What fuel additives should I be using?

[GSherrill]

In the military we use the "aqua glow" test on our JP-8, takes about 2 minutes tops to get the reults. I wonder if it will work on diesel also? You wet a sample patch, then place it in a port in the small box and then you read the meter telling you the parts per million. I want to say most of our fuel is in the 3-5 ppm range above that they re-circulate it through the filtering system until it isbelow the required ppm.



Curious if one of these aqua glow devices could be bought surplus, problem is calibration.



www.gammontech.com/pdf/b086.pdf



one for sale, up to $35



http://www.govliquidation.com/list/e1298/lna/11.html

 

[BIGNASTY]

The best thing that ever happened to both gasoline and diesel is there are no longer un-monitered underground tanks. I can tell stories about water in fuel but I wont. I feel now unless it coming from the refinery with water it, we are not getting it at the pump. On all three of mine CTD ,when I changed the fuel filter I have never seen any sign of water. Anyway I am using a additive. Oh well wont be my first mistake. Jim

If you think the monitored tanks cant have water in them you are sadly mistaken. I ran fuel trucks for 20 plus years. In the rain season look at the water drain in the stations. Most pool right over or around the tank fills. That's why we put a water paste on the stick when we stick the tanks to se how much we can drop in the tank it also makes the paste turn form brown to a red. and can tell you how much water is in the tank in inches. So if you think no water keep thinking that. I have yet to see a Veeder root system work it will say only an inch of water in a 10k tank but in reality its more like 3 or 4. They made stations in Commiecalif put in new systems (Heleay )I think its the spelling and it made it even more of a problem to get accurate reading of any kind. Thats why the company make the driver STICK the tank electronics fail but a stick with inch readings on it wont lie (kind of ) but thats another story

 

[steved]

This thread is pretty dated since it coincides with, and more/less predates, the nation-wide ULSD introduction. ULSD and its derivatives (ULSD and bio blends) put an entire new set of hurdles into the world of additives.

 

[JRBurton]

I use FPPF, I have tried others but have found nothing that compares. I have been using this product since 1996. I get a little better fuel mileage when using it, and do not have issues with water in the fuel, at least I don't see any when checking the separator.

Just my $. 02 worth.



John

 

[steved]

The reason most of "us" never see water in the OE filter bowl stems from the lift pump being upstream of the filter... the lift pump whips the water and fuel into a yellowish mess that, regardless of filter claims; passes right through to the engine.



I had a fuel filter on my aux tank that supposedly stripped both free and emulsified water, and it did nothing once the water blended with the fuel thanks to the pump (I tested it as a closed circuit)... I changed the plumbing around so the fuel hit the filter first, and that solved the majority of the issue since the water entered as a "blob" or "droplet", and sank to the bottom of the filter.



Don't believe the hype that a filter will catch emulsified water and fuel... while they might catch a little, they don't catch all of it.

 

[Cosmo]

The best thing that ever happened to both gasoline and diesel is there are no longer un-monitered underground tanks. I can tell stories about water in fuel but I wont. I feel now unless it coming from the refinery with water it, we are not getting it at the pump. On all three of mine CTD ,when I changed the fuel filter I have never seen any sign of water. Anyway I am using a additive. Oh well wont be my first mistake. Jim

Tell that to the rental Pontiac G6 that died on me about 10 minutes after filling up in Wickenburg, AZ during a rain storm. It does happen, and a good water filtration system is important unless you don't mind getting towed to the shop.

 

[bull642]

well I have read allot here in this thread about water seperation and now I know why I see allot of bed tanks for diesels it makes sense to double filter this way and have tighter control over fuel quality. I change out my fuel filter every 5K miles and never given it a second thought. Something to think about. What I did not see was any real conversation about fuel additives and their effect for injector cleaning and lubrication of pumps or how effective they are at it. I have always used Lucas fuel additive in my trucks. I put 6 oz in my tank every third tank and twice a year I run a measure of marvel MO through the engine. To be honest I don't know why... I just know that my grandfather did and so did my dad. Both their trucks ran for ever. So did all the other ranch stuff. Strange how we pick up habits, huh? Look forward to the feed back, Thanks

 

[BIGNASTY]

well I have read allot here in this thread about water seperation and now I know why I see allot of bed tanks for diesels it makes sense to double filter this way and have tighter control over fuel quality. I change out my fuel filter every 5K miles and never given it a second thought. Something to think about. What I did not see was any real conversation about fuel additives and their effect for injector cleaning and lubrication of pumps or how effective they are at it. I have always used Lucas fuel additive in my trucks. I put 6 oz in my tank every third tank and twice a year I run a measure of marvel MO through the engine. To be honest I don't know why... I just know that my grandfather did and so did my dad. Both their trucks ran for ever. So did all the other ranch stuff. Strange how we pick up habits, huh? Look forward to the feed back, Thanks

As for your question My son took his 04 into Cummins to have bigger injectors installed. The mech. took out the old ones and had them on a bench (88,000) miles another Mech, took a look at them and asked what kind of additive he had been using. My son has form day one used Amalgamated TDR S he was impressed with the lack of soot grit or any of the other injector nasties. He took one of the injectors to some kind of scope to look at them magnified he came back and asked my son for the web site for Amalgamated (Kind of tells me something ) when a mech. that works on diesels is that impressed. As for filtration my son has nothing but the stock setup

 

[upsmsp]

I use stanadyne and lucas. I have an airdog fuel air separator system.

