What diesel additive

[david1949]

i have a Hymer on a Ford what i would like to know what is the best type of diesel additive to put in the tank and how often do i put it in i have asked at a Ford garage but they could not advise me so hoping to get some advice on this matter .

[Guest pelmetman]

To be frank, I think they are all a con >:-( Just ordered some oil from "boiler juice"for our central heating and they tried to flog me additives.

 

Reminds me of the old days when you use to pay for a few shoots of additives at the pump thinking it would make a difference, it probaly did to the garage owner profits>:-)

[747]

I put Redex in now and again. Years ago, when I had motorcycles (British ones that broke down regularly) I found that using Redex did result in a clean engine when I stripped them down.

 

Branded diesel has additives in but Supermarket fuel is reputed not to have anything added.

 

An additive BG 244 is allegedly good for cleaning engines and removing carbon. Google it and make up your own mind.

 

Another alleged additive is supposed to be 300 ml of 2 stroke engine oil mixed with 70 litres of diesel. Some people say that modern diesel does not have the lubricating quality that the old stuff did. Hence adding oil to it. I might give that a go one time.

 

Another product that I am told is good to apply before an MOT is Forte Injector Cleaner, it can reduce emmissions. You add it and give the vehicle a good fast run prior to the test.

 

There you have it, is it true or just an old wives tale? You will have to make your own mind up. :D

[art338]

David,

 

What the heck convinces you that additives are necessary? If you're concerned about costs then leave the van at home and go by bus.

 

There have been various liquids to 'improve' performance for years, but I doubt that anyone can prove anything unless under laboratory conditions.

 

Its a bit like taking a pill, or a believing in a religion, you may drive differently because of ?? but how can it be proved, never.

 

PS. The best additive I know of is another litre of diesel, it will give you a guarranteed additional number of miles for a set cost and its guarranteed to work, every time!

 

art

 

 

[Brambles]

Good Quality Bio Diesel.

[Dave Newell]

Our daily driver 1.8 focus has done 175,456 miles to date and never, to my knowledge had additives put in the fuel other than those put in by the fuel manufacturer. I used to work for a courier/delivery company and we had a fleet of Transits, Escort vans, Vauxhall Combis, a single Iveco 6.5 Tonne curtainsider and four 7.5 Tonner curtainsiders, none of them ever had additional stuff put in the fuel tanks and the average mileage of the vans was 105,000 per year while the trucks often did 140,000. Transit engines always died first but never at less than 250,000!

 

All fuel must meet minimum standards and I just can't see any vehicle manufacturer building engines that wouldn't last using only standard pump fuel.

 

Remember the base vehicle is a light commercial designed to cover up to 100,000 miles per year running standard pump fuel.

 

D.

[Ocsid]

A side issue but related I think in this discussion:

 

A friend who runs an MOT testing facility often quotes how exceptionally good he finds diesel motorhomes perform on the smoke test, relative to the typical domestic diesel cars that frequently struggle.

 

The debate on this suggests it might be due to the fact motorhomes engines are always having to pull around close to the vehicles maximum mass, plus its typically not used for the mile or so journey to collect the paper etc.

 

My wife's PD engined Golf Mk4 had been the very devil to get through this test. Its a second car and typifies my friends smoke test findings for a vehicle used in that role. Its the 150 bhp version with something like an 120 mph like top speed, anyway power way beyond what can be regularly sustained, though she tries :-D. So very different to a motorhome in respect to engine loading.

We have for the last 3 years been dosing the Golf with Millers additive and this has made a difference to getting through the smoke test, and subjectively feel its low speed running smoother.

 

Not scientific I know but suggest to me these additives have a role where the vehicle usage pattern itself does not tend to clean out the system.

[Clive]

NONE

 

C.

 

[hallii]

There is some evidence that lubricating additives can prolong the life of the pump, I belive the British armed forces use a lubricating additve in their oil burners but then they use some odd things as fuel.

 

I use 2 stroke oil in mine, will it make a difference? Who knows.

 

Hallii

 

Engineer and Land Rovers and Motorbikes etc.,

[euroserv]

Food for thought?....

 

We purchased three Ducato's with 2.3 engines in 2002, two more in 2003, and four in 2004.

 

Before any of the 2002 vans had passed the 30,000 mile mark they had all suffered very similar problems with cutting out when warm. One would always run for between 10 and 12 minutes from cold before conking out. This had us and our local experts puzzled until I removed the pressure regulator from the high pressure pump and found it to be quite contaminated with some sort of mucky stuff. I cleaned it and the van ran fine for a couple of weeks until the same thing happened again. I fitted a new regulator to this van and all of the others of this age as and when they became problematic.

 

At this point it was decided to add a can of Wurth common rail injection cleaner to all of the vans once a year.

 

All but one of these vans has been sold to customers and all of these still come to us for servicing and all still have the treatment every year and none has suffered a repeat of the problem.

 

We have repaired other people's vans from 2002 to 2006 that have had similar problems.

 

The question is this..... were the replacement parts fitted part of an improved batch? If they were, why are newer vans suffering the same problem when not treated with cleaner?

 

All bar one of the vans in question were on short term hire to a variety of customers all over the midlands, one was on long term hire but operated all over the UK.

 

I suspect that on this engine at least, the injector cleaner has helped. Furthermore; as almost all common rail systems are supplied by Bosch, and there are few real differences I suspect that they would all benefit from a dose of cleaner once a year too. I think a tenner is a reasonable price to pay even if it 'might' help. I suspect most of you opted for some kind of extra on your camper that you ended up not using and I daresay it cost more than a tenner.

