Before getting into detail I will be upfront - I have a bias towards trusting the engineers that designed your vehicle because they have a much more intimate knowledge of how it works than you or I will ever have. You are buying this vehicle because, amongst other reasons, you trust it will be reliable - and it is those engineers who are tasked with making it reliable.lou from ny wrote:hello,
i have a 2009 rogue sl. i've never added anyting to the car that wasn't approved, but since the vehicle is getting older, maybe it's time and i'd like some suggestions.
for my motorcycle i'd always add a product called sea foam to the fuel as a fuel injection cleaner / general gunk remover. I grew up on marvel mystery oil in all my cars, and there are always some who love and some who hate these products. with new technology in cars today i'm wondering if the additives in gas are enough or if I should add some sort of product to the crankcase or gas tank to keep things running factory new.
i'd also like to ask about dry gas. again, this was always something dad did a few times during the year, but of course in winter. as we are preparing for near record lows in NYC this weekend, i'd like some input from the experts here.
thanks for looking and sharing your wisdom.
lou
That said, some feel there is a hole in the manufacturer's maintenance schedule is around the cleaning of parts that will naturally get dirty because they are a part of an internal combustion engine. Nowhere in our manual are we given timelines for cleaning throttle body, fuel injectors, etc. yet it seems reasonable to think that these parts will become dirty and eventually, dirty to the point of not performing as designed. It seems, to me, that we are left to fix these parts when they are dirty enough to cause a noticeable problem (either through your opinion or a check engine light). But, perhaps it is acknowledged that during normal use, these parts will not degrade to the point of a performance difference. Perhaps these are extreme cases, or cases that require 120K miles.
You are talking about using a fuel injector cleaner - the service sold by the dealership will (or should) be a little more thorough than the service you are doing. While they will most likely still add a treatment to the fuel tank, they will also hook a mixture up to your fuel system directly (essentially stopping your fuel pump to feed it their mixture). Then, they will typically clean the throttle body. I just want to be a little upfront - the are (or should be) doing more than using a $10 can of Seafoam.
I would personally hesitate to put anything in the car unless you suspect it is not running properly. I trust the engineers that designed my car and if my vehicle requires something, it's in the manual. Just like the coolant flush, brake fluid flush, etc. is. Modern cars do not have the same problems older vehicle did, and there are a lot more sensors in place to detect these problems. The challenge with this is you are waiting for a problem, rather than being proactive.