifies that the product contains 30-50% PEA. Consequently it is one of the few remaining fuel system cleaner products that undoubtedly does contain PEA in significant quantity.

I have been able to test the efficacy of fuel system cleaners in one of my own vehicles using a method I stumbled on after having its injectors professionally cleaned while out of the vehicle. The car in question uses a Bosch engine management system that reports fuel injector data to an on-board computer, which then uses that data to calculate and report instantaneous and average mpg to the driver. I noted after the professional cleaning that the accuracy of the reported mpg, when used to measure average mpg over each full tank of fuel, improved suddenly from a prior error of around -3% - -5% (that is, the reported mpg was ~3-5% below the actual mpg, or typically just over 1mpg low) to an error as close to zero as I could measure (that is, usually between -1% and 1%, fluctuating above and below a perfect "match"). This can be explained on the basis that the engine management system will compensate for a dirty injector by holding the injectors open slightly longer during each combustion cycle, in order to admit the proper amount of fuel. The on-board computer interprets that as a slightly higher rate of fuel consumption, reporting a lower-than-actual mpg figure.

After several thousand miles - not long - the perfect mpg accuracy I'd noticed began to deteriorate, likely indicating that the cleaned injectors were beginning to suffer from some sort of renewed impedance to fuel flow. Out of a desire to retain near-perfect injector performance, and also out of curiosity, I started experimenting with various commercially-available fuel system cleaners and keeping records of the results at each fill-up.

Leaving out the long details, I'll simply say here that the results were surprisingly clear and unambiguous. Each time I went several tanks without using a fuel system cleaner (usually as a result of simply forgetting to use it or not taking the trouble), the on-board computer (OBC) accuracy would deteriorate. This would fluctuate from tank to tank, of course, as a result of inevitable measurement errors, but the trend was very clear even over a small number of fill-ups. Returning to the use of a fuel system cleaner (Chevron Techron Concentrate, Gumout Regane or SI-1, all of which at the time did contain PEA), the accuracy would improve again very quickly - within 2-3 fill-ups. I began using the SI-1 exclusively seven months ago based on its apparent cost-effectiveness and since then I have reduced the quantity I use in each tank to the current 1oz per ~15gal fill-up. The results remain unambiguous. If I use this small amount of SI-1 consistently, the accuracy of the on-board computer is excellent, with an average error of below 1%, or a fraction the error rate seen when not using such a product.

Based on the above I feel I can confidently conclude that SI-1 works very well, even at reduced treatment rates, at keeping fuel injectors clean. Fuel system types and injectors will vary, and other parts of the fuel system - for example intake valves and combustion chambers - might benefit from higher treatment rates (or, conceivably, might not benefit at all). Actual engine efficiency will not vary nearly as much as injector cleanliness, since the engine feedback system normally corrects for imperfect injector flow rates. However, as the flow is more greatly impeded, or impeded differentially among the individual injectors, mpg will be affected to some degree. I feel it is well worth the tiny cost to consistently use a small quantity of SI-1. Other benefits, such as to combustion efficiency as a result of combustion chamber cleanliness, to volumetric efficiency as a result of intake valve cleanliness, and to fuel system lubrication, probably exist as well although I can not evaluate them and have not attempted to do so. Other fuel system cleaners may work as effectively, or nearly as effectively, but I do not believe them to be as good in terms of value per dollar spent.

In my experimentation I did try some less expensive fuel system cleaners, those not containing PEA. They appeared to have no effect. I can not categorically state that only PEA-containing fuel system cleaners work, of course, but my observations did match the conventional wisdom on this point. I also experimented with using top-tier fuels only, without any additional fuel system cleaners. The results were the same as when using non-detergent (Costco and others) fuels. I don't doubt that top tier fuels contain small amounts of cleaners and will keep a fuel system functionally and acceptably clean, but the quantities involved are reputed to be tiny and my observations seem to indicate that even a small amount of additional additive is far more effective.

