Do stp cleaners work?

[JerseyJeff84]

This may sound very stupid, but bare with me, I'm a car novice, but is it safe to use cleaners? My Yaris only has 16,000 on it(2010) and as much as it would be nice to use a cleaner, I'm scared of ruining the car. When I was younger, my parents used a cleaner in their 1980's Pontiac and it killed the engine.

[A-Dingo-Ate-My-Baby]

Originally Posted by JerseyJeff84

This may sound very stupid, but bare with me, I'm a car novice, but is it safe to use cleaners? My Yaris only has 16,000 on it(2010) and as much as it would be nice to use a cleaner, I'm scared of ruining the car. When I was younger, my parents used a cleaner in their 1980's Pontiac and it killed the engine.

a) no risk

it is completely safe to use auto parts store or walmart cleaners that go into the tank only,

b) some risk

the cleaners that have you in the engine bay sucking into the throttle body could damage the motor if done completely incorrectly (dumped all in at once), either by hydrolock or other extreme pressure situation, or thinning of the motor oil and causing extra wear or failure