A frequently asked question is, "Why is Chevron TECHRON® Concentrate needed?" PDF (85K)

TECHRON® Concentrate Fuel System Cleaner		PRO-GARD® Fuel Additives
Chevron TECHRON® Concentrate Fuel System Cleaner will give your fuel a burst of cleaning power. It's unbeatable at cleaning the entire fuel system and restoring performance lost to deposit buildup in the gasoline engines of passenger cars and light duty trucks. It also reduces engine knock, ping and run-on often caused by combustion chamber deposits.		Chevron PRO-GARD® Fuel Additives, with Techron technology, are designed for specific carbon deposit build up problems.

TECHRON® Concentrate Fuel System Cleaner

Clean Your Engine While You Drive

When added to a tankful of gasoline, TECHRON® Concentrate Fuel System Cleaner, with it's exclusive synthetic formula, provides a burst of cleaning power that has proven unbeatable at cleaning deposits from fuel injectors, carburators, ports, valves and combustion chambers. It works in one tankful while you drive.

The Problem
According to Motor Trend magazine:
"The buildup of deposits in an engine can be like a slow growing cancer. If left unattended, it can gradually rob an engine of it's power, fuel efficiency and ultimately, it's drivability."

Lower quality gasolines, currently sold to an estimated 50% of the market, are usually formulated with less effective, less expensive additives (also using the minimum additive level legally required). If you occasionally use these gasolines, carbon deposits can build up and gradually rob your engine of its power, performance and fuel efficiency.

How Deposit Buildup Affects Your Engine

Fuel Injector deposits can impact fuel flow, upsetting the air/fuel mixture. You experience hesitation or stumble during acceleration, even loss of power, increased emission of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide.

Intake Valve deposits can absorb fuel during engine warm-up, leaning out the air/fuel mixture, and leading to poor driveability, even loss of power and increased emissions.

Combustion Chamber deposits can lead to auto-ignition of the air/fuel mixture which causes knocking, pinging, run-on, poor acceleration, and increased emissions of nitrogen oxides.

* Depicts engines that are sensitive or in severe service.

The Solution
According to Motor Trend magazine:
If the loss of power and performance is due to combustion chamber deposits buildup...
"The current state-of-the-art treatment is an additive called polyether amine (PEA). Developed by Chevron and originally introduced in 1980, today it carries the company's trade name TECHRON."

One treatment with TECHRON® Concentrate will:

• Restore lost power and performance while you drive.
• Reduce deposit buildup to help reduce exhaust emissions.
• Reduce your car's octane requirement to help eliminate the need to purchase higher octane gasoline.
• Improve performance for up to 3,000 miles.

To meet your specific needs, there are two sizes of TECHRON^® Concentrate:

• 20 oz. - Treats up to 20 gallons of fuel and is designed for larger cars, light-duty trucks and sport utility vehicles.
• 12 oz. - Treats up to 12 gallons of fuel and is designed for smaller cars and trucks.

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Chevron PRO-GARD® Fuel Additives

Solves Power and Performance Problems While You Drive
While all U.S. gasolines are additized, cars that sometimes use gasoline of lower quality can still have performance problems caused by intake system deposits. PRO-GARD® Fuel Additives, with Techron technology, are designed to help solve these problems, without contributing harmful deposits in your combustion chamber.

Select the PRO-GARD® Product That's Right for You
PROBLEMS
Keeping the intake system clean.			Hesitation or stumbing during acceleration, loss of power.			Increased emissions*, hesitation or stumbling during acceleration, loss of power.			Dirty intake system coupled with the harmful effects of combustion chamber deposits.
SOLUTIONS
Chevron PRO-GARD® Gas Treatment			Chevron PRO-GARD® Fuel Injector Cleaner			Chevron PRO-GARD® Fuel Injector PLUS Intake Valve Cleaner			Chevron PRO-GARD® Clean-Up Engine Deposit Remover
Regular use will keep your engine's intake system clean and help remove water to fight gas line freeze. Designed for cars and trucks that sometimes use gasoline of lower quality.			Removes from fuel injectors deposits that can cause hesitations or loss of power. Safe for use every 1,000 miles or as needed to keep fuel injectors clean. Available in two sizes: 12 oz. bottle treats up to 12 gallons, 20 oz. bottle treats larger tanks, up to 20 gallons. Designed for cars and trucks that sometimes use gasoline of lower quality.			Removes from fuel injectors and intake valves deposits that cause increased emissions*, hesitation during acceleration, stumbling and even loss of power. Use every 3,000 miles to keep your fuel injectors and intake valves clean. * Hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides.			Removes deposits from fuel injectors and intake valves in one tankful. Fights knocking and pinging by reducing the harmful effects of combustion chamber deposits. Safe for use every 3,000 miles to keep your engine clean.