My '06 Civic SI has about 40,000 miles on it. It had been getting around 22 mpg (mostly city driving) but even with long distance freeway driving (around 75mph) I'd only get about 23 mpg. I usually use Chevron or Shell gas. I also have used Techron fuel cleaner in the past with no results.

So I used Red Line SI-1 a few tanks ago, and my gas mileage has increased to about 26 mpg for my last few tanks. Right now I'm at 318 miles on one tank of gas, and i have one bar left on my fuel gauge (it's digital). Prior to the Red Line the best I'd ever gotten was 312 on one tank of gas, and that was after driving the ENTIRE tank on the freeway, and driving 10 miles with no bars left on the fuel gauge. Typically I would get 250-270 miles on one tank.

I'm stoked!

I will admit that using this stuff ain't going to do anything to help you if your injectors aren't clogged... but if you suspect they are, this is the fuel cleaner to get!

I belong to an online forum of Colorado owners (coloradofans.com) and created a poll to see which fuel system cleaner the members liked best. This one did very well, so I tried it and I like the results. I have poured a bottle in the tank prior to every oil change recently.

I also like Techron, because it seems to give me a smoother idle over each tank of gas. Redline seems to bring out the raw power of my engine though.

I am not a mechanic, but it seems to work for me.

I can echo what Glenn said in his review. I started using fi cleaners back in the early 80's. A new Volvo 242 I had purchased new was starting to perform sluggishly. Another owner recommended a fi cleaner which I tried and it worked pretty well. Over the past 28 years I've tried just about everything on the market. Some worked well, others didn't. The Red Line SI-1 works better than the others I've tried. The BG cleaner works well too, but at three times the cost.

Ok so I've tried a handful of fuel system cleaners over the years and the last being Chevron Techron after researching it years ago. The car would typically feel good for that tank, and nothing more but I figured it helped since sometime I would have to put Circle K gas in my car or from stations where you could tell that you were going to get some water with your gas since they were so old.

Anyway on a cross country trip in my friends Volvo with 101k miles in it the throttle started to stick and I realized it was a drive by wire car so it wasn't a cable issue. Plus the car was pinging (my uncar savvy friends response was that sound was the noise the fan makes..) like mad so I inquired to what gas this little turbo was running... Response- Regular! and to makes things worse the last 50k miles the poor thing has been running regular and pinging!!! ahahahahaha So Instant pull into a filling station to fill up the tank with super 91 (in that part of the country). The car is still pinging even after 2 tanks of super, so I remember some motorcycle discussions about Seafoam and I pick a bottle up for some stupid $18 amount in the middle of no where gas station, but the car needs something and the throttle is running (researched this later that the throttle body was dirty). The Seafoam immediately helped but the car still pinged through 4 more tanks of super, and worse the throttle was staying stuck slightly the rest of the trip home which made going down hills interesting to say the least with an automatic (can you smell the brake pads?)

So after a trip to the dealer to inquire about Throttle body cleaning and getting a $140 quote and they won't even pull it off to clean it? I started researching and found this Red Line Product... I've done enough motorcycle road racing to know that certain builders will only use Redline products for their motors and so I know it would be good, but I wasn't expecting to find out that 1oz of this stuff has more than a whole bottle of the Chevron Techron.

So Dump a bottle in the offending Volvo, and also one in my Honda Element with 63k miles and both cars drove like a bat out of hell while the full bottle was in each tank, but I expected that as most cleaners have some octane boosters to make you feel like you got your monies worth.
What I wasn't expecting was that my Exhaust in my Honda was rattling around and the car rattled at stoplights and didn't rev out as smoothly. I just figured it needed plugs and a tune up as I had put 63k miles on it myself... but seriously the exhaust pipe didn't rattle, it revs better than new (probably thanks to the synthetic oil I've been running since after breakin) and I'm getting about 1mpg better and I'm actually putting my food into it more... I'm completely blown away!

The Volvo sticking throttle is cured! and more importantly the engine doesn't ping at all with 91 super like it should! The seafoam might have helped but after seeing the online comparisons of motors fuel systems being torn apart before and after by 'USERS' not "As Seen On TV" infomercials I was confident this wasn't snake oil.

