Hi guys just wondering, I have a 2008 diesel car that’s up in the 150,000 kms.
Someone recently mentioned adding diesel fuel additives such as Chemtech Diesel Power Fuel Additive or Fuel Doctor.
Are these diesel fuel additives any good or are they just a marketing play? If they are good, any recommendations on which one to get (can be any brand)?
Oh, how does it work?
I'm not sure how it works, all I know is there's never been a tiger spotted around here.
Jimb0, I want to buy your rock
"I'm not sure how it works"
Does it double up as a weather rock?
.
how many tigers have you had ????
What does it actually do that make you think it works?
Less clatter and smoother running of course.
Oh wait, nope. Thats just what the bottle says…
Gotta love an obscure and hard to verify marketing ploy.
🐍 oil
Edit: from the description of it…
The resulting Lubricity Improver provides better lubricity for diesel fuels low in sulphur.
Lol…
In-tank injector cleaner is a bit different to the diesel purge. I had good results with the diesel purge. Went from car stalling regularly to running fine.
The car is running a bit smoother. This is the first time I used it. I will see after 3-4000 km if I changes. My mate swears by it.
I use Liquimoly stuff as well, not religiously, but I add some every other tank. Doubters will always doubt, but I am certain the car is far quieter on start up and I seem to get a few extra km's per tank.
While i dont doubt your experience, id like tonsee some objective data. Humans are notoriiusly poor at judging stuff like sound level when theyve paid extra for a product that 'makes it quieter'.
Got a sound meter on your phone? Actually measured the fuel economy?
I have absolutely zero interest in doing that. Sorry. :)
@Stalker: Thats fine but without some actual data i find it hard to believe there is actually any tangible benefit.
Im gonna go with snake oil. Got any rigoursly, scientifically tested results to show it works?
[insert Scotty Kilmer paid advert educational video here]
i used a diesel injector cleaner from SCA on my 2014 outlander .
prior it had been sluggish, lagging on take off front lights.
after ~50km the car did run smoother.
it was noticeable.
sure, anecdotal. but I certainly did observe a real difference.
Are you sure it was a real difference? Im reasonably sure it works if your engine isnt runing properly, but don't think it'll do much if its running fine.
I used a diesel injector cleaner on my ute once too, but it had been cutting out. Been about 50k km since. Still running fine.
I wouldnt use injetor cleaner in every tank. Seems a waste.
yeah, only used it when it was running poorly.
I use Fuel Doctor primarily as a fuel stabiliser because I have a diesel that is sitting idle for 9 months of the year which then travels 7-8000 kms in the next three months. I also use it to stabilise fuel for various small engines (lawnmowers etc) to stop carby problems I have had with them in the past. It is very effective for this purpose. For a total cost of about $35 year I just add it to all the diesel I use, because I'm often filling up in remote and dodgy places. The damage that can result from very small amounts of water entering a common rail diesel engine can be catastrophic and this does seem to prevent this problem. As for other claims about these products improving fuel economy blah, blah, blah - yeah nah. $35 = 1/6 the cost of a lawnmower carby cleanout / rebuild.
Injector cleaners are one additive that does actually do something. Using one at each service is a good idea.
I've used the Rislone High Performance injector cleaner on a car with 275,000k's. Gave it a second life, was running rough with consistently poor fuel economy 10+l/km. After 500k's it dropped down to 8L/100k's and ran like that till i sold it.
Mind you this is an extreme case. cars with less crap in the system, say <150,000k's it'll have marginal gains.
My mechanic reccomends to use Fuel Set. it's made by Liquid Engineering. Seems to be working.
And to use BP ultimate diesel.
I used the cheapest possible diesel in my i30. Never had a problem in 218,000km of driving. At 175k I put in a can of Liqui Moly cleaner into my fuel tank. It made absolutely no difference in fuel economy or drivability.
If your car has a problem then these cleaners may be beneficial, but if there's no problem then I wouldn't use them.
Put a squirt of ULP in your half full tank occasionally. Will do the same thing.
Chemtech is the best since it's the only Mineral based additive, NZ company too. Crap on all you like about how they might be snake oil, wait until you have to do a injection pump rebuild, then you'll change your mind. Diesel fungas is the reason you use additives in the first place.
direct injection, lots of cold start/stop (extra fuel) driving around suburbia can carbon up the injectors/combustion chambers. Add to that more EGR use. Run injector cleaner once or twice a year is a good thing
if you do a couple of hours at highway speeds every month, you probably can use it just once a year.
If youre mostly highway, you will probably need it only every few years
when youre doing highway speeds youre generally running leaner fuel mixtures from constant throttle which gives it time to burn off lighter carbon build up. EGR is pumping back leaner exhaust gas too. EGT and combustion temps can be hotter, aiding burn off
Its only part of the equation too, media blasting intake ports and manifold runners is another part. correctly working pcv valve etc
Liquimoly fuel injector cleaner does work, get extra K's out of your tank and runs smoother.
Liquimoly Ceratech is my favorite, use every second oil change, 100% runs smoother and protects internals. Motor runs a bit cooler and better fuel economy. I only buy these when supacrap has supa specials.
I use F10 as advised by my euro mechanic for my Amarok. Supposed to keep injectors cleaner and reduce moisture buildup in the tank. But you do have to ask this question. Vibe and similar diesel suppliers have cheap diesel. All comes off the same boat as BP and shell etc. They put additives into their diesel to sell at a premium so general thinking may be that if buying standard diesel your shop bought additive is doing the same as the big brand additives that you pay more for. if it doesn't help any then why do we buy BP or shell premium diesel..food for thought.
Some of these additives do work forget the brand i tried one as i noticed a little bit of smoke under heavy loadvand its cleared it up. Local mechanic suggested put one in the tank every 4 to 6 months.
I've been using Cost Effective Maintenance Diesel FTC Decarboniser and the Fuel Treatment for the past 10,000km (138k—>148k). In that time fuel economy has gradually improved from ~11/l/100km to consistently under 10l/100km so something has improved.
This stuff is ridiculously expensive ($135/litre) and I've saved around 50l in fuel over 10k (results weren't instantaneous) so I'm $35 in the red.
For me, it was more about keeping the DPF a bit cleaner and having less regens. I don't monitor regen periods or DPF differential pressure so It's more a hopes & prayers situation.
edit: In the past 10k I've also given the engine a good hammering and lots of country runs and I mostly run Premium Diesel, so some of that may have helped as well as the snake oil.
Probably about as effective as my rock that keeps tigers away.