I've got both of these in the garage. What is the main ingredient in each of these and what is the difference between them? Techron/Chevron goes out of their way to obfuscate the difference.
This user is gone it looks like, but the Q got 5 upvotes, and general knowledge of how to track this stuff down is worthy of spreading I believe, here goes:
Get the product # / UPC and go look up the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) on their website. It should be in a PDF. Don't bother with the "PDS" or Product Data Sheet. https://cglapps.chevron.com/msdspds/MSDSPage.aspx?region=NA&language=en
I looked up the first one, that's easy: https://cglapps.chevron.com/msdspds/SDSDetailPage.aspx?docDataId=426811&docFormat=PDF
only one hit there, "Under the New Jersey Right-to-Know Act L. 1983 Chapter 315 N.J.S.A. 34:5A-1 et. seq., the product is tobe identified as follows: PETROLEUM OIL" Also, "hydrotreated light distillates" is what it is (70-99%). Then you grab the CAS # because that's not satisfactory "64742-47-8", and go to the NIH website: https://hazmap.nlm.nih.gov/category-details?table=copytblagents&id=10702 they have a whole lot more names listed for this, it's basically a petroleum distillate, right? We don't know exactly the entire process and which forms it takes along the way, or what it's combined with, since the other item in the SDS is a "trade secret", with no CAS #, but some trade secret ID#.
Short answer, since you don't say exactly what you want to know (safety, efficacy, etc.): from a safety standpoint treat it like fuel. Which on is better? Well, by now they have yet another formula on the market... get the product code, match the SDS, and hope there's some info. Some of these things will have 0.5% of some chemical. If you understand that chemical may be superior at removing deposits or inferior because it leaves undesirable residue or byproduct after reacting with something in the fuel system, which may even depend on your exact make/model of vehicle, then that's super awesome.
The second item is harder to get an SDS without the product code. My search by name turned up a half dozen product codes, and since the SDS/PDS search results don't contain retail product packaging images, we're a little SOL without more info from you/the package. I also searched the web for each code and was unable to get a matching definitive pairing...
They are mostly the same distillate (or similar) and one of them may have more of a trade secret by percentage in fact, and then there's a couple with small percentages of some naptha solvent and a couple other gnarly sounding chemicals. Best not to ingest, smell, get in eyes, breath too long, etc. Dangerous and flammable.
