Fuel Additives, are they worth using?

[Jeremiah]

Your Dodge/Cummins owner's manual tells you that fuel additives are NOT necessary and NOT recommended.....



If you do the math you will see I have driven three Dodge Rams a total of 614,000 miles without fuel additives. I have never replaced an injector, never had any problem with water or trash in the fuel.



.

I too know what the manual says, and while I understand that Cummins might say additives are neither needed nor necessary, not everyone is so lucky. Still, you can't argue with HBarlow's three-truck experience. OTOH, I have 96,000 miles on my '03 and have just replaced two injectors (No. 1 and 2) that were leaking. Whether an additive would have stopped them from leaking is another matter -- I am guessing not. I'm not enough of a mechanic to know why one injector leaks and another one doesn't.

 

[Jeremiah]

I will ask the question since no one else has: what causes one or two injectors to leak and the others don't? And would a "cleaning" additive be of any benefit in that regard? I'm guessing not, but I'll still ask.

 

[BrianJ]

I had a leaky injector replaced at 11,000 miles, don't know how an additive would have helped with that one. If the CTD is run hard and tows a lot (gets temps up and keeps the injectors clean) I see no advantage to additives unless to help with gelling in the winter. If the CTD is not run hard or tow a load very often then perhaps additives can help with PERIODIC use to help keep the fuel system clean.



It is chemically impossible for an addive to IMPROVE mileage (they all have less BTU's than the fuel they replace), but they can help RESTORE or MAINTAIN mileage by cleaning the injectors and fuel system. Again, only periodic use is required for this.

 

[Jeremiah]

Thanks, that's kinda what I thought too. I'm just a few miles south of you (well, maybe 75 as the crow flies---in Teller County) and up at 9,000'. I don't tow but I do haul 3,000 lbs of water once a week, which, at 11,000 lbs, puts me a bit over GVWR. I also don't drive unless I go at least 20-25 miles, which should let the truck come up to temperature. I routinely get 20 mpg, which is great and fuel mileage isn't an issue. I was just interested in a clean, happy engine with injectors spraying diesel fuel like they're supposed to.

 

[mickeyblueyes]

Ok I would like to jump in with a multiple part question(s) and would like some feed back. My understanding is when a distributor winterizes #2 fuel they just add #1 kerosene #1 has less parafin in it so it will not gel, however it has no lubricant properties which is why we can not use it in third generation trucks but can for 1st and 2nd generation. So why not 10 gallons to your tank in winter to prevent gelling? The cost is about the same and you will be riding on the money you spent instead of spending $15~ on Howes Anti gel ,follow my logic?? Another thought is if these additives add a higher cetane value to your tank why would this not be helpful?? If towing I think a higher cetane would be more desirable. Last but not least ASIDE from the legal problems ... why has no one ever used home heating fuel in these trucks? it can be as high as a dollar a gallon cheaper. Any and all thoughts welcome.

 

[HBarlow]

Who said blended winter fuel cannot be used in a Gen III Ram?

 

[TimothyLong]

Ok I would like to jump in with a multiple part question(s) and would like some feed back. My understanding is when a distributor winterizes #2 fuel they just add #1 kerosene #1 has less parafin in it so it will not gel, however it has no lubricant properties which is why we can not use it in third generation trucks but can for 1st and 2nd generation. So why not 10 gallons to your tank in winter to prevent gelling? The cost is about the same and you will be riding on the money you spent instead of spending $15~ on Howes Anti gel ,follow my logic?? Another thought is if these additives add a higher cetane value to your tank why would this not be helpful?? If towing I think a higher cetane would be more desirable. Last but not least ASIDE from the legal problems ... why has no one ever used home heating fuel in these trucks? it can be as high as a dollar a gallon cheaper. Any and all thoughts welcome.

I don't think that all areas of the US get blended diesel in the winter. I believe that the warmer areas that don't get real winters, like here in central MD, only get some anti-gelling agents added to the fuel. I could be wrong about this, but I thought I read that somewhere. For the areas that get the blended diesel, I don't think it's a problem. Lubricity problems are more a product of the ULSD. While distributors are supposed to add lubricity agents to make the ULSD run better in pre-2007 diesel engines, my guess is that they put barely enough in. Some engines are okay with that. Others aren't. On the cetane, some additives have a cetane booster others don't. You would have to figure if the amount of extra power/fuel economy you get is worth the price of the additive. Lastly, I'm quite certain that there are a lot of Gen 3's out there running heating fuel. In fact, I believe that off road diesel that is available in some areas is about the same as heating fuel. Just don't get caught with too much of it in your tank. I would say that the biggest reason that you don't hear a lot about running heating fuel is BECAUSE of the legal issues. Penalties are quite steep and sometimes the State Troopers aren't real picky about where they do spot checks and what sized vehicle they check. I know for a fact that back when diesel was running almost $5. 00 per gallon, MD State Police had a random check point at the Carroll County dump. ANY vehicle that crossed the scales into the dump that had a diesel engine was pulled over and spot checked.

