I personally wouldn’t run Seafoam through a modern turbo/DI engine…. If I thought I needed some cleaning, I think a bottle of Techron would be a better bet. But that’s just me…

 

Yeah, just toss a bottle of Techron in your gas tank. I have been using this on my kid's Subaru every 20k miles before an oil change. I didn't bother with my last BMW doing this.

I think seafoam was good back in the carb days

 

I have basically used only Chevron with Techron in my Alfas, and have never ever had a dirty injector problem. If I cannot find Chevron, I maybe buy the small can of Techron to add at a filling.

I don't know about other cleaners. I'm sure, though, that there are other cleaners which may work, although I suspect some of the older "heritage" brands are not as effective for modern engines.

 

I agree with the others, Techron or like product in front of oil change is sufficient. In additional to Techron, I've used BG 44K Platinum and in front of my next oil change plan to use Red Line 60103 SI-1 likely rotating among these three which others here have used. My thought process here is similar to laundry detergents. All the top products work well, one might be better (EDIT) for whites, another for colors or third on tough stains that might be too strong for regular use.

My dealer at both 30K and 40K service have recommended an ethanol treatment similar to the fuel system cleaner however it's unclear what the product is. Is it likely tuneup in a bottle, probably but I am in CA, we have our own gas blend and might just do it. The 40K is coming up and I might just do it, I'm fairly certain the lessee who had the car for the 1st 25K miles did not do any of these treatments and the before and after my 1st techron was really noticeable

 

Techron would be a better bet. But that’s just me…

the before and after my 1st techron was really noticeable

I may just try a bottle on my new purchase as well.... We have 93 octane here in Texas but it still has ethanol in it.

 

I don't think that if there is ethanol in the gas, that is affected by the addition of a cleaner such as Techron, since it's for a different purpose, keeping the injectors clean, etc.

We in WA State also have ethanol, and as far as I'm concerned it means nothing except a little worse fuel mileage. No real effect otherwise. It's just a subsidized addition for the farmers.

I also would guess that using a cleaner takes more than a one time use if the system is filthy, from using lower cost fuel without cleaners for a very long time.

 

Don’t gasolines for different brands often come from the same refinery? And don’t they all claim to have a proprietary formula to clean and protect engines?l

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Oh, I'm sure they do, and that's fine. My experience is with Techron, that's all. People use whatever makes them happy.

 

Fuel tank additives dont address the issue of 'intake carbonisation' in direct injection engines. I assume thats why people use the CRC spray.

 

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Given how long these 2.0 engines have been in production, I surprised there hasn't been enough history to form a consensus on cleaners for the fuel system, DI ports and or ethanol related. Is the integrated nature of the engine such that it's never ever taken apart where there you can visually inspect the ports or other areas that would normally require some cleaning? This all seems very black box with only anecdotal evidence that fuel system cleaners are working seems really strange in 2025

Is there a maintenance item down the road at 50-60K that address this? Some diagnostic data from the computer that indicates your fuel system/DI ports is or is NOT clean?

 

See below, multiple states in the US produce oil, that oil is piped to gas refining infrastructure that's mostly in the middle of the country, North Dakota south to Texas. The far and away largest capacity is in the Houston gulf coast, CA has their own for their own gas formulations, one each for summer, winter. There's refining capacity near the Canadian border in Washington and North Dakota, the former's refiners is connected via pipeline to Canadian + North Dakota oil and who supplies Oregon with their gas. I suspect the 92 is to accommodate different types of oil coming from both Canada and North Dakota. Did you notice Maine, they get their gas from Canada as there is refining capacity just over the north east border in New Brunswick.

Somewhere along the supply chain when the generic gasoline becomes property/designated "Chevron's, Shell's, etc" is where detergents ares added. Exactly when would depend on things like the brand, how much scale or not they have in the local region and how close or far you are from a large urban area. Basically the soonest would be a regional supply depot, then when loaded onto a truck, the latest would be at the actual station as trucks refill stations tanks. In the case of Exxon who is fully-integrated meaning they pull oil out of the ground, refine it and sell gasoline wholesale and retail, they don't add their proprietary detergent blend till the very end at the station which allows them to optionality to sell their gas wholesale to anyone potentially at greater profit vs their selling it at their own retail network.

I suspect in the SF Bay Area, Exxon are the swing supplier of wholesale gas to Costco when they deal with demand spikes. Exxon does not have a large retail footprint here, but they do have a station on a weekly route I drive, not Costco inexpensive but among the Top Tier are 3-5% less than Shell/Chevron. At times their premium tanks are "out of gas" which you see no where else among the majors. Costco does everything at scale and via 3rd parties so wherever upstream their largest storage depots are that's likely where their detergents are added.