I will be periodically be adding the 1oz a tank as suggested instead of buying whole bottles of other products!

Being a big fan of Red Line products, I was hoping for a big night and day transformation of my 1997 Toyota Camry. Sadly, it just didn't happen. I didn't want to give it 5 stars as I just didn't notice anything, but, I didn't want to give it 1 star as I trust Red Line in their products. My guess for the lack of difference is probably in the fact that I only use name brand gasoline. I figure that the better quality fuels probably have enough detergents in them now a days as to not really require a heavy cleaning. Perhaps if I were more negligent in the upkeep of my car I would have seen a more noticeable bump in performance.

I first tried this in my Honda Accord and I noticed no change in performance or mileage. It was already running just fine but with 110k miles on it I figured it couldn't hurt. When I added the Red Line to my gas can and put it in my lawn mower after just a few minutes it started running much smoother. Same thing in my snow blower. In getting it ready for the season, after I finally got it started and ran it for a while it smoothed out considerably. When I tried to start it the following weekend it started first pull.

I ran a number of tests before writing this review, because my results are very different from the reviews typical for this product and I wanted to be sure of what I was seeing.

I have a '99 Nissan Altima with the 2.4L gas engine; The car is in good repair and performs within specifications. I buy gas at the same place all the time (Costco Canada) and the fuel quality is consistent. Based on the reviews written here, I purchased a case of this product to see if I could get better fuel economy, following the logic (again from the reviews here) that Costco likely doesn't put any additives/detergents in their gas, to keep costs down. Cases were on sale at the time, and I paid much less (68$) than the current price (107$).

If I put anything near a half bottle in a full tank of regular gas, my car idles rough and runs on (sometimes called "dieseling"). The label suggests using a full bottle at a time. I have used fuel injector cleaners before, and never seen anything even remotely like this. It was so unbelievable I ran the tank out completely and repeated the experiment just to be sure. The problem disappears on "straight" gas, or if there's a trivial amount of the additive left (a 3/4 tank fill up is enough to dilute a tank with a half bottle in it). Either way, adding more than 2-3oz per fill up (I have a 60L tank) has a very detrimental effect. An alternate "continuous use" method suggests using 1 bottle/100 gallons gas, which seems consistent with my findings.

Unless the gas in your area is very bad, I'm not sure this product is worthwhile. Considering what it costs now, if the gas in your area is bad enough, it would probably be cheaper and more effective (in my opinion) to change your fuel filter every couple of months.

UPDATE -- I've since purchased a 2007 Mazda 3 and I've seen the same mediocre results with this product. It's very possible that gas in my area already has an appropriate amount of the same active ingredient(s), and the same may be true in your area.

I have a 07 civic si when my gas tank was running low I dumped a bottle of this and filled up with gas. I ran the entire tank and I honestly felt no difference. The car runs exactly the same as it did before using this redline product. I didn't give it a low rating because it might work for people that have older high mileage cars but I also didn't give it a high rating because it did nothing to my car.

I bought this because of its high percentage of concentrated detergent ingredient. I get my gas from a gas station where Top Tier 100% pure gasoline is sold.
Maybe I did not need an extra fuel treatment but for peace of mind I used it.

From among Redline products I also use D4 ATF.

I have yet to do more MPG per tank calculations but the first calculation showed me that Redline fuel treatment has not added any MPG. With the treatment I got the exact same mileage I used to get without it. All other conditions being equal.

I bought another bottle to try on our van. I hope to be able to get better mileage with it there.

Even if I do not get higher MPG, I would not regret using it as a great cleaner. We do not even know now if Chevron Techron fuel treatment includes that specific detergent or not. No mention of it in the product data sheet.

Does anyone know what 'pollution control valve' is in a car? Because here and on redline website it says 'Cleans pollution control valves'. As far as I know there is no such thing in any vehicle. If they mean PCV-positive crankcase valve, even then this is problematic since no cleaning can revive a dead PCV. It needs to be replaced and in many applications the price of replacing it is a few dollars at most. Anyone knows what redline and amazon mean by 'cleaning pollution control valves' ?