11% FE improvement with diesel fuel additive

[slowmover]

Lubrizol has released a new additive that does a better job of cleaning fuel injector interiors, not just the tips. POWER SERVICE and some others use it (though not by name; "improved"). On my 15L work truck the addition of this made a noticeable difference in throttle response. Though, as DD notes, probably too hard to quantify.

As it is also a noticeable difference in my 5.9L personal truck -- and is easily available -- I use it regualrly. SCHAEFFER Diesel Treat is harder for me to find, but has even more of an effect. BOth worth it from standpoint of keeping fuel performance higher, but FE gains may not be easily quantifiable. I believe them worth up to 1/2-mpg for me.

Best approach to FE in a personal vehicle is still to look for percentage improvements to the annual average mpg. Mechanical baseline and aero are what work given steady-state highway mpg. This wil always be the hardest nut to crack (past best tires). All else is cutting annual miles in doing same work and then driving remaining miles better.

No mechanical slop (especially steering for on-highway) and camper aero will be the biggest challenges as weight, per se, doesn't mean so much with an overpowered American diesel pickup at below 60-mph on long trips.

The old AVION truck campers were the high water mark of lightweight, aircraft construction aerodynamic housing. Is thiis the type in mind? If so, there are excellent overlapping threads on both WOODALLS and AIRFORUMS of rebuilds by a handful of enthusiasts.

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[AusKiwi]

Originally Posted by Tesla

I use a little (0.5%) mineral 2-stroke oil for extra fuel lube as well as a diesel fuel additive to keep lines clean, have not noticed difference in fuel economy, although bottle states "may improve FE".
I think the additive can help with bad fuel or if system is a bit blocked, but if system and fuel is good then additive is more of an insurance type thing.

I too have experimented with two stroke and also with Morey's diesel additive which is a similar oily consistency like the two stroke. Like you, didn't see a huge difference. More recently, I have been testing the Pro-Ma DT5 diesel additive which is more like the consistency of petrol, and contains a fuel system cleaner as well as a surfactant which breaks down any water in the fuel and a combustion modifier to make the fuel burn more completely. Long story short, the engine seems to have more power and I am getting as good as 5.7 litres per 100kms from my Citroen C5 2.0 HDi whereas before it was averaging between 6.5 and 7. I now use a combination of the three additives while I use up the Morey's but probably won't buy that again as the Pro-Ma product seems to make the biggest difference and if I want to boost lubricity a little more, the two stroke is way cheaper than the Morey's product. I joined up as a distributor to get the Pro-Ma DT5 cheaper so can get a litre of that for about $23 which works out about 2.3 cents per litre of fuel treated. I figure I am saving about 15 cents a litre at current fuel prices so I come out ahead, but even at full retail price it would still only cost 3.6 cents per litre of fuel treated so worth it for anyone to try.

[Chrysler kid]

Most deisel stations off of major highways have high flow filters at the pump for quick big rig filling, while convenient it can also send contaminants into the fuel. Corrosion from the tank, dirt etc. Deisels seem to always benefit from additives and each additive seems to have a dedicated following including lucas

If possible try to use smaller non big rig stations. Most of my knowledge on deisel is torque over horse power, and some diesel guys will like to brag about getting 19 mpg highway using a programmer and removing emissions systems.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by Chrysler kid

some diesel guys will like to brag about getting 19 mpg highway using a programmer and removing emissions systems.

Yeah, emission systems, Diesel Dave, what did you call those? "Unspecified emissions components?"

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by AusKiwi

More recently, I have been testing the Pro-Ma DT5 diesel additive which is more like the consistency of petrol, and contains a fuel system cleaner as well as a surfactant which breaks down any water in the fuel and a combustion modifier to make the fuel burn more completely. Long story short, the engine seems to have more power and I am getting as good as 5.7 litres per 100kms from my Citroen C5 2.0 HDi whereas before it was averaging between 6.5 and 7. I now use a combination of the three additives while I use up the Morey's but probably won't buy that again as the Pro-Ma product seems to make the biggest difference and if I want to boost lubricity a little more, the two stroke is way cheaper than the Morey's product.

Does your C5 still have DPF cleaner in it's additive tank? If so you're actually using four products simultaneously. I know DPF additives warn against using them with other additives in the same tank.

[jray3]

The OptiLube XPD that Night Sailor endorsed is about 90% naptha and trimethylbenzene. On Amazon, paint-thinning Naptha is $11/quart ($44/gallon) and Opti-Lube XPD is $14/quart, so just a 27% premium for the 10% of trace ingredients. (Plus pricey shipping) Trimethylbenzene is nasty stuff that's hard to buy, so it sounds worth a try from a local retailer rather than just pouring in a can o solvent, and even a 5% increase in fuel economy would be worthwhile for something that adds 11 cents per gallon (2.75%) to $4 diesel.
http://opti-lube.com/downloads/MSDS/...I_XPD_MSDS.pdf

A 5% fuel economy improvement on $4 diesel would breakeven at $25.60 per quart of additive, if used to treat 128 gallons, as claimed. Pennies, but worthwhile especially if the other benefits of fuel system cleaning and lubricity are realized...

[Dodgetech79]

You know pairing a basic tow tune with a larger exhaust is a pretty solid route to improved mpg in a dmax. I routinely had trucks hand calculating low 20's in the mpg that way including a 4wd dually getting 24.

[herberpower]

my opinion of additives is as follows:

You do not need an additive to diesel with low sulfur content . diesel is mineral oil and lubricated enough.

Biodiesel has less energy, but carries oxygen , so when burned in the engine burns more completely , but not enough to meet the diesel and do fewer miles per tank.

cetane additives are different . better and some worse .

gain of 11% I think so .

I am using a cetane additive when I miss a mixture of gasoline more recycled vegetable oil , sunflower , rapeseed and olive oil.

I tried to take the same additive when my car runs on diesel, the idle goes from 800-900 rpm , the car note with more power and disappears completely black smoke.

additive I use is this :

Using Vegetable oil as a diesel fuel - vegi-boost

with 0.1 % is very noticeable .

[Arragonis]

I've run 2.5 tanks with Millers eco-max in 1.5x the dose (the label says it can be used up to 2x the dose if you want something "extra"). The OBD doesn't indicate any improvement on this third tank on regular journeys - the same ~30-33 going to work (uphill) and the same ~35-40 going home (downhill) depending on traffic which is usually cr@p.

Once the millers runs out (one more tank maybe) I have some Redex 0-60 Cetane booster to try - a couple of bottles I got on a bonus card, seemed rude not to as they were free

[AusKiwi]

Originally Posted by oldtamiyaphile

Does your C5 still have DPF cleaner in it's additive tank? If so you're actually using four products simultaneously. I know DPF additives warn against using them with other additives in the same tank.

My car doesn't have a particle filter, for which I am grateful. Have heard too many stories of expensive repair jobs related to that technology. So no, there is no DPF additive tank.