 

For peace of mind I must add that there have been no fuel system problems with the 2.3 engine in the new X250 vans except for the EGR valve and EGR control valve. We are not using any additives in these engines.

 

We use the Wurth product and another Liqui-Moly product to get older diesels through MOT tests.

 

Nick

[Keith T]

Generally use Esso fuel, as I cant get the van into the local Asda very easily...welll Ok getting in, but too narrow for comfort by the pay desk! A problem I often find in french hypermarkets!!

[Keith T]

Generally use Esso fuel, as I cant get the van into the local Asda very easily...welll Ok getting in, but too narrow for comfort by the pay desk! A problem I often find in french hypermarkets!!

[Keith T]

Generally use Esso fuel, as I cant get the van into the local Asda very easily...welll Ok getting in, but too narrow for comfort by the pay desk! A problem I often find in french hypermarkets!!

[Colin Leake]

We use Millers in our Motor Home and car. Hardly scientific I know but both seem to run better when using it and both pass the smoke test with flying colours. Having said that given that both only do around 4000 miles a year on fairly long journeys I may well be wasting money.

[Paul-]

The best stuff to put into your tank is posh diesel, Total Excellium, BP Ultimate or Shell V-Power, even a tank full every now & then works a treat, especially before the mot.

the second best is their regular diesel (esso included) .

 

the last resort is jet & supermarket fuel

 

The best additive to preserve the life of the pump is 2 stroke oil.

 

If you already have a problem try Forte injector cleaner & give it some boot, but ask your dealer first as additives can do more harm than good with the newer engines.

 

Paul

 

 

[Brambles]

...and guess what all these posh fuels contain.....Biodiesel.

[duffers]

always used to add the occasional shot in the good old days

 

worked a treat

 

never had any problems,

no longer see them as an option by fuel pumps

 

 

[woody.]

Strange really , because in the old days my dad always put additives into his cars or vans , i never bothered yet he tended to have engine troubles and i never did , mmmm. (!)

[art338]

David 1949.

 

So there you have it, you takes your choice, some do some don't.

 

Air quality, humidity, temperature, dust, smoke, all make variations in engine combustion.

 

The only winner is the seller.

 

art

[thebishbus]

Hi. Additives and add on's !!. Some seem to work and some don't. Here's my exprience with some. Over the last few years I have used Slick 50 oil treatment in the oil of my various engines, they have all been reliable and trouble free, coincidence you may say, but I

decided to put it to the test. I poured some into the petrol tank of my

2 stroke hover mower whilst the engine was running, the engine revved up, I think this must have been due to the reduced friction of adding the additve, so Slick 50 does something. My MH has the old 2.8 id TD engine, it has Slick 50 in the oil,but I found that when hill climbing and changing down the gears the engine was struggling at the top of its rev range, and was always 3-400 rev's below its cut off point. Someone suggested cleaning out the fuel system by using Millers Deisel Power Plus in the tank, I tried this and shortly afterwards found the engine revved more freely and would reach its

govener cut off point, so that seems to do something. One thing I tried on both my MH's that seemed to have no affect at all, are those large magnets around the fuel pipe.

Brian B.

ps I also use Millers in the fuel, and blast around to blow the cobwebs away before the MOT. :-)

[duffers]

many years ago a neighbour worked at a near-by BMW garage - lots of little old ladies use to buy the smaller ones - and do about 10 miles per day at average speed of 20mph at best

also used to get little old ladies buying Triumph Vitesses cos they thought they were just a posher version of the Herald.

Result in both situations - lots of visits to the local garage for servicing

Solution - give them a really good blast at max revs - in 3rd gear if necessary

'clear their tubes - like having to shift a smokers cough ' :D

[AnnPaul]

Recent "whitch" report that none of them are of any use and you do not benifit a penny from them!

 

Don't waste your money.

 

Paul and Ann

[Corky 8]

in most late model Mercedes  Car owners handbooks ,it actually states No Fuel additives to be added, and I think this is for the Cat converters and Particulate filters, the burnt residues clog them up and in the Later can prove really expensive.the same may apply to light commercials worth checking with the Manufacturer me thinks ,

[ips]

Well I am probably one of the most synical peeps you will meet but my ford dealer recently chucked some additive in when my Ford Kuga 4x4 thingy was in for its "free" yes free service (part of my haggling skills during the purchase) cant remeber what it was called but definately made a difference to fuel economy. Also had some additive or flush stuff in the oil or summat.

Anyway back to the question. I sometimes pay extortianate ammounts for BP super dooper diesel as my mate who owns a repair/mot garage told me that it is not a con and it is better fuel but just use it every 4 or so fill ups.

His reccomendation not mine so dont quote me on it :-D

[flicka]

ips - 2010-11-05 2:34 PM

I sometimes pay extortianate ammounts for BP super dooper diesel as my mate who owns a repair/mot garage told me that it is not a con and it is better fuel but just use it every 4 or so fill ups.

His reccomendation not mine so dont quote me on it :-D

 

Still does not convince me regarding "Premium Diesel", see http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=21246&start=1

 

As I said on there, the concensus of some of my former colleagues (Refinery Laboratory staff) is that the benefits may be applicable for high performance diesel saloons, but not standard commercial vehicle engines.

 

I am not aware of any Commercial Fleet Operator who has Premium Diesel as their fuel of choice & they would be the people capable of maximising any benefits.