Put some in the Prius, put in slightly too much, but only slightly. Also put it in after filling up, rather than before. Driving home from the car place, it misfired for a couple of minutes then was fine. However over the following few weeks it started to do it more, and worse.

Checked the plugs and one cylinder is really black and gunky. The others less so, they are clean around the spark gap. It could easily be a spark plug failure, they are pretty old but they are supposed to be super long life iridium jobs. So there are two questions:

1) Is it a coincidence that this happened when I used Redex?

2) One black sooty somewhat oily spark plug means bad spark plug..?

I’ve well overdosed my car on Redex, never been a problem. If “slightly too much” Redex caused a problem then I reckon the company would be in serious shit.

Agreed, all that’s ever happened when I put too much in was the car smoked a little until it was burnt off. Iff you put it in after filling up it wouldn’t make that much of a difference, especially not enough to gunk up the plugs.

Actually oily? Would be surprising on a Prius because a) they’re very conventional tech “bulletproof” petrol engines and b) they’re worked much less hard on Priuses than regular cars.

The spark plugs are supposed to be changed at…10 years/100,000kms? Don’t remember but we didn’t do it and didnt notice any difference.

I’d go onto Priuschat and ask there.

Also – I’ve never known Redex to do anything good or bad! Iirc the old method of use was to pour a capful under each plug, not just in the tank!

Back in our boy racer days we used to take the air filter off and squirt it straight into the carb!

Back in our boy racer days we used to take the air filter off and squirt it straight into the carb!

Hahaha, that brings back a memory. We totally smoked the road out when my brother got a bit giddy doing this to an XR2 I owned many many moons ago 😆

isitafox – Member
Back in our boy racer days we used to take the air filter off and squirt it straight into the carb!

This back in the 7os, was a cureall for many a mystery misfire or sluggish car 😆

Why did you put redex in….

Has the issue you put it in to try and mask just manifested its self more than it was before…..

I didn’t realise this sort of stuff was still used.

Why not just put Super Unleaded in for 5-10 tankfulls???

Genuine question.

I got ride of my Prius 2 years ago, put 13k on it. Bit of a waste of money TBH.

I simply mixed 2T motorbike engine oil with my petrol. 😀

Some comments here.

Hahaha, that brings back a memory. We totally smoked the road out when my brother got a bit giddy doing this to an XR2 I owned many many moons ago

I remember smoking out the town after following the instructions to put a cap full of redex down each plug hole, it said you just needed to rev the engine and all the crap would dissappear, maybe it did but the town was shrouded in smog

Suggest that he puts 2 stroke in his car.

Links to benifits of doing so in a diesel….

Drives a petrol – hows that working out for you.

I use a little 2 stroke when using veg oil.

I use a little petrol in the diesel in the depth of winter

I wouldnt suggest you do any of the above with a modern petrol or diesel engine.

trail_rat – Member
Drives a petrol – hows that working out for you.

Been doing so for the past 5 years every time I topped up the petrol to 3/4 full.

Mine is a Toyota Corolla 2005 1.6 VVTi engine … Engine as smooth as ever.

However I don’t know about Prius as that is driven by Brian the dog from Family Guy … 😆

Used to smoke out the local street by riding a 2-stroke after squirting redex into the cylinders. Went very quickly while it was being burnt off though 🙂

Might as well have taken a piss in the tank instead of the 2 stroke in a petrol car…..

trail_rat – Member
Might as well have taken a piss in the tank instead of the 2 stroke in a petrol car…..

😆 If my piss was rocket fuel I would.

He’s been reading those motorway signs….Red X is mandatory?

(My chum opined this to me once – He thought it was new rule that everyone had to put it in.)

What is it actually anyway? Some sort of solvent with detergents? Soapy meths?

Sounds like an excuse to sell small amounts of coloured fuel to people.

I can only get Bosch replacement plugs on a Sunday in Cardiff – however there’s not a lot of love for Bosch plugs on the internet….?

Sounds like an excuse to sell small amounts of coloured fuel to people.

Fuel additives such as Redex are considered by some to be a much cheaper alternative to premium unleaded petrol and premium diesel, while allegedly giving similar results.

2t isnt rocket fuel either …

What it actually does on modern motors (2006 is modern) is gum up the injectors – lots of studies done on this – in particular theres a fairly comprehensive one done in south africa , comparing different grades of fuel and even refinery fresh fuels.

The reason i do it is because my car is from the 1980s and diesel had a much higher lubricity back then before the sulphur was removed, my pump wasnt designed to run on todays low lubricity fuel.

That and my injectors are low pressure with holes big enough to let the engine run on lumps of coal 🙂

That and my injectors are low pressure with holes big enough to let the engine run on lumps of coal

Perhaps VW could still have got that through the California emissions tests?

