Alright, so I finally got around to cleaning my fuel injectors the other day. Been meaning to do it for ages, and figured, why not just dive in?

First off, I picked up one of those fuel injection cleaning machines. It wasn’t some super fancy, top-of-the-line thing, just a decent one I found online. Made sure it had all the adapters I'd probably need for my car – a 2010 Honda Civic. Gotta double-check that stuff, or you're just stuck with a useless piece of equipment.

The prep was kinda annoying. I had to disconnect the fuel line from the fuel rail. That part always makes me nervous 'cause, you know, fuel. I made sure to relieve the fuel pressure first – there’s usually a valve for that. Then, plugged in the cleaning machine's adapter in place of the fuel line. The machine basically becomes your fuel source while you're cleaning.

Next up was the cleaning solution. The machine came with a bottle, but I also did a bit of research online and got a highly-rated one. Poured that sucker into the machine's reservoir. After this, follow the machine's directions, usually it involves setting the pressure to match your car's fuel system. Mine was around 40-50 PSI.

Then came the fun part – starting the car and letting it run solely on the cleaning solution. The engine ran a little rough at first, spitting and sputtering for a bit, but that's normal. You can see all the nasty stuff get cleaned out. I just let it idle for about 20 minutes. The instructions said to let the engine run until the machine's reservoir was almost empty, but i just wanted to make sure.

After that, I disconnected the cleaning machine, hooked the fuel line back up, and started the car again. It took a few tries to get it running smoothly on regular fuel, and it smoked a little at first, but after it warmed up it was pretty much normal.

Did it make a huge difference? Honestly, it's hard to say. The car seemed to idle a bit smoother, and maybe the throttle response was a tad better. But even if the difference wasn't massive, I’m glad I did it. Figured it was a good maintenance thing to do, and it gave me some peace of mind.

Plus, now I have a fuel injection cleaning machine, so I can do it again whenever I feel like it. Next time, I might try a different cleaning solution and see if that makes a bigger difference. It was kinda fun to do it myself, and saved me some money compared to taking it to a shop. All in all, a good weekend project.