Has anyone used Redex recently? Any good??

[rash_decision]

Hi all. I was in the local Supermarket tonight and noticed they were selling Redex Petrol and Diesel Treatments for £2!! I haven't really heard much about this for a few years, but seem to remember back in the day (90s??) when it first came out it was meant to be good stuff! Does anyone have any experience of using this stuff, is it any good? I was gonna chuck some in a tank in my Shogun Diesel, or would I be wasting my hard earned £2!

[Eggman]

I haven't used Redex for years, but was never convinced that it did a lot.

The best thing about it was the HUGE amounts of smoke you could make by dribbling it into the carb. I've bought the odd bottle just for the fun of doing that.

[Classic Grad 98]

Snake oil- you'd be better off without it and not buying your diesel at a supermarket.

[Eggman]

I've had good results with Comma Diesel Magic, fwiw.

[Tunku]

When I had a Maestro 1.3 LX, I put this in the tank and floored it around my housing scheme which was a big circle with lots of cul-de-sacs off to both sides, like a curled spine. Caused quite a ruckus, I found if I went faster, I caught up with my smoke screen.

[jagnet]

IIRC, Redex was mostly just kerosene which at £2 a bottle still looks like an expensive way of buying it.

It's going to do very very little, and even less that's of actual benefit.

Edit:

If you want a cleaner that does actually make a difference then try BG44K (petrol) and BG244 (diesel). A lot more expensive, but that's because of the PEA content which is pricey, but well known for its unique ability to remove carbon deposits.

Edited by jagnet on Thursday 13th October 22:40

[MX7]

Not Redex but similar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj_21dikYR8

[rash_decision]

MX7 said:

Not Redex but similar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj_21dikYR8

That was quite interesting!! I think I'll give the Redex a miss!

[NHK244V]

MX7 said:

Not Redex but similar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj_21dikYR8

redex is a cleaner not a power booster like in that video so not really similar.
I use it all the time mainly cos being a mechanic i get to see the inside of engines that use it and engines that dont BUT i will say it's not as important on modern engines with proper mixture control although it does keep injectors clean, although modern fuels also do this nowdays.
However there are better cleaners out there like forte for cleaning gummed up engines.
So IMHO it's horses for courses, older carbed cars like it moderns dont really need it
try the 60's when it first came out, octain boosters were new ish in the 90's

Edited by NHK244V on Thursday 13th October 23:33

Edited by NHK244V on Thursday 13th October 23:34

[stevensdrs]

I use it on my Diesel Mazda 2. It seems to work, cleans the injectors and makes the car run better when using cheap supermarket diesel with added biofuels. Probably would get the same result using Shell Diesel and not bothering with Redex.

[B'stard Child]

Redex is a shadow of it's former self IMO

15 years ago I could could pour 30 mls down the each of spark plug holes and leave overnight

Next day look down the plug hole and see the alloy piston tops and I'd know it would have removed all the carbon round the rings as well

The engine would smoke for a week or two but then be fine

Tried it 5 years back on an engine I took the head off to replace the CHG as a quick and easy way to de-coke the pistons and it was still sat on the pistons 3 days later and the carbon was still there.

Ended up dropping the sump and removing pistons and con rods to do the job properly and put some new rings on

Like most things these days it's had all the good stuff removed

[NHK244V]

B'stard Child said:

Redex is a shadow of it's former self IMO

15 years ago I could could pour 30 mls down the each of spark plug holes and leave overnight

Next day look down the plug hole and see the alloy piston tops and I'd know it would have removed all the carbon round the rings as well

The engine would smoke for a week or two but then be fine

Tried it 5 years back on an engine I took the head off to replace the CHG as a quick and easy way to de-coke the pistons and it was still sat on the pistons 3 days later and the carbon was still there.

Ended up dropping the sump and removing pistons and con rods to do the job properly and put some new rings on

Like most things these days it's had all the good stuff removed

Unfortunatly your probably right
mind i do find modern carbon is harder than it used to be ? then again maybe i've lost all my good stuff over they years as well ?
the wife seems to think so anyway

[ZeeTacoe]

stevensdrs said:

I use it on my Diesel Mazda 2. It seems to work, cleans the injectors and makes the car run better when using cheap supermarket diesel with added biofuels. Probably would get the same result using Shell Diesel and not bothering with Redex.

Do you know it works by stripping down the engine or injectors or do you just think it works?

[morgrp]

Like the way people are saying it cleans the injectors - how exactly are going to confirm that it has cleaned you injectors without removing them from the car and checking the spray pattern before and after?

[Rovinghawk]

I regularly used redex in my SLK; the emissions for the MOT were massively lower than the previous year's.

Proof enough for me.

RH

[Leptons]

stevensdrs said:

I use it on my Diesel Mazda 2. It seems to work, cleans the injectors and makes the car run better when using cheap supermarket diesel with added biofuels. Probably would get the same result using Shell Diesel and not bothering with Redex.

Have you ever heard of the placebo affect?

[Classic Grad 98]

Rovinghawk said:

I regularly used redex in my SLK; the emissions for the MOT were massively lower than the previous year's.

Proof enough for me.

RH

I probably wouldn't call that 'proof'. The tester may have done the emissions test with the engine at working temporature this time. The car may be running better due to servicing etc.

[anonymous-user]

Here you go

http://fwd.channel5.com/fifth-gear/videos/consumer...

edited to add - seems that they all reduced power!

[Garvin]

Redex doesn't appear to be that 'strong' a cleaner - there are better products out there. I use an engine/injector cleaner every 3k miles when taking advantage of supermarket fuels as I was told by 'someone in the know', albeit many moons ago, that the only difference to mainstream 'big boys' fuel was the lack of 'cleaning' additives in the supermarket versions. All I can say is that the engine emissions remain very consistent from one MoT to the next over many thousands of miles and across different vehicles.

[Dr Doofenshmirtz]

Just to echo what has already been said.
Redex = coloured Paraffin. You can buy 5L of Paraffin from Homebase for around £7