Routine Maintenance? Injectors?
 

Do you guys dump a bottle of fuel injector cleaner in at each oil change? I change the oil in my Protege 5 every 5,000 miles with Mobil 1 5w30. In my old SE-R and Maxima, I'd do the same and dump a bottle of injector cleaner in at the oil change. In 85k on the Maxima, I never had an injector problem. However, with the SE-R, the SR20DE engine was sensative to injector cleaners so I didn't add any. No problems with the injectors in that engine either.

I know that modern gas has injector cleaners, to some extent. I just am curious if the injectors in the 2.0 Mazda engine are sensative to injector cleaner?

Thanks,
Curt B. Shumaker

I believe the manual says NOT to put in fuel injector cleaners. Take a look and check it out.

I have already done that. Think about it----if Mazda actually made an injector cleaner with their name on it, you KNOW they would endorse it. That thought is consistant with Nissan and Toyotas approach. I was just curious if anyone strayed from Mazdas thoughts and did something on their own---much like I did with my Nissan products which now have more than 100k on them without a problem. Lucky? I doubt it. I think it's a product of good maint.

Curt B. Shumaker

I also use intake and fuel injector cleaner, but not the OTC stuff. My local Honda dealer carries (IMO) the best fuel injector clear and oil additive on the market. A little pricey, but I've had some of the best running / problem-free cars out of anyone I've known.

Look for:

BG's 44K (fuel injector cleaner)
BG's MOA (motor oil additive)

Expect about $10 a piece. I add one can of 44K every 15K miles and 1 can of MOA every other oil change. Look into them!

DON"T USE IT!!! If the manual says no...that is your answer. A company is not going to jeopardize its products by recomending or in this case, not recomending a product. As you said yourself, if Mazda wanted us to use it, they would make it themselves. Our engines, although old in design, can handle much more abuse and a more liberal maintence schedule because they are designed that way. I used fuel injector cleaner ONCE in my 2003 p5 thinking I knew better, and boy was I wrong. My car wouldn't start for 15 minutes the next day. Then POOF*, nice blue smoke from flooding my engine and wear on my starter. Same with octane ratings. Our cars are made to run on 87 octane. Not that 93 is a big jump but it contains certain additives and detergents in some cases which may cause harm to our cars. Just because there are products in the after market that make certain claims, do not mean they are good to use. I learned the hard way. I work for a car company and believe me, with the warranty costs and goodwill that can pile up these days, manufacturers are very specific when it comes to car care. Just follow your manual and you will experience longevity. We all own a great little car. One of the few left that is truly Japenese and built to last. Now with the Mazda 3 sharing so many Ford Focus components, it is left to be seen...we shall see... : (

I talked to one of the Mazda techs when I bought my car and he siad that he is not sure, but they put it on all of their manuals to cover their own ass. He did say that in some GMC & Oldsmobile cars he has noticed that the seal on the injectors deteriorating from the use of injector cleaner. (It is a Mazda/GMC/Olds Dealer)
He has been a Mazda tech for 14 years and seems pretty knowledgable. Damn domestic cars. I also used injector cleaner in my 96' 626 and never had any problems (at 110,000 miles).

I won't use it if the manual says not to. Another good thing to do is use the same brand oil. Don't experiment. The car gets used to certain things over time(internaly) and is best not to change them. Also, you'll never have to guess if something is wrong because you did something different than usual.