This is a question we get asked regularly and we feel the need to clarify. It’s also a topic we discussed at length with the managing Director of www.powerenhancer.co.uk, a company with a no-nonense attitude that has gained our respect. As such, we have quoted what they had to say on the matter.

From all our experience and testing we have yet to find a commercial fuel-based engine cleaning product that has resulted in any form of short, medium or long term damage to a fuel system or engine. Sure, there are many products that are useless and don’t deliver as promised but the main commercial ones we have tested are at least totally benign to an engine, including those with superchargers or turbo chargers.

Please note that this is not a licence for you to put any old rubbish in your fuel tank! With BG being the largest and most respected producer of vehicle based chemicals in the United States for many years, and after selling hundreds of thousands of cleaners throughout the trade whilst working directly with manufactures such as VW and Audi, we have yet to hear of any damage of any kind.

This core ingredient of BG cleaners, PEA (Polyether-amine) is proven and documented by the Worldwide Fuel Charter to be the only chemistry proven to safely remove carbon from within a combustion engine. Providing the recommend dosages are not seriously abused our cleaners are no more dangerous than putting gasoline (or diesel for diesel engines) in the fuel tank.

So why does my main dealer and car manual insist on no fuel additives?

This is down to a combination of draconian thinking and commercial protection. Firstly and unlike in the US, manufactures (fronted through their main dealers) have a vested interest in maintaining a “replace with new policy”. For example, if a main dealer plugs in their diagnostics computer and it registers a faulty diesel fuel pump or faulty injectors then they must advise the customer that they require a new pump or injectors.

We have seen bill for almost £3000 to supply and fit 4 new diesel injectors from one of our customers! The fact that injectors and pumps can be reconditioned or that a good quality cleaner will 95% of the time resolve the problem is irrelevant. Main dealers have little choice and they risk falling out of favour with the manufacture or worse, losing their franchise if they deviate from the “replace with new” policy. If you accidently put a stain on the carpet would just replace the carpet without trying to clean it first?

Secondly, UK based manufacturers and dealers are protecting themselves from customers that may foolishly put a harmful substance in the fuel tank, i.e. bleach (and we’re not joking) or putting fuel additives in with the oil or visa-versa. Hence, a straight forward “no additives” policy.

It also doesn’t help that the taboo surrounding oil additives has had a significant but negative impact on the use of fuel based additives in the UK.

So why is it different in the United States?

Unlike in the UK, the US main dealers have a strong influence over the manufactures. In many cases it is the main dealer that will call the shots. Unfortunately in the UK it is quite the opposite although we are starting to witness some change with manufacturers (such as VW/Audi) using BG direct to provide additive based solutions for their vehicles. It’s just that the cans are labelled VW even though they are BG products.

Many main dealers in the US use BG 44K, BG 244 and other BG products as part of routine servicing and have been doing so for some time with great success as have our UK-based customers who have tried and continue to use BG products.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you require any further advice.

The FuelTechExperts Team

There has been a lot of talk on the web and amongst garages & tuners about the BG range of products and services; in particular, BG 44K for petrol and the new BG 244 for diesel. There is no doubt that BG Products Inc is not only a well established organisation but their reputation is reportedly huge in the US.

Remarkably, their products are so well respected that many manufactures and dealers now use them as part of routine servicing. For example, you could take your Lexus to your local dealer and find that a can of BG44K makes its way in to the tank to clean the entire fuel system and remove all carbon build-up, in addition to the normal scheduled service.

So, what exactly are BG44K and BG244? Well, the following is taken from the website www.powerenhancer.co.uk and explains more about the product:

“This patent-protected, modern treatment, which is simply added to a full tank of petrol, safely cleans away accumulated deposits in parts of the engine fuel system (including injectors) and from the intake components, intake valves and combustion chambers.

Gone are £100+ garage bills to remove and clean petrol or diesel fuel injectors, or worse, authorised dealers telling you your vehicle requires new injectors with some repair bills running well into four figures. Gone is the need to tear down engines to remove built-up carbon deposits. In fact, in the US BG 44K® as well as other BG products now feature as part of routine car servicing by established car manufacturers and their dealers networks. The same is now happening in the UK.

With a recommended use of every 10,000 to 12,000 miles, one treatment is all that’s required for you to notice the difference in starting and engine running. Most notice a difference within 1/3 of a tank through the treatment.

Please don’t confuse BG 44K® with off-the-shelf injector cleaners. There is no comparison and no better product available on the market today. Other cleaners don’t provide the necessary cleaning power to completely remove deposits, gum and varnish from fuel injectors. Furthermore, they barely touch the carbon deposits that accumulate over time. At best, they maintain a cleaner fuel system; the problem being that’s it not convenient nor cost effective for you to have to add a cleaner every time you fill your vehicle with fuel.”

This is a bold statement but unfortunately a true one. Most off the shelf cleaners are actually “fuel conditioners” and even though they play a role whilst in the fuel tank, they seldom have any long lasting effect, and that is because they don’t touch the carbon or hard gum deposits. What they tend to do is help “improve” the quality of the combustion and reduce emissions, usually to help pass exhaust gas emissions tests, but that’s all.