Fuel additives are not the "be-all-end-all" for engine longevity or power or fuel economy. But neither are they necessarily the money making root of all evil either. Again, I go back to my original premise that a majority of folks that use additives do so for a very specific purpose. Folks like Ryan and I need a little extra lubricity to help our engines run smooth. There are also a lot of folks, like Harvey, who don't use additives and are fortunate enough to not need to run additives that are quite content with how their engines run without them. I never ran any fuel additives in my old '98. 5 Gen 2, but then that was back in the pre-ULSD days too.

 

[mickeyblueyes]

To answer your question Harvey I read that you can not use straight #1 in 3 Gens. In previous years you could use it.

 

[HBarlow]

To answer your question Harvey I read that you can not use straight #1 in 3 Gens. In previous years you could use it.

Who said anything about straight #1 diesel fuel?


My question was:

"Who said blended winter fuel cannot be used in a Gen III Ram?"

Blended winter fuel where it is sold in the northern states is a mix of #1 and #2 diesel fuel.

 

[mickeyblueyes]

Harvy, My apologies I ran one sentence into another. Of coarse winter blend is ok in 3 gens or any year for that matter, My point was, a little complex we can not run straight #1 in 3rd gens. But is it more economical to blend our own , such as adding 10 gals of #1 to our tank than paying$$$$ for a product like Howes. If Howes cost $5. 00 a tank to use and we get no added mileage out of it then it drives the cost of fuel in that tank up,by $5. 00 If we blend our fuel with 10 gals of #1 then we get the anti gel properties and in addition we get to drive on those 10 gallons there for not adding to the cost of fuel. I hope this abstract is a little clearer.

 

[HBarlow]

I'm certainly no fan of fuel additives so my preference would be purchase of blended fuel or mixing it myself if that were the cheaper method.

I suppose you could compare the price of 20 gallons of blended winter mix to the price of 10 gallons of #1 plus ten gallons of #2 fuel.

I don't know if #2 is offered for sale during the winter months in northern states where temps require #1 or blended fuel.

 

[mickeyblueyes]

I personally do not not expect that any fuel is winterized. This after getting gelled myself on "winterized fuel" In the North East a while back the demand for Diesel fuel was so great that they could not keep up with the demand and were (supposedly) using undyed home fuel instead. This is what gelled me.

 

[BrianJ]

Thanks, that's kinda what I thought too. I'm just a few miles south of you (well, maybe 75 as the crow flies---in Teller County) and up at 9,000'. I don't tow but I do haul 3,000 lbs of water once a week, which, at 11,000 lbs, puts me a bit over GVWR. I also don't drive unless I go at least 20-25 miles, which should let the truck come up to temperature. I routinely get 20 mpg, which is great and fuel mileage isn't an issue. I was just interested in a clean, happy engine with injectors spraying diesel fuel like they're supposed to.

Sounds like you are getting pretty good results so far, I don't know that I would waste the money on continued use of additives, perhaps just the occassional use to keep things cleen, and perhaps an anti gel (power service white bottle) up in your neck of the woods, but I have always had good luck with the fuel in that area (always some of the better prices as well!).



I am down that way fairly often during the summer camping and ATV'n in the north Divide area.

 

[rbattelle]

To answer your question Harvey I read that you can not use straight #1 in 3 Gens. In previous years you could use it.

I could be wrong, but I don't believe it's safe to use straight #1 in 1st or 2nd gen engines either. A 1st or 2nd gen owner would be more knowledgeable on the subject.



Ryan

 

[Jeremiah]

Sounds like you are getting pretty good results so far, I don't know that I would waste the money on continued use of additives, perhaps just the occassional use to keep things cleen, and perhaps an anti gel (power service white bottle) up in your neck of the woods, but I have always had good luck with the fuel in that area (always some of the better prices as well!).



I am down that way fairly often during the summer camping and ATV'n in the north Divide area.

Take a look at Hackett's Gulch the next time you're out this way. It's probably the toughest trail in this part of the country. It's NW of Divide, N of Florissant and goes down to the south side of the S. Platte River. Might have to navigate around a few man-made obstacles, if you know what I mean.



It's possible to get almost to the same place by car, but on the other side of the river. Go down Hwy 24 past Lake George, turn right on the Tarryall Road, turn right on the Matucat Road, go 10-15 miles on FS roads until you see the road that takes you down there. You'll need a FS map, obviously.