Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Diesel Fuel Additives

This is the first diesel I have ever owned and was wondering if fuel additives were needed are they worth using or a waste of money?? It is a 2500 Chevy.
I would like to here your thoughts on this.. Some people I have talked to claim you have to use this!!

Terry

Ive 130,000 miles and it's 11 years old. Never used anything but Diesel Fuel. Runs fine, never been concerned. Dodge 2005 5.9 Cummins.

You know, I need to correct this. I did use a fuel additive on a trip to Arizona from Wa. state. I did it out of curiosity and to check Fuel mileage improvement.

There was no difference in the fuel economy or the way the truck ran. That was the only time. I might try it again in the future to see if there is any benefit. However as a normal daily practice I don't need it.

If your truck was built before ULSD was introduced, you will probably benefit from adding some lubricity to the fuel, to replace what sulpher used to provide.

Stanadyne was the winner of a lot of evaluations back when I was paying attention. I know several folks that add a small bottle of 2-stroke oil in each tank.

Edited to add: The goal of these has nothing to do with increasing mileage, but extending the life of your injection pump.

I have used additive ever since I got my 1998 Dodge and I am on my 3rd injector pump with 130K on thetruck.

I use it mostly as an anti gel product as our winters here at 7600 ft are tad nippy

I used 2 stroke in all my Cummins at 1oz per gallon. Kept everything nice and lubed up and didn't cost very much

Look up the Spicer Report. It's a few years old, but most of the big name additives were tested. Some additives actually made the lubricity in the fuel worse.

I run B5 when I can.

I have a 2011 Duramax. Nothing but fuel. The Cp4 fuel pumps have a reputation for failing somewhat prematurely. The problem is when they do they they send metal through your entire fuel system, necessitating replacing basically anything fuel touches (rails, injectors, etc). It is a $9,000-$13,000 bill when that happens. I doubt additives will help. A lift pump would probably help more, along with leaving the truck otherwise stock. What year is it?

It's a 2014 Duramax.

Terry

Well, take comfort in the large number of CP4's that have not blown up...and keep your fingers crossed.

^^^^ lubricity is the issue. Your filling station should be using additive, but I like to use a little of my own in my Cummins. Anti gell is very important in ulsd. Plain old diesel had to be about -5 degrees to gell, usld can gell as high as 17 degrees. This from the guys who run the fuel distribution rack where we load fuel.

With as picky as the manufacturers are being on warranty claims for the catastrophic pump failures, I'd be very leery of using a product not sold, or recommended by the manufacturer.
Just a thought.

^ I'm in this boat as well. That and additives can potentially screw with the DPF and associated sensors as well. Modern diesels produce gobs of power and tow like a dream in stock form, but you are going to pay for it on the lot, at the pump, and with reduced longevity as compared to older models. That being said, my 2011 2500HD is the best truck I have ever driven. My feelings will probably change if I lose a CP4, but until then...

With this soybean crap around you better use something or you will have jello from tank to pump night not flow again till spring. cheap insurance!!

I never run any additives in my old work truck. But in the winter I do put about a quart of gasoline in each tank. It doesn't gel and starts better.

I've never used any additives in my 99 dodge diesel. It's got 384,000 miles on it now.

In cold country, most gas stations put anti-gel in their diesel before they sell it. It's a non-issue.

The operative word there is MOST. That one station that doesn't can sure get you into a headache.

I live at 7600 feet and there is one service station close.Diesel there is typically 40-50 cents a gallon higher. The kids working the register had no idea if it added or not.So I go to town,5500 feet, and they don't know either.

you cant depend on the stuff a service station may or may not add in cold weather

the final filters in the newer common rail diesels have a much "tighter" micron rating than older mechanical injected motors do , and they are much fussier about gelling up

my 08 Ford has stalled twice on me running the so called *Wintermaster* the local Cenex stations sell , my 97 New Holland loader tractor will absolutely not run on the stuff if it around zero.....I prefer to make my own mix of #1 and #2 and add a good dump of Howes to fight any moisture that might be present

lubricity is important for the common rail motors as well and it is cheap insurance to run a good additive...your fuel supplier may or may not be running anything even during the summer ....current ultra low sulfur fuel is much drier than the fuel of 20 years ago

2 stroke was ranked #2 in that test and its cheap

Not sure if you can use it in the newer diesels though

There are basically two types of additives:

lubricity - year round need

anti-gelling - cold season only

I think you can put a lot of "additives" in older diesels that would be inappropriate for newer motors.

Don't use an additive that emulsifies the water. That defeats the water separator and can be damaging to injector pumps and injectors.

Diesel forums say that newer motors require a cetane (lubricity) rating of 45, but most fuels produced are a cetane of 40.

Mine is an '11 F250 and I won't put anything in the fuel tank not specifically OK'd by Ford.

The additives can be found a bit less on Amazon vs. dealership.