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How Deposits Can Affect Your Engine



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Intake System Deposits Can Affect Performance and Emissions Control
by Lew Gibbs

Deposits have formed in engine intake systems (carburetors, fuel injectors, intake manifold, ports, and valves) since the beginning of the spark-ignited internal combustion engine. In today's modern engines, these deposits can affect engine performance and upset the emission control system designed by the automobile manufacturer.

Dirty Fuel Injector*	Clean Fuel Injector
* Depicts engine that is sensitive or in severe service.

Fuel Injector Deposits
Deposits that form in fuel injectors can restrict fuel flow and distort the spray pattern. This upsets the fuel-air ratio in individual cylinders since deposits do not form uniformly. When the air-fuel mixture in the engine cylinders becomes imbalanced, the oxygen sensor, which only responds to the average of all the cylinders, tries to correct the situation, but usually makes it worse. The result is a degrading of driveability as exhibited by rough idle, hesitation, and stumbling, a decrease in power, a reduction in fuel economy, and an increase in unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide emissions. The effect of these deposits is illustrated here by two photographs comparing the spray patterns of a clean and a dirty injector.

Intake Valve Deposits
The formation of deposits on the tulip area of intake valves also can be detrimental. Under cold start conditions, the porous deposits can absorb enough fuel to cause first lean and then rich air-fuel mixtures which can degrade driveability. Intake valve deposits can cause unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and oxides of nitrogen exhaust emissions to increase. Further, if the deposits are very heavy, power at maximum throttle can be reduced because the deposits restrict the flow of the air-fuel mixture into the cylinders.

The use of an aftermarket concentrated deposit control additive to remove the critical deposits can help restore the performance of an engine and the control of its emissions to the level designed by the auto manufacturer.

Lew Gibbs is a Fellow in Chevron Products Company's Product Engineering Department. Lew has authored numerous technical papers on gasoline and on deposit control. He is currently chairman of the SAE Fuels & Lubes Technical Committee on Fuels and chairman of the ASTM Gasoline and Oxygenated Gasoline Specifications Section.

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Gasoline Deposit Control Additives and Chevron TECHRON® Concentrate

A frequently asked question is "Why is Chevron Techron® Concentrate needed when all motor gasoline contains an EPA or CARB certified deposit control additive?”

This Technical Bulletin will describe deposit control additive regulations and performance, showing that there still exists a need for a product such as Chevron Techron® Concentrate.

Background
Gasoline combustion results in the formation of engine deposits. The accumulation of deposits, in fuel injectors and on intake valves, typically results in increased emissions and reduced engine performance.

As fuel injectors replaced carburetors, vehicle manufacturers experienced problems with deposit formation.

Deposit control additives, by removing deposits, could reduce exhaust emissions and increase fuel economy.

The benefits of deposit control additives were recognized by both the automotive and oil industries. So, in 1985, when the fuel injector deposit problem was recognized, many oil companies adopted the use of deposit control additives.

However, their use was voluntary and no regulatory standards existed by which to gauge their effectiveness.

Additive Regulations
In California, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) required the use of deposit control additives in motor gasoline effective January 1, 1992.

Congress recognized the importance of effective deposit control additives in minimizing vehicle emissions. It required gasoline to contain deposit control additives, effective January 1, 1995, and provided the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the authority to establish specifications for such additives.

The Clean Air Act provides EPA with the authority to implement recordkeeping and reporting requirements. These requirements are needed in order for EPA to certify gasoline additives, to demonstrate effectiveness, to assure that gasoline contains certified additives at the minimum concentration ( also known as the lowest additive concentration (LAC) or compliance level) necessary to be effective, and to deter violations.

The end effect of these regulations is that nearly all commercial motor gasolines now contain a deposit control additive.

Many marketers have chosen to use the LAC level — including some marketers who previously promoted the use of their gasoline by advertising the use of deposit control. Economic pressures caused some marketers to lower concentrations while others decided the marketing advantage was lost with the regulatory requirements.

Additive Certification
Both CARB (1992) and EPA (1997) set up systems for certifying the use of deposit control additives.

The port fuel injector and the intake valve deposit control additive certification vehicle test methods are not very precise. Test severity varies greatly among individual vehicles. By taking advantage of this variability, some additive marketers have been able to LAC certify additive packages at very low levels. Gasoline marketers who are only interested in meeting the minimum requirements of the regulations and who are not interested in product quality have chosen to use these minimal performing LAC additives.

