Fuel additives

[Flash1034]

Amazon had Howes for $8.95 for 64oz bottle last week. I bought a case. I usually use Stanadyne Performance Formula, however. My buddy has 365k on his 5.9 Cummins and still has his original injectors. He uses Stanadyne as well.

 

[Slaw32]

I live in South Dakota , trust me , it gets really cold here . In cold temps I add a 32 oz. Container of power service to a full tank of straight #2 Diesel , no #1 . Mechanic says doesn't hurt to use full container , don't have the hassle of measuring or dealing with partial containers . Costs about 6.00 more per tank . Have never had gelling issues . Lot more power and better fuel mileage than running a winter blended fuel . Up here they say in the winter time if you want your Diesel to start Everytime , buy a Cummins .

 

[TCDiesel]

Back in the early 90s and prior it was said Cummins won't start if the sun goes down (Common Staying), How true that was. Back than this was the cold start order Cat, Volvo, DET, NAV, Mack, Ford , GM, Cummins. Here In MN the fuel is refined year round to 0'F. back in 2005 Before We had our Cabin in West Yellowstone, We stayed in Motels ,Gray Wolf or Yellowstone, One Saturday It was -42F My 2003 Dodge was NOT plug in and it Started.. it was the Only Truck to Start with Diesel engine in the Lot that was NOT plugged in. I can't remember if I added any anti-Gel , So My guess is NO, I do know Back than the region Blended #1 and #2 .....

 

[Killgore]

I'm guilty of thinking back forty or more years and remembering that during the Winter I always carried at least 100' of extension cord, even here in the South. I'd try and get a down & out motel room when I needed a good night's sleep and plug in the block-heater. Barring that, I'd leave the old girl running all night. That was about the extent of my 'prevention'.

Today, I'm waiting for some imaginative company to offer a portable fuel tester that could determine the presence of lubricity and chill a fuel sample to verify the cloud or gelling point. Believe me, it can be done. Over the past forty years I've worked for several companies that were able to identify more elusive properties. Identifying and reaching the customer base?... well, we're already here waiting!

- Ed

 

[DieselLady]

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/76.../177728-lubricity-additive-study-results.html
I would disagree that additives are pretty much all the same. After reading this, I only use Opti_Lube XPD. And be very careful about others that you use. Some can actually make the lubricity worse.

 

[SkiSmuggs]

I live in VT and get my fuel from either Irving or Mobil. Went to Irving one day and the tanker truck was filling them up, so I drove to Mobil and, while fueling my truck, the same tanker pulls in. I talked to the driver and he said that NO additives are used at the station. They get what comes from the Irving refinery and Irving supplies Mobil as well. He also said that I did the right thing for leaving the station he was filling in case sludge got stirred up. He also told me that only the gasoline fills have an additive package added specific to the brand of gas at each station.

 

[Killgore]

DieselLady,I wouldn't take issue with your statement. However, I would point out that Arlen Spicer's study has been around since Washington was a corporal. He notes in his study that the Opt_Lube sample was submitted by the formulator rather than "off the shelf". This negates the results for a purely "blind" study. Further, just about every diesel fuel additive formulator uses the same 'active' ingredients, granted at varying percentages, if you look at their published MSDS'. Adding a lubricity agent to bulk fuel is a very inexpensive process according to "Fuel Oil News", and a very lucrative industry for an after-market profiteer. We just want to insure the additive is there, and the lubricity is below 460 microns, not the ASTM Standard of 520. If it's not, well, I guess we'll take a trip to Wally World, LOL.

If the truth was known, some formulators are mega-companies with research and test facilities, while some are not more than resellers working out of 55-gallon drums in their garages, IMO. I'm not trying to look past the smoke and mirrors, start a war, etc. I just want a product that is reasonably priced, or know that my fuel has been properly treated.

- Ed

 

[KRSmitty]

At one time Opti-Lube was suppose to be the best.

 

[ssanders60]

fuel additives recommended by Cummins.

Cummins is recommending the use of fuel additives what do members recommend thanks

I use Diesel Kleen in my '03 Dodge Ram, HO, quad cab. periodically my truck at operating temperature stumbles when
starting off from a traffic light. when it starts this I add about 8 ounces of Diesel Kleen. It does not show a code. It will
run properly after the Diesel Kleen and will continue for a few fuel fills. I have said it is the lack of lubrication in the diesel
fuel. Another cure is filling up at a Walmart in Waycross, Ga. Again it will run properly for several fillups. The Walmart stores
in Jacksonville sells B20, you talk about a screw up, why the truck won't even idle with that stuff.

 

[JR]

If that test is to be believed, B2 is a better lubricant than any additive on the market or at least that was tested. Given the fact that bio blends are the norm rather than the exception almost everywhere in the US with some states even mandating up to B20, the test is almost a contradiction in the argument that a lubricity additive is needed.

