Cetane Boosters/Revisit?

[JPope]

"... Was reading about cetane boosters recently, most are made with nitrous oxide as the main ingredient. As most racers know NO is usually a gas. Apparently it wants to change back from the liquid form to gas in your tank in the process causing precipitates that form sludge in your fuel system. Not good, plus you lose the cetane boosting properties in just a few days.



This answered a question for me, I had gotten mixed results in mpg gain using Power Service cetane boost (silver bottle). After reading the NO article I now realize the mpg gains were only on tanks where I drove straight from one fill up to the next, when the fuel was allowed to sit in the tank, no gain. So now it appears beside possibly plugging up your system that cetane boost additives are a waste of money unless you use the fuel fast... . " was posted by Bill Fleming on DTR in reposnse to a question about diesel grades etc.



This seems to follow my experiences (seat of pants) with the PS Silver, and maybe now I know why? Bill has a lot of knowledge and always seemed to come up with research on various topics in the past when here. With all of the past material available on additives (check search feature for many threads), including all of the discussion on 'Amalmagated additive' and cetane boosters in the past, does anyone else have the same experience/knowledge/research/results etc. on cetane boosters?

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

HMMmmm - I'm at least mildly suspicious of the Nitrous Oxide bit, at least as far as it being used at the cetane booster in PS, and wanting to return to a gaseous state - If that was true, you would pretty much expect to see PS jugs bulging or exploding on dealer shelves - or at least SOME evidence of vapor buildup in unused jugs...



I sure never have seen any such evidence, and I use that stuff EVERY tankfull of fuel...

 

[Alan Reagan]

I have read where Stanadyne users have reported that there is a buildup on their tank gauge. I've used Stanadyne for several years with no problems. I believe if you don't follow the directions, you could develop a problem. The instructions say to pour before fueling. Apparently this is so that the fuel will mix with the additive during the slight adgitation during fueling. If you pour it in after fueling, especially during cold weather, it will probably go to the bottom of the tank and sit.



I would be suspect of the NO theory. In dealing with liquified gases in the past (LNG and Ammonia) they have to be pretty cold to remain in a liquid state.

 

[Mike Ellis]

I will have to go back and check the cetane boosters again and see if there is a difference in long trip results versus normal driving, the separation theory is interesting.



The additive subject fascinates me, particularly how many people are religiously devoted to "Additive X" of their choosing yet have little or no evidence that it does anything for their engine - no verifiable mileage increase, no verifiable performance increase beyond "seat of the pants" which is a pretty poor gauge.



I have tried Power Service, Howes, Stanadyne, etc, and posted before about results on long trips with similar driving conditions and weather using the different ones - truthfully can't tell much difference in them at all, nor that they do much of anything for the truck beyond plain diesel. Stanadyne seems to be a bit better than the others seat-of-the-pants wise, but none of them show any consistent mileage gains - some of them actually reduce my mileage, not sure why.



The only additive I have used that regularly increases mileage and perceived performance is plain old Marvel Mystery Oil. Posting this fact resulted in much derision directed my way in forums and e-mail, mostly by folks who have never tried anything except their particular favorite additive. My view is, "Reach down and find a pair!" - go out and actually try the different additives and SEE FOR YOURSELF which ones make any significant difference.



After tracking mileage over 100's of thousands of miles in various vehicles, I see no statistical evidence that any benefit is derived from running an additive in every tank. Accordingly, I use MMO or Stanadyne every four or five tankfuls to "hopefully" clean things out a bit. If I lived in a cold climate, I'd use an anti-gel additive. Other than that, I don't see any need for additives beyond an occasional squirt of biocide to prevent fuel bugs.



Bill Fleming pointed out once upon a time that if any of these additives showed enough mileage gain / performance increase / engine cleaning benefits to be cost effective, the big trucking firms would use them in every tank.



Your mileage may vary... . :-laf

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

"The additive subject fascinates me, particularly how many people are religiously devoted to "Additive X" of their choosing yet have little or no evidence that it does anything for their engine - no verifiable mileage increase, no verifiable performance increase beyond "seat of the pants" which is a pretty poor gauge. "





I can't speak for others, but *I* am "religiously devoted" to use of a decent, reasonably priced and easily available fuel additive PURELY as an agent to hopefully provide the needed diesel lubricity that a number of studies have found to be lower than manufacturer spec for my injection pump. I couldn't care much less about cetane or MPG gains, but will take any I can get from my own "religious" choice!"



Further, I personally view my use of an additive in much the same light as heart medicine - not of predictable benefit when only taken randomly - after all, how can any of us KNOW which tankfull of fuel is the one unusually poor in quality? If I wasn't convinced enough of an additives value to use it ALL the time, I simply would pocket the savings, and NEVER use ANY!



Lab "proof" as to which, if any of the popular additives will actually deliver what we are buying and using it for? None *I* am aware of as related to the Cummins and it's injection pumps - and other than personal expressions of faith and trust in one specific brand or another, or in the MMO you prefer or Automatic transmission fluid, all we have is scattered "seat of the pants" and anecdotal versions as to why one is deemed "better" than another...

 

[y-knot]

I have been using both cetane boosters and fuel conditioners since my truck was 6 months old. I have only used Amsoil products and have never had a fuel related issue or failure. No gel, no water nothing. The Cetane Booster is really only evident when towing a very heavy load. That doesn't mean it isn't working all the other times, just the damm thing has so much torque and power you never get it loaded down enough to tell. I pull a 16,000 + trailer and you can tell if one tank had the booster or not. It pulls the hills better and the EGT's stay lower.

Some call things like this "snake oil", but I think they just don't use their truck enough to tell the difference.

 

[dcamilleri]

I have tried most of the fuel additive on the market and the only one that has ever given me noticeable results has be Redline diesel fuel catalyst. It would clean up sticky injectors and always gave me about 1 mpg fuel mileage improvement. I have never witnessed any results with any of the other additives. I now use additive mainly to keep fuel from gelling when it gets 20 to 40 below 0 and then guess what some of the additives don't do what they claim yet again! Oh well. :-{}

 

[Jeff H]

I sometimes add power service to my fuel. Usually not worth fussin over. Just adds more cost to the fuel price.

There is a write up about cetane boosters in the tdr magazine. Its either 2001 or 2002 collection of tdr mags.

 

[Doubleclutch]

It's under Amalgamated Fuel Treatment, or something of the sort... no pun intended.

Greg