TDI - Fuel additives and Injector cleaners

[ANDYD]

There are soooo many Fuel additives and Injector cleaners on the market for Diesel engines I was curious if these are really required for our older TDi engines or just an unnecessary expense?
I would love to hear peoples opinions and feedback from those who have used them / including which ones they used?

Cheers,
Andy

[red90]

It is a good idea. The lubricity and anti gel additives may save you. The cetane improvers make a noticeable difference in performance.

Powerservice is the easiest to go with as you can get it anywhere. White bottle in winter and grey in summer. Watch for regular sales at Crappy Tire.

[cbalme]

My Dad bought some for the 110. It seems to be running smoothly with plenty of power so pouring a bit of that in the tank every now and then may keep it running well. Like Red90 said it lubricates the system.

[swamijake]

I use Diesel Purge from Liquimoly once in a while. It seems to make a difference especially if you don't drive much.

[BlkP38]

Stanadyne for BuckBlue. No clue if it made any difference as I have always used it. But (with the exception of some junk injectors that literally fell apart a few years back) fuelling has always been reliable.
Stanadyne have been in the fuel system business for many years and are recommended by many injector rebuilders.
It will not fix a clattering diesel. Best to have the injectors rebuilt.
Eric.

[ANDYD]

Thanks for all the replies, it seems from the responses so far that it is a worthwhile expense. I will browse the store shelf on the weekend and choose one.... I will give some feedback afterwards ... :smokey:

Anyone out there on the other side and think they are a waste of money and that they don't do what they advertise?

[Troll Hunter]

I suspect that fuel additives fall into the same category as lube oil additives. That is, if they were genuinely beneficial then the fuel refiners/blenders would add them, since word quickly gets around if one fuel is significantly better than another. I guess that puts them with snake oil and other such cure-all remedies. Of course, I may be wrong!

Mike

[red90]

Yes. You are wrong. They supply the fuel to the minimum government requirements. Increasing the cetane improves performance.

[jeepingpw]

There isn't really a Gov't min in fuel except the PPM of Sulphur and the min % of Bio Fuel to be added.

The base fuel at main terminals all comes out of the same tap.

When the fuel is being loaded by the carrier, the companies (eg Chevron) fuel additives are then added to the fuel as they load.

Only problem is, is that everyone is on allocation and can only load so many liters of fuel per day.
Once they run out of fuel, they can buy from other companies .
eg: Chevron can buy from Esso
So... even though you think you are buying Chevron spec fuel, you may be getting Esso spec fuel.

Some companies add more Bio Fuel to there fuel if they can get it cheaper.

Cons of Bio;
Because its plant based it has bacteria in it which eats at the scum inside your tank and the waste then plugs your filters.
I had a gravel company start to you Fuel Additives in there main fuel tanks and after about a month, the fuel filters in the machines need to be changed daily. They then stopped using it and noticed a steady drop over time in plugged filters.

Attracts water (kind of) the more Bio Fuel added, the more you'll notice an increase of moister in your tank.

I've also had customers that have switched from my company to a competitor that adds more Bio to there fuel and they have noticed an increase in fuel consumption.

Adding Centane and Octane:

Adding more is good as long as your engine has enough compression to burn it.

Too much in a low compression engine will cause cylinder wash, were not all the fuel is not burned, stays in the cylinder and washes the oil from the cylinder walls.

Adding Additives:

Good for lubing Injector Pump especially in older diesels.

Cons;

No one really knows whats in these additives.

We put a jug of Howes additive in the hot sun for a couple of days and it seperated into 3 layers?

Try all the different brands and if you find one that you notice a benefit from then use it.

I am by no means an expert nor a chemist so take this as you will, just from my experiance at work.

[red90]

There isn't really a Gov't min in fuel except the PPM of Sulphur and the min % of Bio Fuel to be added..

There are a LOT of requirements beyond sulfur and biofuel additions. See CAN/CGSB-3.517-2017 here: http://publications.gc.ca/collections/c ... 17-eng.pdf

Certain ones like Cetane and lubricity are at the low end of what engine manufacturers recommend and improving these properties is better for your injection system and the power output.