Deposit Control Additive Performance

Intake Valve Deposit Performance
Concerned that the commercial use of deposit control additives was not providing the expected performance, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) staff held a series of workshops in 1998.

At the meeting, one participant presented the attached Figure 1, which shows the intake valve deposits for four models of vehicles that were run 15,000 miles on five different fuels. One of the fuels was described as a compliance fuel (LAC fuel).

The results show that the LAC fuel formed significantly more intake valve deposits than the other four fuels in all models of vehicles. The data suggest that there were commercial gasolines on the market that were not providing control of intake valve deposits, even though they were using certified additive packages.

As a result of the CARB staff study, effective June 16, 1999, the intake valve certification limit was lowered to one-half the previous limit, more restrictions were placed on the certification test fuel, and limitations were placed on the formation of combustion chamber deposits.

However, many existing additives that had never been tested for compliance with the new combustion chamber deposit limit could still be used, as long as they were certified after July 1, 1996 and — when certified — met the new intake valve deposit limit.

Another example of regulation conforming gasolines that do not provide adequate intake valve cleanliness is shown in Figure 2.

For this evaluation in the BMW intake valve deposit certification test method (ASTM D 5500), five commercial gasolines containing LAC additive packages, based on the additive chemistry and concentration, were obtained from around the U.S. The sources ranged from large minor oil companies to one large major oil company. The results shown in Figure 2 indicate that four of the five commercial fuels tested did not meet the federal 100 mg/valve maximum average regulation limit. These results illustrate that LAC certified additives, when tested in commercial gasolines on a random basis, might not be providing the anticipated performance in the field.

Even the California cleaner burner gasolines containing deposit control additives are subject to intake valve deposits. Figure 3 shows the results of an inspection of intake valve deposits of a California fleet.

The 1996 and 1997 vehicles operated from 10,000 to 50,000 miles on a California Phase 2 reformulated gasoline containing a third tier additive (better than an LAC additive).

The results show that intake valve keep-clean performance varied considerably with vehicle model. The maximum average deposit weight per valve permitted in California is 50 mg. This correlates to a visual rating of 9.1. Figure 3 shows that in many vehicle types, a third tier additive leaves deposits that exceed California standards.

Fuel Injector Performance
It is generally accepted that the amount of deposit control additive required to pass the BMW IVD test method is more than sufficient to keep most modern port fuel injectors clean. However, older design injectors still exist and, in some types of service, deposits are forming. Also, some newer fuel injector systems designs appear, under certain ambient and driving conditions, to be troubled by deposits that are not being prevented by some deposit control additives.

Combustion Chamber Deposits
Both gasoline and deposit control additives can contribute to the formation of combustion chamber deposits (CCD). The degree of contribution depends on the composition of either or both. CCD buildup will cause the octane number requirement of an engine to increase. CCD can also cause exhaust emissions, especially oxides of nitrogen emissions, to increase. In engines designed with small squish heights, heavy deposits can cause a physical interference between the piston top and cylinder head. This is referred to as combustion chamber deposit interference (CCDI) or carbon knock.

Benefits of Chevron Techron® Concentrate
The above discussion shows that, under some circumstances, fuel injector deposits can still form.

Furthermore, there are LAC deposit control additives currently being used that are not controlling intake valve deposits. Even with higher levels of additives, critical engines and engines operating under severe service are forming intake valve deposits. Combustion chamber deposits are forming and some deposit control additives contribute to their formation. Deposits in critical areas of engines can increase regulated exhaust emissions, reduce fuel economy, and increase the octane number requirement off engines.

Since engine deposits are still forming, even with the EPA and CARB required use of certified deposit control additives, there remains a need for functional supplemental additives like Chevron Techron® Concentrate. Unlike some supplemental additives that contain mostly aromatic solvent or old technology deposit control additives, Chevron Techron® Concentrate contains a high level of polyetheramine and has had its formulation changed several times since its introduction in 1982 to keep abreast of the latest additive technology.

Chevron Techron® Concentrate cleans fuel injectors, carburetors, intake ports and valves, and combustion chambers to help restore lost power and performance caused by harmful deposit buildup in gasoline engines. Even though current conventional and reformulated gasolines contain deposit control additives, there still is a need by vehicle owners and mechanics for Chevron Techron® Concentrate.

L. M. Gibbs, Research Fellow
P.A. Fuentes-Afflick, Market Manager, Consumer Automotive