Used Techron complete system cleaner and car is limp mode
 

I used Techron complete system cleaner today when filling up an empty tank, it’s my first time using it and I have 102,000 miles, when I finished filling up on gas I turned the car on and let it run for a good minute then started driving home just fine for about 5 minutes and then car started losing power and went into limp mode, pulled over put car in park and car turned off on its own. I then turned it on and noticed it was sounding a bit different (had a cammed sound to it kinda)left it on for about 5-7 minutes the noise went back to normal and then drove it home but once again went limp mode and just drove idle home. Which wasn’t that far. Any idea why this would happen ? I thought it was safe to use, my only guess is that I have high mileage but I don’t think it would be bad enough to make the car go limp mode, also NO check engine light or anything turned on. Tried turning the car on next morning and it just cranks now. Note: before adding the gasoline the car was running fine no problems took it on a 30 mile trip right before filling up with gas which just makes this more frustrating

How much techron did you use, and do you have any modifications?

I used a whole bottle since it said use whole bottle for 12 gallon gas tank… ended up putting 10.4 gallons of 93 after, only mod is my exhaust catback, ima try again to just leave it running maybe it’s putting in work since it’s my first time using it maybe it has a lot of cleaning to do …?

Why did you use fuel cleaner? Our cars shouldnt need anything like that. I have never used fuel cleaner/additives ever for any of my cars. The frs/brz/86 has direct and port injection so fuel cleaning solutions arent necessary.

Honestly my neighbor just gave me it saying it would clean out all gunk and shit and Improve my m/g, I searched up if it was safe to use on the frs and nothing negative came out of it so decided to give it a try but not my car won’t start up lol just cranks and the rpm flutters between 0-1k

It can't be limp mode. Codes will be thrown and the gauge cluster lights up like a christmas tree.


I know someone who's throttle butterfly jammed open. It acted in a similar fashion. Wild guess here.

You do know that fuel system cleaners have been around for decades before GDI was ever prevalent in passenger vehicles.



I agree with Ultra. Something’s going on. You’d have codes for limp mode. I would try disconnecting the battery for 30 sec and trying it.

I used to put 3 bottles in about 4 gallons of gas in my 911, then go out and do an Italian tune-up (recommended by Porsche). I think the Techron is totally coincidental.

I agree with Ultra too. You got something else going on.

Disconnect the battery for 15 mins and see if it goes away. Any chance it’s bad gas? Is it a high-volume gas station you’ve used before?

I agree with the above, don’t use fuel system cleaner unless there’s a problem you’re trying to solve. The fuel itself is already an excellent cleaner by itself lol.

It's probably bad luck and the fuel pump happened to die on you, check the in tank pump in the rear seat. Cycle the key to on without cranking and try to listen for a buzz from the fuel pump.

So my mechanic came to check it out quick since he couldn’t run lots of test on it since he didn’t have time, but we did get multiple misfire codes, an air sensor code,but he believes it to have something to do with the throttle body since I’ve had an issue with it before. ima check if disconnecting battery for a while then plugging it back in will turn the car on. Car just cranks now and doesn’t want to turn on. Ive also had some problems with the battery, and apparently a fuze is going bad. I thought maybe I didn’t put the correct gas but I’m 99% sure I used 91 octane .. which is what it takes, I don’t think I would mess that up, but still a possibility.

Mechanic checked the fuel pump and we could hear it, he said it sounded fine.. so we moved to the engine bay where he said my throttle body makes a lot of noise and flutters so we going to check on that tomorrow
But for now I’m honestly stuck at square one not knowing exactly what to check

My mechanic said the throttle body was acting weird and making too much sound, related to that? He said the throttle body would flutter

It's exactly that.