CE750

Interestingly, diesel, unlike other forms of fuel sold at the Shell or Chevron station has no additives in it. I called Chevron and asked them why they charged more for diesel than some other stations and whether they had Techron or some type of additive to justify the cost, and the straight up said.. no our fuel is simple diesel #2.

MB doesn't recommend any additives, but then no manufacturer I'm aware of does, as they don't want to go thru and test all of the various additives in order to "certify" then..

so..

What do you folks think about adding an additive? I'm especially interested in the CDI owners as they are "new generation" engines and supposedly burn cleaner, etc..

I did my research and came to the conclusion that Redline's 85+ mixed in at a ratio of 1/2 bottle per tank is the way to go.

+ more lubricity
+ more cetane
+ combustion chamber cleaner
+ injector cleaner
- cost is $5.50/bottle or so.

cost is about $2.75/tank extra or about .12 cents per gallon..

worth it? what do you guys say?

I say yes.. why.. cause it's cheap insurance for my engine.

prometheus

In my Dodge, I have run Power Service, Stanadyne, and DieselPower!. My preference is Stanadyne since it aids in fuel gelling prevention. I now run the DieselPower cetane boost since it is our series sponser for the Diesel Hot Rod Association and I have cases of it. Its good stuff. My first car in high school (1994) was an 83 300TD. I religiously ran the Redline additive in it.

Bottom line is, these additives are basically the same thing...lube. I am assuming the injection pumps on our CDIs are lubed and cooled by fuel, like on certain Cummins motors. We are after lubricity, so the more the merrier. We could always run B20.

FlintCDI

I have also run Power Service in my Cummins'. I have no experience with Redline's 85+, but do agree with prometheus with respect to additives, but would be reluctant to run B20.

CE750

Some of the older MB's had guys dumping a quart of ATF inside a tank.. I know the mechanic here at the dealer told me that I could do that in the CDI after 25,000 to clean it out... but I favor using a small amount of additive (Redline, et al) in every tank for preventative cleaning, and also gain the cetane and lubricity..

H-townbenzoboy

You do NOT want to put ATF in the fuel system on a regular basis. MB issued a TSB about it nearly 20 years ago, supposedly MB found that ATF can cause injector coking. It's ok to use occasionally, and in situations like filling a new spin on fuel filter when you change out the filters or if you run out of fuel to make priming the fuel system easier, but adding a quart at every fillup is not good.

CE750

And this mechanic didn't say every fill-up, he said every 25K or so.. but I still will not put ATF into my CDI!

prometheus

Ok, diesel fuel is ~135,000 BTU +/-. Try running something other than that BTU wise in there and see what happens. I know that misting propane (91000 BTU) with #2 causes detrimental detonation in a diesel. Don't ask me how I know... :v

CE750

I've got some guys at the 1/4 mile track that want me to do that and bump up my 1/4 mile time a "few seconds"..

gaiex

In Europe we have normal diesel and aditivated diesel like this one on BP:
(all diesel brands here say the same thing)
http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarti...tentId=7009012

CE750

I would guess that when diesel gets more popular here in the US, and as people wise up to the fact that no additive diesel is harming their engines (today's technology is such that fuel can keep an engine clean).. this will change here too.

For now, it's 1/2 bottle of Redline85+ into every tank on my CDI.

gaiex

With those aditivated diesels we can feel the extra power (at least in my underpower CDI ) anounced by the diesel manufactors and we run also extra miles.

H-townbenzoboy

I used to use fuel additives at every fillup. I don't use additives often, I probably won't use them at all anymore. Our cars are supposed to run just fine on diesel fuel alone. Additives can be used sparingly to treat fuel system problems like dissolving deposits in the fuel system, gelling in cold weather, and removing water in fuel, but don't need to be used at each fillup. MB does not recommend regular additive use anyway. Plus, it'll save you money.

I noticed I actually got worse fuel mileage with regular use of Redline diesel fuel additive than with regular old diesel fuel.

CE750

I got the opposite results.. plus the additive actually "keeps the engine clean" from the get go.. Normal Gas fuel has these same type of additives and is "Recommended" by all automakers.. but MB doesn't recommend additives (aftermarket) as they don't want to test them all and certify them.. but in reality they sell their own additive (same formula) should you want to pay their price..

Diesel should have this already mixed in, but it doesn't and this is why I add it.

