Fuel System Cleaner – My Experience with Gumout

 

Do vehicles really need a fuel system cleaner? Do Fuel System Cleaners actually work?

It’s been about 4 years now since we purchased my beloved Honda Odyssey. It was used but in great shape and with less than 40,000 miles on it.

We’ve gotten regular oil changes for it, changed the brake pads, and taken care of other regular vehicle maintenance. And well, when I say “we” I mean my husband and sometimes the dealership where we purchased it. 

Now my Honda has over 75,000 miles on it and as we prepared to take another road trip with our kids, I thought to myself, are there any other maintenance things we should be doing before we hit the road? My husband suggested a fuel system cleaner. 

Of course, being the “thrifty” person I am, I wondered if this was an expense we really, truly needed. I mean, you hear people talking about changing the oil, checking the tire pressure, etc., but I hadn’t heard many people mention using a fuel system cleaner.

Actually, I’d never heard anyone mention it before.

Something neat my husband taught me is that Auto Zone will allow you to borrow a lot of their vehicle tools. Essentially you pay the full price of the tool but when you return it, they give you your money back. (This prevents people from stealing them.)

My husband told me about a tool called a borescope. This nifty tool allows you to look INSIDE of your engine. 

So, that’s just what we did. We borrowed a boroscope and looked inside my Odyssey’s engine.

Let’s just say, it wasn’t pretty. Crud had built up inside the cylinders. I took a photo, but it’s a photo of a screen, so it’s a little difficult to see.

Trust me though, there was a definite gunk build-up in there! Basically, the entire thing was just covered in black carbon buildup. 

Fuel System Cleaner – My Experience with Gumout Regane High Mileage Fuel System Cleaner

With our 7-hour (each way) road trip ahead of us, we decided it would be the perfect time to see if a fuel system cleaner would actually make a difference. We went with Gumout’s Regane High Mileage Fuel System Cleaner.

At each gasoline fill-up on our trip we poured in a bottle of Gumout Regane High Mileage Fuel System Cleaner.

It’s so simple to use. You wait until your tank is almost fully empty and then put in a bottle of Gumout and then fill your tank fully with gasoline.

Then you don’t want to refill your tank until it’s almost empty. In the end, we went through 3 bottles of it and 3 full tanks of gasoline.

Pro tip — You actually don’t even need a funnel! We used a funnel when we poured it in the first time (when I took the photos), not realizing that the bottle is designed in a way so you don’t even need a funnel! So, learn from us and don’t bother with that extra step. 

Gumout’s Regane High Mileage Fuel System Cleaner is supposed to:

• Remove deposits from port/indirect fuel injectors, intake valves and ports, piston tops, cylinder heads, combustion chamber
• Prevent future carbon buildup
• Condition fuel to fight ethanol and water corrosion
• Restore performance and fuel economy in high-mileage vehicles

When we got back from our road trip, my husband went back to Auto Zone and borrowed the borescope again. What. A. Difference.!

Truly, it looked so much better inside my engine. It’s hard to tell from the photos, but before the inside was just covered in black crud and now it looks noticeably cleaner. I was so excited to see it!

We definitely noticed a big change.

Not only did it look better in there, but I have also definitely noticed a difference in the way my dear minivan drives. My fuel economy improved throughout the trip and the engine just seemed to run better.

Before using Gumout Regane High Mileage Fuel System Cleaner the Odyssey seemed sluggish and had jerky movements as I would accelerate on the interstate. Since using it, my van drives so smoothly!

It accelerates with ease. It’s a definite, noticeable difference. 

I don’t like to spend money on unnecessary things, but at a cost of about just $5 a bottle, Gumout Regane High Mileage Fuel System Cleaner is definitely a worthwhile investment! I will never go for such a long time without adding it to our fuel again! 

Do you regularly clean your engine? If not, now’s the time! Regular auto maintenance is an important way to protect your investment and extend the life of your vehicle. You can purchase Gumout products at Walmart, Amazon.com and these other retailers.