 

[BGlidewell]

none of them will pay for themselves as much as NO2 diesel in mileage and most will set your mileage back if you have a honest calculator.

 

[Crunch]

none of them will pay for themselves as much as NO2 diesel in mileage and most will set your mileage back if you have a honest calculator.

When I bought my truck I only used a fuel additive when it was cold, and then it was usually Howes. Since the feds ruined diesel fuel I've been pretty religious about using Power Service to make up for the lack of lubricity. I haven't noticed a drop in fuel economy, and have become a firm believer in the additives to reduce wear on the internal parts and fuel injectors. Do you believe they don't work as advertised?

 

[J.BURCHFIELD]

Now that we are forced to use fuel with low sulfur it is natural to think we got to use something. If you can get your hands on an independent lab report you will not be wasting money on additives that don't work. Where you live/drive enters into what you need. I live in Florida and bought my 98 12v here new. I have pondered what I should use. I do not believe I can find the truth on the bottle so have wound up using nothing. I sometimes make a trip or two to Ohio where I am from but that is in the summer. My 16 years on the road in an 18 wheeler was between 1966 and 1982 long before the EPA shoved low sulfur down our throats. For me low sulfur has meant LOWER milage. If a million or more semi drivers can sleep in their trucks with the engine idling I am not worried about diesel fuel being harmful. The EPA has caused endless unnecessary problems. They don't just have a lack of understanding they want to cause problems. The work hard at it. Nice that we still have free speech so that I can say they are obviously Communist controlled... ... ... .....

 

[BGlidewell]

Do you believe they don't work as advertised?

I lost about 2mpg with PS. Standadyne made the engine sound a little quieter, but nothing else.

 

[bull642]

i have never used additives for fuel economy or savings in that department. my theory has always been that the fuel now has its own shortcomings and in replacing those I may not see the gains in immediate fuel economy but I may see those gains in longitude of the mechanical abilities of the motor its self. I dont want fuel to be the cause of an early rebuild. I dont mind enduring that over my own demise like overbuilding my motor but having it due to poor fuel is not acceptable. thats why I was wondering if additives may help in longevity.

 

[Crunch]

i have never used additives for fuel economy or savings in that department. my theory has always been that the fuel now has its own shortcomings and in replacing those I may not see the gains in immediate fuel economy but I may see those gains in longitude of the mechanical abilities of the motor its self. I dont want fuel to be the cause of an early rebuild. I dont mind enduring that over my own demise like overbuilding my motor but having it due to poor fuel is not acceptable. thats why I was wondering if additives may help in longevity.

That's why I use the additives. I've always gotten good fuel economy when I kept it under 2000RPM, and haven't noticed a drop with any of the additives. My concern is lubricity and injector wear, and since my fuel economy is steady and the engine is still running as smooth as when I drove it off the lot and has 162K and change I'm guessing the injectors are still in good shape.

 

[Cosmo]

IIRC one of the major pushes for ultra low sulfur is that it clogs cats/DPFs - same reason for removing the good stuff from our oil.

 

[steved]

http://www.natbiogroup.com/docs/education/lubricity additive study results.pdf





A good read for those that have not seen it before...



One thing to note is the fact they used UNTREATED FUEL as a baseline... all fuel delivered to the pump should have additives to counter the ULSD dryness. But essentially, they tested a worst case scenario... where the fuel left the rack untreated.



Another point is the fact that they don't really specify if they used the old or new additive formulations... most additives had to reformulate to either work with ULSD or to meet the emissions that ULSD was meant to eliminate (so the chance of someone trying to "work backward" to LSD is prevented).

 

[bull642]

very interesting study so both lucas and mystery oil either do not help or just plain dont do anything, huh guess I need to rethink the extra $'s I have been putting in my tank.

thank you!

 

[Crunch]

Another point is the fact that they don't really specify if they used the old or new additive formulations... most additives had to reformulate to either work with ULSD or to meet the emissions that ULSD was meant to eliminate (so the chance of someone trying to "work backward" to LSD is prevented).

Another interesting thing is that they don't discuss the effect on injectors. I've heard about negative impact on fuel injectors in the newer diesels from all the big three that has been blamed on biodiesel. That may be because of the variance in quality of biodiesel from different producers, the percentage of biodiesel to non-biodiesel in the tank or it may be because newer diesels are more sensitive to fuel quality than the older diesels. I'm fascinated with biodiesel, but have never used it because I don't want to risk my engine with an unknown factor. If I had a 2nd gen I probably would, but I look at it in the same way I look at buying #2 diesel from a mom and pop fuel station that looks like sells 5000 gallons a year.

 

[DBottles]

I use lucas. It does have enough cetane in it that you can feel it. Also my mpg increased about 2mpg. Use a fass 95/150 lift pump. Left the stratapore filter on the truck at the original lift pump locaton in front of fire wall. Something to think about is when a 9200 gallon semi trailer is cleaned for repairs or annual testing it is steam cleaned. Not all of the water drains out. It can go to the loading rack with water and possible dirt and grinding shavings in it. I see enough of this, and trust me, you want as good of a filtration system you can afford.