My wife’s ex recently trashed his Honda Accord by squirting Redex/Eezy Start into the air intake – revved itself to bits apparently.
I have been informed that my stepdaughter was in charge of the loud pedal at the time, which may have had something to do with it.

I just use the good Shell stuff these days instead of additives, get 4-5 mpg increase and it’s much nicer to drive.

What car have you got trail rat?

Hmm. New plugs did nothing.

It’s apparently been getting gradually worse since it happened.

Time to check the fuel filter.. in the tank 🙁

If the tank, lines or filter were full of crap or (worse), watery crap, the added solvency of the Redex might have carried a slug of it into the fuel filter and blinded it. Cheap and easy to change, doubt it’s been done before, so nothing to lose….

What is it actually anyway? Some sort of solvent with detergents? Soapy meths?

ATF and a solvent. Probably paraffin.

I used to use ATF in my old 2.5 NAD 90. Doubt it would be much use in a modern car. Couldn’t really do any harm in the slowest, noisiest, oldest tech diesel in the world though, it would run on pretty much anything.

Land rover like what above mitsumonkey.

ECU?

Coils starting to fail could explain your problem.

If the tank, lines or filter were full of crap or (worse), watery crap, the added solvency of the Redex might have carried a slug of it into the fuel filter and blinded it. Cheap and easy to change, doubt it’s been done before, so nothing to lose….

That’s what I was hoping it would be, rather that than some terribly expensive mechanical problem. It’s a lifetime in-tank fuel filter so not that easy to change. But it still could be the problem yes.

There’s something called HEET in the US that somehow fixes water in fuel problems, do we have anything similar?

If the tank, lines or filter were full of crap or (worse), watery crap, the added solvency of the Redex might have carried a slug of it into the fuel filter and blinded it.

For as long as I can be remember the big criticism of Redex has been that it often allegedly shifts stuff which is best left where it is.

trail_rat – Member

2t isnt rocket fuel either …

What it actually does on modern motors (2006 is modern) is gum up the injectors – lots of studies done on this – in particular theres a fairly comprehensive one done in south africa , comparing different grades of fuel and even refinery fresh fuels.

The reason i do it is because my car is from the 1980s and diesel had a much higher lubricity back then before the sulphur was removed, my pump wasnt designed to run on todays low lubricity fuel.

That and my injectors are low pressure with holes big enough to let the engine run on lumps of coal

Ya, it’s better then my piss innit!

Me mate would not have recommended me if it would destroy the injector in our cars’ and yes he did read published research papers.

Well if it is going to gum up the injector then I would have gone to the garage so many times in the past years!

He is a high mileage driver while I only drive around 2K per year.

I have been doing this for the past 5 years for my Toyota Corolla (2005 model) since I bought it! He has Land Cruiser (2005), Hilux (2001), Lotus designed engine(2013), Subaru Impreza (2000, 2002), Mazda RX-8(2003) … he used it on all his cars for more than 15 yrs now.

When do you think it will gum up my injector eh?

Try it on your Land Rover then open up the engine to inspect yourself.

Oh ya … I normally add 2T 100ml – 150ml for 3/4 tank full. Not because I cannot add more but a litre of Castrol 2T oil cost £9.99 so I want to make it last longer with one litre to use for around seven times.

molgrips – Member
…There’s something called HEET in the US that somehow fixes water in fuel problems, do we have anything similar?

Used to use meths for that.

I’ve given up. Bloody petrol engines.

Toyota have been called.

They said it was misfiring on all cylinders randomly, and that the injector seals were leaking. Also now they apparently need to replace one injector.

Seems like redex caused some serious issues, this can’t be a coincidence. Presumably the injector’s blocked. I can imagine might’ve been caused by me putting the stuff in after a fill up, so if the engine sucked in a highly concentrated dose of the stuff it could’ve caused damage.

I don’t know how accurate this is but, the way my mechanic used to explain Redex is that it loosens crap. Therefore, he reasoned, where does loose crap go when it’s sloshing about in your fuel?

I used to use it quite a bit when I was driving 70s and 80s vintage cars, directly into the carb and give it a good rev to blow all the crap (and Redex) out. Used to be a common sight in fact, some young lad under a bonnet yanking the throttle cable and disappearing behind plumes of smoke. Never ever put it in my fuel though as per the last paragraph.

I do wonder if there’s still a place for fuel additives with modern fuel. Petroleum companies spend billions into researching fuel mixtures to give the best results, then we come along and sling half a bottle of random gunk into it. Hmm.

I think it’s meant to dissolve it, rather than loosen it?

The thing is, I can’t be the only person to have a dirty fuel tank, but googling seems to suggest this is pretty rare.