Dear Tom and Ray:

I have an obnoxious younger brother who may be feeding me a line regarding the fuel injectors in our cars. He says that you need to buy a fuel additive and add it to the gas to clean the fuel injectors. I have a '91 Toyota MR2 and a '91 Toyota MR2 Turbo and cannot find any information in the owners' manuals regarding maintenance of the injectors. Should I break down and buy the fuel additive (and let him remind me of his high intelligence for the rest of my life) or tell him to shove off? Susan

Tom: Believe me, Susan. If anyone understands the issue of obnoxious younger brothers, I do. There's only one way to deal with him; tell him to flake off immediately. You never, ever want to give a younger brother the satisfaction of knowing that he's right. Fortunately for me, my brother's never BEEN right.

Ray: Your adorable, well-meaning, baby brother happens to be wrong in this case, Susan. All brand name gasolines now have detergents mixed into their fuels. And these detergents make "fuel injector cleaners" unnecessary.

Tom: Right. You'd be much better off spending your money changing your fuel FILTER once a year. That costs about $30, and that's by far the best thing you can do to extend the life of your fuel injectors.

It's amazing how many bad driving habits and wacko theories have been passed down from generation to generation! Tom and Ray set the record straight in their booklet "Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It!" To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1994 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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