Fuel Cure

Twosheds

Junior member
Location
Surrey. England
Anyone got any experience of a fuel additive called Wurth Fuel Cure. The info says that it disperses water in the fuel and cleans the resins and gum out of the fuel system in both petrol and diesels. So.... would that mean that, assuming your engine is actually running, you could just use that instead of stripping and ultrasonically cleaning carbs that you suspect might be in need of a clean out? Sounds good... but is it?
 
I have no personal experience with said product, but with similar ones. If these are basically using the same ingredients, the answer would be NO!

-The additive only can work on fuel/water related issues, not on corrosion or other particles blocking or at least reducing the diameter of the jets f.e.
-Ultrasonic cleaning also cleans the carbs where no fuel goes, f.e. the mechanic parts in the top, outside etc. etc.
 
I recently moved and in the garage was a bottle of Red X injector cleaner, good for 2 tank fulls apparently. My GSX-R is prone to faffing about if I haven't run it for a while so I thought nothing ventured etc. Prior to chucking it in the tank and sure enough it was awful picking up the revs on the pilot jet. After I'd put the stuff in I couldn't believe the difference, clean picking up revs through the whole range. My Jarama never seems to suffer with fuel problems but then I have always run the carbs dry after a run.  Stuart
 
Hi Stuart,

it is good to have the carbs run dry (except if you have paper gaskets like with some Jap carbs...), but this does not help against Water in the tank... Todays fuel is hydrostatic, means it "sucks" water out of the air that streams through the tank ventilation when the tank gets empty. It does not really mix with the fuel, but as it is heavier than fuel, it moves to the ground of the tank and fills the tank from the bottom with water. once it reaches the top of the little tubes the pedcocks such the fuel through, you fill your carbs with a mixture of water and fuel, which then leads to bad acceleration - even up to blocking a complete jet. This additive changes the surface tension of the water so that it does mix with the fuel and gets sucked through the jets. This is not really a cleaning process, but simply a water removal as described in my first post, second line (of 3).

The next point is that with ultrasonic cleaning, you typically also replace all O-Rings, gaskets and other stuff. If adjusted well, economy of the carbs will be improved dramatically while power will be restored to factory values (assumed nothing else is wrong).

My brother ran a bike shop in the 90's and it was amazing how many bikes (Laverdas mainly...) had issues with the carbs, ignition and valve clearance. Fixing this (which is not really a repair but a service...) saw some customers regain roughly 30 HP and equal torque... (really some were down to 45HP, one even a bit less...).

so - no wonder a bike improves when you remove the water out of the fuel system. Still, an ultrasonic cleaning with a new set of gaskets and O-Rings is something different...  ;)
 
Lothar, never had an issue with water in the fuel bit a couple of years ago I changed/renewed some of the carb internals. Up to that point I was getting almost exactly 120 miles before having to go onto reserve, now it's 145-150 regularly before reserve. Bought a set of Carbtunes years ago and the difference a properly balanced set of carbs makes is amazing, I think a set should be compulsory for anyone with an old clunker!  :D Stuart
 
You are so right..That is pedantic ha ha  :P

I worry more about water in the sump after a winter lay up.

I took the sump off an MV engine that had been in storage for a while and the oil in the bottom looked like coffee..Heavily contaminated with water. I can only surmise it condensed within the engine whilst it was stored up.

So now I'm thinking for what it costs, drop the oil from the sump as part of the spring clean service, before starting the bike up and put some fresh oil in .. Frothy oil isn't a  great lubricant....

joe
 
Isn't it meth spirit that sorts this out...recall it somehow absorbs water ...guess there must be a safe limit though, chemistry never my strong point.
 
nick7 said:
Isn't it meth spirit that sorts this out...recall it somehow absorbs water ...guess there must be a safe limit though, chemistry never my strong point.

I've read too Nick that Methylated spirits are hygroscopic ....TBH if I thought I had water in the fuel system, I'd drain the tank and the carbs and put some fresh fuel in...
joe
 
When I was racing speedway bikes, running methanol. We used to drop a half litre or so into the fuel tanks of our cars every race season (I even put it in my mower fuel). The methanol mixes with the water, and petrol and runs it though the fuel system and out the exhaust.

Petrol wont mix with water, as previously mentioned, but water tainted methanol will.

Oh, and Joe, a bloke I knew here has green framed D _ _ a _ i and I questioned him why his bike smelt to pretty (as I rounded him up  ;) ).

He mentioned that when he parked it up he'd fill the cases up with castor oil to stop moisture build up. What I smelt were the remnants. Mmmm, almost as good as methanol on race nights.
 
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