Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Diesel experts, advice....

If you were going to buy a brand new truck with a diesel engine, is there an additive that you would run in it right from the start? Something to enhance the fuel to keep it cleaner or oil or ??? Something like a Lucas product.... OR would you just do the preventative maintenance like you should and let it be?

Thanks in advance.
Bob

Were it me, I would follow manufacturers recommendations to a tee.
I have read reports of warranty issues being declined due to the use of unauthorized additives.

diesel kleen has a good rep I believe. It’s a fuel additive. For oil, I’d just run rotella with no additives.

^

I’ve never had a problem with Delo 400 in Cummins and my hunting pard has a fleet of Powerstrokes and also uses it. Between us we have millions of miles with no engine problems using Delo 400 and no additives.

No, all the additives the engine would need is in the oil.

What about winter? What do you use to prevent fuel gelling or is it not an issue unless extremely cold?

Cold areas blend their fuel for the climate in that area.

#1 fuel in the winter for the pickups.

I like to use #1 with anti gel dope added to the bulk tank for the tractors.

We run no.2 all year long with additive.

I cant stand to burn much no.1

use Stanadyne or Howes for lubricity when using plain jane #2 , or use a premium diesel like Cenex Roadmaster

cold weather , 50/50 #1/#2 with some Howes added to fight moisture

When I bought my new 2004 Dodge 3500 with the Cummins, I talked to the service manager about this, he said I should use an additive, he said I could use anything I wanted as long as it was Stanadyne Performance. . I have used it religously ever since and suffered no engine problems in 110,000 miles . I dont do cold weather any more and dont expect my engine to do so either.

On the newer Cummins in dodge trucks rotella T6 is the only oil that I’m aware of that is rated for that engine.

We tow quite a bit which will take us into some super cold areas which requires us to use anti-gelling additive since our rigs will fill up all with #2 much cheaper locally. My 1 ton carries nearly 140 gallons which can be between $150 to $200 or more savings to fill up here.

Yikes, that's 980 pounds of fuel.

Doesn't phase my Ram. It makes it a damn sight more relaxing to be able to drive long distances without hunting very often for decent places to fill up. It is as much a convenience thing as it is a savings.

It is really only about 700 lbs more when it is completely full. About 280 lbs is in the truck's tank.

Fortunately, my 7.3 has zero emmissions controls. Even so, I run Shell Rotella in the crankcase & nothing else. I have run ATF in the fuel since the low sulfur fuel became standard. It boosts the fuel mileage back up to normal, which is 20 mpg. At near 300,000 miles it still rattles nicely.

I use Rotella in mine. It has 180,000 miles on it. We don’t have cold issues down here. Just bought a new 2018, supposed to be here in a few days. I’m eager to see what oil it calls for.

I will run some anti-gel additive if it gets really cold, but otherwise I just run straight diesel (winter blend in the winter) and follow the maintenance schedule. I have done that for 25 years on dozens of fleet and personal trucks in the Rockies and Alaska without any issues. Running 5-40 synthetic will also help with cold weather. I run it year round.

Blended fuel down to ambient 0F temps, straight #1 below that. I add some FPPF Total Power for stability and to combat gelling beginning about Thanksgiving through Easter or so. Nearly 140K on my '11 all by me and never ever experienced any sort of fuel related hiccup.

Only diesel I ever gelled was my '06 6.0L Powerstroke and that was my fault. Got caught with a full tank of straight #2 when a cold snap went to -18F ambient. Was fine until I started/stopped a few times and I figure I built up a little condensation in the fuel filter @ the top of the motor.