REDEX petrol additive......bad idea??

[ammo1981]

elo everybody. yesterday evening coming back from work, i visited halfords to pick some bulbs up, and at the same time i picked up a bottle of redex (red stuff). I thought if it helps...its helps. If not, it wont do any harm. I poured in the complete bottle (about 250ml) to a quarter of fuel tank. Last night i was driving and pulled of hard from the traffic lights and around about 80mph (sorry...i know) the engine felt like it had run out of breath and froze at that speed at probably for a fraction of section. Even today driving, it doesnt feel as nippy as should do. It feels like its in winter/economy mode when i plant my foot down. Doesnt even feel like a T5 anymore. I spoke to a fella at volvo tuning and he told me i shouldnt of used that stuff and advised me to start Optimax or super unleaded and allow time for it to clear out. I just hope i havent done any permanent damage. any ideas?

[Tomcat]

Did you not read the bottle?, I'm sure that you've put too much in for the amount of petrol you had in. I'd go fill up and see what its like afterwards, you may be trying to run it with too much of the stuff in.

[splatt]

I wouldnt have bothered TBH. Petrol already had additives in it to help keep it all clean.
It does sound like you used too mutch..definately. I think a bottle of that is good for more than 1 tankful????
Fill up and go for a bit of a drive..

[ammo1981]

if i have put too much in , what will happen now. I put in 1/4 tank of optimax from almost empty, it still the same. Should i fill it right up?
I dont have any warning lights appearing on dash. Could it be related to the new Elelectronic throttle body that was fitted?

[splatt]

Think 1 bottle should do 4 or 5 tankfulls.....have a read of it.

[Tomcat]

No, you just need to put more petrol in to dilute the amount of redex you've put in.

[ammo1981]

ok, i'm gona go for a complete fill up later on.

[After_Shock]

Deffo put way too much in, the ecu has probably adapted to the amount of it you have put in.

Fill up with optimax. do 20 or 30 miles in it to get it flushed through the fuel lines then disconnect the battery for a couple of hours and re connect it, take it out and all should be re set.

Will have no relation to the ETM you have had done if there was no problems before you put the stuff in.

[hamish]

If in doubt read the instructions !

[T5R+]

If the old memory serves me right - couple of capfuls per tank (and the cap is not that big).

Read the instructions, comes to mind.

But now that the horse has bolted - fill up with decent full, do not keep revving the thing to high heaven, burn off some fuel and keep topping up with fuel to brim tank. Subjectively, after 3-4 tankfuls equivalent, Redex will be depleted.

Lot of folk, think Redex and Turbos do not make good bed-fellows - I only ever used in non-turbo diesels, so cannot comment.

[ammo1981]

thanks guys

[jimka]

it wont do any harm, as in internal damage or anything.. only problem i could see related to it would be your spark plugs getting a bit mucky..

i use to put half a bottle in per tankful and even in my diesel (blue-ex i think its called) i always noticed a difference in responce.

I use to work for a Texco garage, and Texaco have their own brand of "redex" - next time your in a texaco garage - ask for a bottle, its very good.

*edit -- apologise if this is an old thread.. i've been trolling and scroll through old replies to learn stuff

[Straker]

Opps clasic case of not reading the instructions.

I use redex on my 850T5 because I am too mean to pay for 98RON. I have had good results with it but basically I understand it's a mixture of deterdants and various chemicals which remive the deposits on the inlet and injectors and then burn them in the chamber.

it's also de-cokes the chamber by upping the compression ratio and effectively blast/buring all the carbon but if you have used too much then that is no doubt why your car is running badly.

What I would do is fill up with standard 95ROn then run the tank virtually dry to flush out all the redex. Then run a couple of tanks of optimax through the old girl you should be fine.

In summary if you regularly use optimax or simular fuel don't bother with redex as the fuel cleans the engine anyway.

[jimka]

there are quite a few octane boosters available as well for people who wish not to use super unleaded.

I use to sell them, but never required them due to my derv burner but the results and comments are recieved from customers were it was very good.

on the subject of fuel, super-unleaded is more expensive, but there is a noticable improvement in MPG increase which helps balance out the extra cost.

where i live there is only 1 garage that sells super-unleaded (we don't even have shell) so its a bit of a problem for me - at £1.10 odd a litre it sure is expensive as well.