Techron Fuel FAQs: What is Techron & Other Questions

Answer to your questions on

Why should I choose Techron® over lower quality fuels?

Techron, the special ingredient in all Caltex petrols, makes them unsurpassed at keeping vital engine parts clean, helping your car perform at its best. Lower quality fuels can leave harmful deposits in your car's engine. As these deposits accumulate over time, your car may begin to hesitate during acceleration, knock or lose power. Petrols with Techron are unbeatable at cleaning up and avoiding deposits. There's no better way for you to protect and maintain your engine's performance than by using a petrol with Techron.

How are petrols with Techron® different from other petrols?

Many other petrols use a detergent additive that's based on polybutene amine (PBA)-based chemistry. PBA additives do an adequate job of controlling intake system deposits–but only if the dosage in the fuel is high enough to do the job. In recent years, the concentration of PBA in many petrols has fallen so low that the petrols do not keep intake systems clean. And if a petrol uses a concentration of PBA-based additive that's high enough to keep the intake system clean, the additive itself can contribute materially to combustion chamber deposits. Excessive combustion chamber deposits can cause an engine to need a higher octane petrol to avoid knock or loss in performance. These excessive deposits can also cause higher tailpipe emissions. In contrast, Techron provides unsurpassed intake system deposit control, while simultaneously minimizing any contribution to harmful combustion chamber deposits.

Is Techron® good for your car?

Yes, and not just your car – but any vehicle you drive. This is because Techron, a special additive in all Caltex petrol, cleans deposits from your engine (that would have come from inferior-quality fuel) and prevents future build-up.

I care for the environment. Does Techron® impact my car's emissions?

Deposits on carburetors, fuel injectors and intake valves can cause your car to produce higher emissions, which contribute to air pollution. Petrols with Techron are unbeatable at cleaning up and avoiding these deposits, giving you reduced emissions. And unlike the deposit control additives used by many oil companies, petrol with Techron cleans up intake system deposits while minimizing the contribution to emission-causing combustion chamber deposits.

My car is knocking and pinging. What is causing this? Can Techron® help?

Knocking and pinging are generally caused by improper combustion in your engine. If the fuel-air mixture auto-ignites somewhere in the cylinder, the auto-ignition combustion wave can interact with the spark-initiated combustion wave, causing the vibration you hear as knock or ping. An increase in engine load, temperature, compression, spark-advance, air-fuel ratio and combustion chamber deposits all contribute to the tendency for an engine to knock. The use of higher octane fuel reduces this tendency. Deposits in the combustion chamber can increase you engine's appetite for octane by increasing the compression ratio. Fortunately, petrol with Techron minimizes any contribution to potentially harmful combustion chamber deposits.