Fuel Injectors - OEM only or avoid Chinese made

Question

I have a 2008 Chevy Impala LS with a 3.5 l flex fuel engine. Do you recommend OEM only fuel injectors (AC Delco) or will another reputable manufacturer provide adequate fuel? I’m dealing with check engine lights. Most recently the two codes are P0300 multiple misfires and P0455 large evap leak.

I cleared the P0455 by giving the fuel filler neck a good scrubbing with hand sanitizer and toothbrush/rag. I then added a 20 ounce bottle of Chevron’s Techron Cleaner. About 20 miles later, the check engine light came back with code P0306.

I then drove 60 miles or so, I then added a bottle of Techron and filled the tank with 11-12 gals of Super Unleaded. After 30 miles, the light has not returned. However, my ThinkCar 1S showed that Short Term Fuel Trim B1S1 was fluctuating considerably. However, the Short Term Fuel Trim B1S2 remained constant at 99.219%

i captured live date screens and saved these to my Smartphone. If you like, I can send these to Scotty

What should my next step? Drive another 30-50 miles to see what if any lights return or change? Send these data screens and ask Scotty or a moderator to provide a recommendation?

I called a couple of local shops and they told me they don’t do cleaning but recommend clients replace their injectors? The least expensive injector I found at http://www.RockAuto.com is the Ultrapower brand which is less than $20.00.

http://Www.carid.com has the AC Delco OEM for $70.00. Alternatively, http://www.RockAuto.com has Delphi for $40.00.

I won’t consider remanufactured but I want quality, reliability and dependability. This Impala is driven by my 25 year old son and is nearing Scotty’s don’t spend $$$ on a GM product threshold because it is 13 years old and has approximately at 130,000 miles.

Razmig Bartassian · Answer

First check your O2 sensors and any air-metering sensors to see if they are working properly. The O2 sensor and MAF/MAP sensors play a big role in calculating fuel trims. Remember that the O2 sensor should be fluctuating around 0.9 volts. If for any reason it is staying steady or stuck below 0.5 volts, then it should be replaced. Check the data from the MAF/MAP sensors as well. Another thing to check is the fuel rail pressure. You need to have proper fuel pressure for the injectors to work right.

I would stick with OEM quality fuel injectors. Even remanufactured fuel injectors are good. They are used fuel injectors that are professionally cleaned, tested, and resold (just make sure they are OEM). Techron fuel system cleaner is good stuff, I use it all the time. But if you feel like the injectors are too worn out to be cleaned with the additive, then try replacing them.

You want the short term and long term fuel trims to be between -10 to 10%, where 0% is perfect. Negative is subtracting fuel (correcting rich) and positive is adding fuel (correcting lean).