 

[jaybo]

I use Stanadyne in my '99

 

[Copperhead]

I use what I get from my commercial supplier Schaeffer’s. Very cost effective. 1 oz to 7.5 gallons. I get it by the 5 gallon can and go thru a couple cans each winter.

 

[AH64ID]

Back before Fleetguard had a line of fuel additives Cummins didn't recommend any additive, now that Fleetguard has a line of fuel additives Cummins is recommending additives.... hmmm....


That being said I have ran Amsoil Diesel Concentrate in every tank of fuel since I bought the truck.


My truck started last winter at -22°F, had been -28°F overnight, without a block heater or grid heater and weak batteries. It wasn't happy, but it started. It would have started much better with good batteries, but those weren't replaced until later in the year.

I have seen PowerJokes not like to start at +40°F with bad glow plugs, so I'll take my Cummins in cold weather.

 

[2t2-crash]

I use either diesel kleen or Howe's at the recommendation of my cousin who is a commercial truck driver as well as a GMC (yuck) diesel owner.

 

[Killgore]

Granted, I live off the beaten-path, but the only place I've seen any offering of bio-fuel was at a Walmart outside of Dallas that had a sticker on the pump that said, "may contain up to 20% bio-fuel", or something to that effect. I would be looking for some soy-oil to throw in the tank if I knew more; are my hoses, fittings, and fuel filters going to require any additional attention if I start using B2?

I've included some quotes from a paper published by the National Biodiesel Board that was published back when 500ppm sulfur (LSD) was the maximum:

*******************************************************************************
A 1998 review paper on fuel lubricity worldwide showed that diesel fuel in the US and Canada is some of the poorest lubricity fuel found in the entire world. Of the 27 countries surveyed, only Canada, Switzerland, Poland and Taiwan had poorer lubricity fuel than the US. With a mean fuel lubricity of just under the recommended specification of an HFRR wear scar diameter of 460 microns, fully 50% of the US fuel was found to be above that recommended by equipment manufacturers.

These US data are with diesel fuel refined to meet the current EPA restriction of 500 ppm maximum sulfur specification. The severe hyrdrotreating required to reduce fuel sulfur to the new EPA 2006 specification of 15 ppm sulfur maximum will cause a further reduction in fuel lubricity compared to today’s diesel fuel, and is of concern to engine and fuel injection equipment manufacturers

And, further:

*********************************************************************************

Based on the HFRR testing run by Stanadyne, and testing from other laboratories showing similar results, Stanadyne Automotive has stated:

“….we have tested biodiesel at Stanadyne and results indicate that the inclusion of 2% biodiesel into any conventional diesel fuel will be sufficient to address the lubricity concerns that we have with these existing diesel fuels. From our standpoint, inclusion of biodiesel is desirable for two reasons. First it would eliminate the inherent variability associated with the use of other additives and whether sufficient additive was used to make the fuel fully lubricious. Second, we consider biodiesel a fuel or fuel component—not an additive…Thus if more biodiesel is added than required to increase lubricity, there will not be the adverse consequences that might be seen if other lubricity additives are dosed at too high a rate.”

*************************************************************************************

- Ed

 

[JR]

Retailers are not required to advertise they are selling biodiesel if it is B5 or below. As hard as Obama and the gestapo EPA has pushed the subsidies to keep ethanol and bio blends alive almost all mainstream retailers have it. You've very likely been filling up with it all along without even knowing it.
IMO the small bio blends are harmless and not worth losing sleep over, with the exception of your tax dollars being used to fund it before you are forced to buy it, LOL.
I've used both winterized B2 and B5 here locally down to -30 with no problems.

 

[TCDiesel]

Retailers are not required to advertise they are selling biodiesel if it is B5 or below. As hard as Obama and the gestapo EPA has pushed the subsidies to keep ethanol and bio blends alive almost all mainstream retailers have it. You've very likely been filling up with it all along without even knowing it.
IMO the small bio blends are harmless and not worth losing sleep over, with the exception of your tax dollars being used to fund it before you are forced to buy it, LOL.
I've used both winterized B2 and B5 here locally down to -30 with no problems.

X2 I have confirm this through several pipeline connections, its sold on the open Market as Clear #2

 

[Stab]

DONOT USE HOWES FOR ANTIGEL! I have calls on this EVERY winter in this area. Good for lubricity but, NOT antigel no matter what it says on the bottle!

 

[Killgore]

If I could find bio-diesel around here I would use the B-5, or at least tank mix it to be B-5.

 

[JR]

If I could find bio-diesel around here I would use the B-5, or at least tank mix it to be B-5.

Have you checked with your local stations that you use? The FTC regulates the pump labeling, it is at a federal level that stores are not required to advertise their blends unless above B5. In most cases this means B10 and B20, and (around here) the rare B100. I think you'd be shocked at the number of retailers that use bio blends given the small number of suppliers. Most store employees and to a lesser degree even managers are oblivious to what they are actually signing for when the tanker drops the fuel at their store.