fuel additive possible solution to occasional rough idling ?

[verk]

My truck has occasional rough idling when it feels as if firing on 5 cylinders. It usually clears after a few minutes. There has been a recent increase in frequency of this occurrence. 140k miles on completely original equipment. I've just started to use a fuel additive product hoping that it clears the problem. Is this appropriate use a fuel additive ? When are fuel injectors too far gone for fuel additives and how can one know ?

 

[p-Bar]

Mine bumps every once and a while. I'm at 176k original injectors and I am smoking a bit too. Not making any oil though but need to replace

 

[LFalconer]

Hi a trick I learned on this site is when changing the fuel fliter, after inserting new filter, fill the bowl with Seafoam. Run truck for 2-3 minutes to allow Seafoam to get into injectors. If possible leave sit overnite. Drive as normal. I have seen a difference in idle smoothness after doing this.

I change fuel filters every 10K and do this procedure... 108K on the clock on 06

.Luke

 

[TCDiesel]

There is NO additive that will Clean CR Injectors, additives just masked the problem for a period of time, generally rough idle W/O smoke is FCA failing. W smoke injectors or shatter top rings.

 

[verk]

Thanks for replies. Does the addition of occasional longer cranking and smoke when still warm give further evidence to FCA or injectors ?

 

[TCDiesel]

Injectors and or PRV/LV.

 

[sag2]

There is NO additive that will Clean CR Injectors, additives just masked the problem for a period of time, generally rough idle W/O smoke is FCA failing. W smoke injectors or shatter top rings.

This is the procedure from the FSM. The first 11 steps are dropping the tank, lines, etc. to flush and clean them. I performed quite a few over the years and unless the injectors were damaged from the contamination the cleaner had pretty good results. The Mopar PN listed below is repackaged CRC Diesel Fuel Therapy.

This is the remaining steps but when I pasted them it changed the numbering back to 1-8.

1. Clean fuel filter housing and install new (latest number available) Mopar Fuel Filter.
   
2. Pour half a bottle (approximately 15 ounces) of Mopar Diesel Fuel Injector Cleaner P/N 68194640AA into the Fuel Tank with the clean fuel.
   
3. Warm engine while checking for leaks or running concerns. Correct concerns as necessary.
   
4. Drive the truck a short distance (parking lot) and stop several times to agitate the cleaner/fuel mixture in the fuel tank. (Slosh fuel mixture in tank).
   
5. Monitor the scan tool and validate engine has reached operating temperature of 180°F (82°C).
   
6. Enable “Injector High Pressure Override” 3 times. This will stress the injectors and High Pressure Delivery Pump and circulate the cleaner/fuel mixture through the entire system.
   
7. Safely drive truck somewhat aggressively. Perform three times, wide open throttle 0 to 60 hard accelerations in a safe area to circulate cleaner and allow fuel to flush/clean injectors.
   
8. Verify repair by performing the Diesel Aftertreatment Validation - 6.7L procedure. (Refer to 28 - DTC-Based Diagnostics/MODULE, Powertrain Control (PCM) - Standard Procedure).

 

[TCDiesel]

That procedure is for dealer to use to fool owners into paying for it, it may clean the filter canister, but it will NEVER clean HPCR component's . We measure wear by .0000 +-02 , So any type of cleaning by additive's is temporary and short lived.

If you want to know truth about additive's call your local refinery, Ask to talk to someone in the chemist Dept , They have tested just about every type of additive produced. For example ,Flint Hills Refinery test the Fuel for quality and health to Make darn sure it meets the power plant (engine) builders requirements for lube, a minimum 500+ times a week.

 

[sag2]

That procedure is for dealer to use to fool owners into paying for it, it may clean the filter canister, but it will NEVER clean HPCR component's . We measure wear by .0000 +-02 , So any type of cleaning by additive's is temporary and short lived.

Sorry to disagree, but the procedure was developed for use on warranty repairs to avoid unnecessary parts replacements. I was involved in the development and field testing of it quite a few years back and I can say without a doubt that it worked on some trucks. The idea was to attempt the cleaning procedure first and if the injectors didn’t cleanup they were sent out for testing/cleaning/repair/replacement.
It didn’t fix every truck, but since you had to clean and flush all the parts anyway it was a no lose situation for FCA as you could pay the dealer to clean probably 10 trucks for the cost of replacing all the parts in just one truck.
I stand by at least attempting to use the cleaner. The only other option involves thousands of dollars’ worth of parts vs. a $15 bottle of cleaner that is the only one approved by the Cummins/FCA engineers. Just wondering, where is your automotive and fuels engineering degree from?

 

[TCDiesel]

I have NEVER replace not even 1 injector Because it was dirty, if it was dirty it was because contamination ruin it.

I have worked alongside many developers and innovators, at Cummins and Cat and I will tell you that they would Never support bottle cleaning. That's Cube thinking at tits best.

C'mon Sag2 it may work on extremely rare types of filth, and it will only be temporary something caused the fifth, its only time before it shows its ugly head again.

like I said many additive(s) just mask the problem

 

[sag2]

My point is that FCA engineering and especially Cummins engineers have to agree on any repair direction before they agree to release it. Much thought and research went into the cleaning procedure and especially the choice of cleaner before they released it to the dealers. The engineers may not get everything correct but they just don't willy nilly throw things out there unless it is throughly tested.
So I still stand by my recommendation that it works on some trucks, and at worst you spend $15 and some time. There is no reason to just replace parts, especially expensive ones. You can also never go wrong following the manufacturer's service procedures.
You will also notice that I have never suggested anyone use additives on a regular basis, as there is no need to if you keep good quality clean fuel and filters in your truck.

 

[DonFitzwater]

"Sorry to disagree, but the procedure was developed for use on warranty repairs to avoid unnecessary parts replacements."

Sag2, you are very skilled and your knowledge of the product goes without question in my opinion, however, this is just a Band-Aid for what usually ends up being injector replacement. I've owned these trucks since the release of common rail injection and every time I've had runability problems and an injector was at fault, my local dealer tried the cheapo clean and ended up putting injectors in it anyway.............or just pushed me off long enough for my warranty to go out so I get to pay for injectors. I chock all of this up to Chrysler/Cummins/Bosch being cheap and not wanting to stand behind warranty.

 

[ssanders60]

For about three years my truck would crank up and shut down and idle rough until I got it in the street, then for a period of time
the trouble would go away, then this year it got so bad I thought about putting in the shop, but it did not show any failure codes and
I didn't want to pay for a fishing expedition. I had used Diesel clean before and it seemed to help, then one day I put 20 ounces of Diesel KLeen
in it and I have had no more problems now for several months. Don't buy the algea Diesel Kleen, buy the one in the gray bottle. You can get it
Walmart. To this day I don't know what the problem was. I was buying Murphy Oil diesel and one day I noticed on the pump a small white
sticker, at the bottom of the pump, reading B-20. No telling how long I had been putting B20 in my truck, a 2003 H/O 4x4.

 

[p-Bar]

Ya I question the B20 .