“Similarly, don’t confuse BG 44K® with “magic” additives that claim increased horsepower or wildly improved fuel economy. What BG 44K® actually does is restore the performance of your engine back to when it was new. Lost performance and degraded fuel economy will be restored and your vehicle will perform as it did when it left the factory.”

This is refreshing to see. A company that is actually realistic on the expected results of their products. In our business, we see too many over exaggerated claims of performance, reduced MPG etc.

“What makes BG 44K® so effective? A main contributory factor is a key active ingredient called Polyether-amine. As acknowledged by the Engine Manufacturers Association (www.enginemanufacturers.org), PEA as it is commonly known, is the only recognised and approved chemical compound for dissolving and removing hard baked carbon deposits.”

We are very well familiar with PEA chemistry and can confirm that it is the only proven compound for safely and effectively remove carbon build-up in a combustion engine.

“So how does this make BG 44K® significantly more effective than other cleaners or fuel alone? Well, the amine family of chemicals contain Nitrogen so by simply carrying out a titration test to measure the levels of Nitrogen one can determine the effectiveness of the product.

FACT: Internal combustion engines are inefficient and whilst this remains the case they will accumulate deposits. Whilst steps have been taken to include detergents in fuel, unfortunately, they DO NOT contain enough Polyether-amine based chemistry to keep an engine free from deposits.

BG 44K® does contain a strong Polyether-amine based proprietary formula and the results speak for themselves. We would urge you to search on Google, where you will find many links to websites owned by car manufacturers and dealers supporting the use of BG products, not least, BG 44K® and other Total Deposit Control® products. You will also find a wealth of positive feedback and testimonials from those who have tried and continue to use BG 44K®. BG are experts in deposit control and removal for the combustion engine and have lead the way in this field for years.

How You Can Verify It Works Too – Our Challenge to You…

If the own a petrol vehicle then before adding the contents to your tank of fuel, remove one of the spark plugs from the engine and shine a torch down the spark plug hole. You will notice that the top of the piston is black and coated with a carbon build-up. Similarly, the valves and other parts of the internal intake system are likely to be in a similar condition (see images below). Now add BG 44K® to a full tank of fuel and drive the car normally. The carbon will start to dissolve and will be removed through the normal engine combustion process.

The Challenge….

After you are 1/3 of the way through that tank of fuel, remove the spark plug again and shine a torch down the spark plug hole and re-check the condition of the top of the piston. You will notice that much of the carbon is removed and that you will clearly see signs of a cleaner piston and without deposits. After 1/2 to 3/4 of tank of fuel, all you will see is a clean piston with no carbon deposits. We were even able to read the part/serial number on the top of the pistons in our test vehicles! Not only does it thoroughly clean the entire fuel system but it also removes all carbon deposits. “

Ok, so we took up this challenge and ordered a can of BG44K for our Toyota MR2 Turbo (petrol) and BG244 for our Audi A6 2.5TDI (diesel) test vehicle. The results were interesting to say the least.

For the MR2, we pulled all the spark plugs and shoved an endoscope down into the combustion chamber and as expected after 82,400 miles of use, the pistons, valves and combustion chamber were coked-up with carbon.

We need to mention at this point that these products come in cans and not easy to pour bottles, which we would have preferred. However, disposable funnels were provided and we found that they did the job without creating a huge mess. As per the instructions, we emptied the contents into the fuel tanks respectively and filled up with fuel on top.

For our tests, we just drove the cars normally – general commuting and so on. What became apparent very quickly with the MR2, after approximately 50 miles, was that it felt much smoother. Furthermore, the tick over when at standstill was smoother. We weren’t expecting a result as quickly but we put this down to the high concentration of PEA, which although is still very safe for the engine, it is not cheap to produce.

Because of the quick results, we decided to pull the plugs out again after only 100 miles and check for carbon build-up. Sure enough, it was almost gone with some traces left but the components were mostly back to bare metal. We were impressed. A check after 200 miles revealed completely clean piston tops. The engine note was also notably quieter; again, this is down to the carbon removal.
Overall the car felt great, was picking up speed quicker and was much smoother. Now, let’s not fool ourselves – it hasn’t gained an increase in performance over factory figures, but more accurately, has restored the engine back to the power it had when it left the factory.

The BG244 on our Audi gained similar results. It just picked up smoother and was more responsive. There also notably less clatter. But what really impressed us was the reduction in smoke both when the turbo kicks and at higher RPM.

We accept that these aren’t the most scientific of tests but for these type of products we are firm believers in gathering empirical data rather than squatting over an engine dyno. After all, these particular cleaners were not exactly aimed at increasing performance. Instead it just so happens to be a bi-product of a cleaner and thus more efficient engine. As such, we are confident that both BG44K and BG244 do what they say on the tin, more so than any other injector cleaner or carbon remover we have used.

For further info in the UK visit http://www.powerenhancer.co.uk.
If in the US visit http://www.bgfindashop.com.

The FuelTechExperts Team