H-townbenzoboy

Is there any data to support the additive keeping your engine clean? What is this MB diesel fuel additive? I've never heard of it. You can keep your engine clean by using CLEAN, QUALITY DIESEL FUEL, NO ADDITIVES NEEDED, lots of highway driving, and a quality diesel rated Mobil 1 Motor Oil like Mobil 1 Truck & SUV SAE 5W-40. I've stated it before that the best fuel is from truck stops. You most likely won't need additives with truck stop fuel because truck stop fuel is just about always fresh, unlike diesel fuel found at regular gas stations, which is probably stale and full of water, which would require you spend money on an additive to remove the water, or worse. If you've got a truck stop that's kind of out of the way, I think it's worth the drive to get quality fuel, rather than run down the street to the corner store and fill up with who knows what and have a big bill at the MB dealership for fuel system work. I suggest you read this thread, lots of good info. http://mbca.cartama.net/showthread.p...9&page=1&pp=15

CE750

I worked for Swift Trucking for a good bit of time, and they did a lot research on this, and have proprietary data that I cannot site for you here demonstrating the long term benefit of certain types of additives to diesel (they used a commercial, bulk product in their fleet).

As for clean fuel, it's all clean if you start with a clean holding tank.. it's not like diesel is refined in too many places, and more over, unlike gasoline, it's not treated with additives so the quality is all the same no matter where you get it.. Diesel #2 is the same at Chevron, as it is at Joe's truckstop..

but here is Redline's own info (reviewed and approved by the FTC):

http://www.redlineoil.com/whitePaper/8.pdf

the added lubricity, and cetane alone make it worth the money, let alone the injector cleaner and cylinder varnish removal.. if this stuff was snake oil, it wouldn't be flying off the shelves for $6/bottle.

H-townbenzoboy

Not true. Diesel #2 sitting in an underground holding tank unused for months at a time at a corner store type operation probably has fungus and water in it, unlike truck stop fuel which is always being replenished, it's fresh, it's what our cars need.

Did you read the thread I referenced in the previous post? If you didn't, please do, I think you would learn quite a bit.

CE750

Will get to it, in the AM.. going to bed now.. I book market it.

Also, believe me when I tell you Swift as data, but I just can't share it.

FlintCDI

I don't know if an additive will CLEAN (in regards to particulate matter) your fuel any more that not using one. It seems to me that although diesel fuel does originate from a far fewer sources than gas, the fueling station has a great deal in determining how clean the fuel that goes in you tank is. Many factors such as how new their tanks are, how often they service their pumps, filters, and tanks; how much volume they sell, when the fuel was delivered from, (as freshly delivered fuel may have agitated sediment from their holding tanks). These and may other factors will determine how clean the fuel you receive is. I have been using the same station and the same pump for years now. I know the owner and his maintiance schedule for the pumps, I’ll ask before fueling if there has been a delivery made in recent time. I’ve tested the fuel as well. There are many different companies that provide these services, the can inform you of the actual Cetane Index, ISO cleanliness level, Water in PPM, distillation, and API Gravity. Testing isn’t cheap, but it’s more for consistency over time quality. Also saving fuel receipts is good insurance and provides me peace of mind in the event that some flunky loads the diesel tank with gasoline. (I’ve heard of this happening before.)

CE750

Don't get me wrong, I use a high volume Chevron as well as a Shell for my diesel, these are very busy stations, and many Truck (pickup) owners in AZ have diesel, so it's flowing..

I use the additive for cleanup of the injectors (preventative), cylinder walls, lubricity, cetate gain, and fuel stabilization.. all proven to be the case with most well known additives, at a cost of .1/gal it's worth it to me. Plus I've gotten 2mpg milage gain with Redline.

TA-9FF

What about using Valvoline Fuel Injector Cleaner every 4k miles? Would that be beneficial to the engine, do nothing for it, or be harmful to the engine?

CE750

can't speak about harmful, but I know that the best injection cleaner out there is Techron, but it's not recommended for diesel.. There is a Chevron Diesel product called Delo that is.. But the Redline 85+ incorporates a cleaner, as well as cetane boost, lubricity improver, and other good things.. and can be used in small doses in every tank for Preventative Maintenance (PM).

Rod Spohn

The one thing I have not heard here is that the US has less if not no guide lines for deisel fuels. This is unlike gas that has to meet several standards. We have what is commonly called dry deisel fuel here (way it if refined). I have used several additives , mostly for added lub to combat dry fuel. Some that add cetane give better fuel economy & power when pulling loads & hills.
As for fresh fuel @ truck stops - unless you some how now the use level at a station, truck stop fuel is better. Why take the chance of getting contaminants. Last Maintanance is cheep... change that filter more often
Just my 2 cents worth guys

'96 S320
'03 duramax deisel GMC