Redex - Experience of its use on older cars

[Cartez]

My car will be 16 years old in March and I was considering using Redex. The engine is a 3.2 litre V6 petrol. Any good/bad experiences of its use out there?

 

[PobodY]

What are you trying to achieve with it? - Just concerned that the engine might be a little coked-up, or have you got problems with emissions etc?

I'm of the "if it aint broke, don't fix it" school, but if it's not running like it should sometimes a fuel additive does help. - Generally I just spray everything with throttle body cleaner, and that seems to shift any build-up.

 

[TheFoX]

I used Redex in a Yamaha RD125LC donkey's years ago, and that probably saved the engine when the oil tank ran dry, but that was a two stroke engine.

To be honest, fuel additives are somewhat a grey area, with some saying they work and others saying they don't.

You could try adding Redex to a couple of fill ups and then running a few fill ups with just petrol to see if that improves MPG.

 

[Steve260E]

I reckon you could use it and feel no difference what so ever, unless your engine is running slightly rough it may improve something but I think of all the fuel system treatments that is probably the most mainstream.

The best treatment I have been told by a few people in the trade is "Forte" I have used it a number of times albeit on diesels but it really does do its job in cleaning injectors.

As others have said, you can add your Redex and it will do no harm but you probably will not notice a difference.

 

[markjay]

I have been using Redex regularly (i.e with each tankful) for over 10 years on several vehicles and I can highly recommend it.

On a Vauxhall Omega V6, when removing the injectors rail at 40,000 miles, the injectors and other metal parts had a clean and shiny look, with no deposits or staining.

On the Merc however I no longer use manually-added Fuel Additives, instead I use Shell V-Power which already contains the required additives (detergents etc). It is much easier then messing with an additive bottle at the pump.

So you could choose to use Redex (or other additives e.g. Millers, Forte, etc), or use premium fuels instead (Shell V-Power, BP Ultimate, etc). And you can do this every time you fill up, or just once in every few tankfuls.

But either way, my experience is use of the right fuel or right additives will help keep the upper part on the engine clean - intake system, injectors and intake valves etc.

 

[markjay]

Also, if your engine currently suffers from dirty injectors or intake valves (carbon deposits, gum/varnish, etc), then regular use of fuel additives or premium fuels will clean it up over time.

It will take time, and it will not be a miracle cure (i.e. if the engine is very dirty already it won't remove all of the deposits), but you will feel improvement eventually.

This will manifest itself in mpg and general smoothness.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

I'd be wary of using additives on an older car if they had never been used before.

Say your engine is a bit dirty, could it be possible that a sudden introduction of detergent could dislodge some particles which then go on to clog injectors etc?

 

[trapperjohn]

My company car - OK odd job car - is a Citroen, Xsara Picasso 2.0D (something has to do the dirty work and it aint my S124)

175K on the clock had it since Feb, done 9000 miles, and put Millers Diesel Additive in it (when I remember) and Asda or Sainsbuds finest dirty diesel. No untoward effects on the engine as far as I am aware by using additives as and when I remember. MPG has it risen since I have started using it? who knows. Computer says average consumption is now 1 MPG higher than when I bought it, but that could be because I drive like a granny.

Pays your money and takes your pick.

 

[markjay]

I'd be wary of using additives on an older car if they had never been used before.

Say your engine is a bit dirty, could it be possible that a sudden introduction of detergent could dislodge some particles which then go on to clog injectors etc?

This is a common concern when it comes to engine oil flush, but as far as I am aware this is not really an issue with fuel additives.

The main risk with fuel additives is adding too much, which can result in too high concentration and damage to lambda/oxygen sensors etc.

 

[optimusprime]

I can say that as an older driver ,and user , that these cleaners have been about for a long time. My only info i can put to it is, that i use nothing but RED X in my tank. Reason is my friend had one of these Austin 1800 land crab .It was missing bad . My friend gave it the RED X treatment time and time again.So the problem was still with the car missing bad. So he pulled the head off .Well if that head was in a shop for sale ,then you would say it was brand new , inside only .It was as clean as a new pin.So that made my mind up there and then .Redex was for me..And i use it now in my engines .The 1800 head gasket had blown .So replaced it and it ran well after..

 

[Yugguy]

Burnt out the valve seats on my Dad's old Morris Marina.

 

[hotrodder]

FWIW never poured any snake oil in the engine or the fuel tank of any car i've owned. Had the current s124 since late 2008, had done 178k miles when i bought it now on 215k ish. It's fed supermarket fuel most of the time, usually Sainsburies super unleaded as it's cheaper than marketing hyped regular unleaded round my way. Aside from the time it had a dead coolant temp sensor it's always sailed through MOT emissions recording CO in the ballpark of 0.005 to 0.009% for the natural idle test with it's origional 23 year old cat. All i do is service it by the book, give it a regular caning and avoid short trips i.e. if i need to make a 2 mile trip for something that can't wait i'll take the long way home so it gets a proper run

 

[PobodY]

There isn't really any harm in these kinds of cleaners; it's the octane boosters that are snake oil. - I did the maths once; even if you're putting something like 160RON in, the dilution factor takes it back down to less than premium unleaded.

When you look carefully, they don't claim to boost the octane rating of your fuel by 5RON (for example); it's 5 points (i.e. 0.50RON).

 

[190]

For many years I've used an upper cylinder lubricant in the form of ashless 2 stoke oil as a fuel additive dosed at 1 part in 650. It genuinely has cleaned up the combustion chambers on my 38 year old motorcycle and eliminated some mild pinging .

Arguably it should already be in the fuel at the pump.

 

[David404]

My last car was a Saab 95 1.9TiD, on tickover it was really rough, also in the early days of ownership I had DPF issues. After replacing the DPF, Turbo (leaky oil seals) and the EGR valve (£ don't ask) it was still ticking over rough.

Started using Shell V Power (now Nirto+) and the rough tickover vanished almost immediately. I' stuck with the Shell super derv from that day on. I now run the E320 exclusively on this, yes it is about 10p litre more but for me its not a deal breaker and easier then fiddling with self added additives.

Am sure the BP super fuels are just as good, I went for the Shell Derv as its said to contain a % of synthetic Derv that naturally burns cleaner.

 

[Cartez]

This looks like a good thing to try!

 

[John Jones Jr]

My car will be 16 years old in March and I was considering using Redex. The engine is a 3.2 litre V6 petrol. Any good/bad experiences of its use out there?

It won't do any harm, in actual fact all it can do is improve engine operation. What is important is how you use the car after adding any type of fuel system cleanser.

From my experience with both my cars and our vans (urban use mainly) over the years is to add a 300ml bottle to a 1/4 tank and drive at high'ish rev's at a constant speed for twenty miles with some WOT blasts every now and again.

I'm a devotee of https://www.dipetane.com/

 

[rifiki]

Are these fuel additives mostly kerosene?

 

[190]

Are these fuel additives mostly kerosene?

They may well be.

My experience has been that it's only the detergent content that does any good. Generally I ignore claims that MPG improves. A statement like MPG improves by up to 10% has to be a joke and for me immediately labels the stuff as snake oil. If 10% was genuinely possible it would already be in the premium quality fuels.

I use TCW3 2 stroke oil in my old motorcycle because it's a dirt cheap way of adding the detergents compared to expensive proprietary products.

 

[zipdip]

We used to mix a little kerosene in the trucks it made a hotter burn,as for additives,I have used two stroke synthetic oil in my diesel,I use a old Red X container and measure it out of the 5 litre can which costs around £15 makes for a very good very cheap additive,lubes the engine