I wouldn't believe me either
 

For QUITE some time now I have preached to people how fuel additive do not work and are useless.

This is NOT a "better fuel economy" type thing but I DID fix my car with it. I have been getting alot of stuttering out of my car especially when I first start it up where it feels like its misfiring. I was looking online and saw that people and mechanics were saying that carbon build up will cause this.

I looked up how to get rid of carbon build up, bla bla bla. "Chevron Techron" was labeled as the best one for "bang for your buck" aka, cheap but works. I did actually go out and get it with much :rolleyes: but I figured for $8, Screw it.

Im happy to say I ran that tank away and that stuttering hasn't been back at all. It's been only about 3 or 4 weeks since then and I dont know how long it will last but for now I felt like this would be the most fitting place for me to brag a little.

*I didn't put this in the "snake oil" section since it worked and was non-fuel economy related

Were you getting a CEL on this? If so, what was the code?

Na, no code for the hesitations at first start up

Just tried some Redline S1 injector cleaner in my Echo for a similar problem. Hesitation, irregular idle and the occasional P0171 "lean" code. I'll have to wait and see. Glad to hear you're having success. Hope it's fixed for good.

Based on a few internet threads, I run Outboard motor oil as an additive that's said to do the same thing as Lucas UCL etc. UCL is cheap enough, but Outboard oil is much cheaper still. For around 10c a tank it's cheap enough to add to every fill.

My cars aren't old enough to be having injector problems but I'd like to see someone with said issues give outboard oil a go.

Chevron Techron is pretty much the best you can get for cleaning injectors. Millions of dollars and years of research went into that product. Now, if you want to clean the intake i would suggest Seafoam.

I had something similar, my Suburban 6.5 Turbo Diesel was getting CELs from what was probably cheap fuel (fuel was occasionally igniting at the wrong time) and I ended up switching brands and using Diesel Kleen. I haven't seen any issues since then, I won't say it's because of the fuel additive but diesel fuel in America is said to have a ridiculously low Cetane rating with a minimum of 40 when it should be 50. D.K. has a cetane boost in it.

I'm also going to try reducing the emissions in the 84 Caprice and maybe solve pre-ignition issues by using Amsoil P.I. (Performance Improver.) Dunno if it'll work but it may have done something in the Wagon since I got 10% higher F.E. on the last tank. If that doesn't work I'll use Seafoam; it does clean piston cylinders if you literally pour it in and let it soak then remove it. I did that it in a snow blower as the engine had been pouring black smoke out on startup. I also changed the spark plug at the same time and it no longer smokes.

How does this occur in a diesel that injects fuel when it is needed? Cheap, crappy fuel I can understand causing issues.

Simon

The shop manual said the code was for the fuel igniting when the piston wasn't at TDC. It wasn't happening all the time but the light would stay on for three consecutive starts until the code either stopped occurring or I cleared it with the ScanGauge II and then it would sometimes show up again while I was still using the same fuel. Maybe the Cetane rating was on the low side, making it difficult to ignite.

Interesting. Most likely the other way around - the higher the cetane number the faster it burns, thus producing peak pressure before TDC. How did the engine run on this fuel?

Simon

First I have to say the poor fuel was from a Valero station with only one Diesel pump. The other fuel was from Citgo's Country Fair and there's not much I have to say for fuel quality, I wasn't checking MPGs on the vehicle then and still am not. People have told me my 6.5 is a loud engine which benefits from a Cetane booster too and it may just be placebo but it at least seems that if I use D.K. it's working a bit smoother. For the record in this post the Diesel Kleen is advertised to improve the lubricity of fuel, clean injectors and boost cetane by up to 5 points at the same time.

My Highway car a 97 Volvo 960 2.9L 24V use to get 29.25-29.75 mpg on the highway at 65 mph pre E10. Over the years the mileage slowly dropped into the high 26's which I was blaming on E10 fuel.

My buddy Wayne Gerdes last spring ran a specially built duel fuel V6 Charger for Shell. Two separate tanks each feeding its own bank of cylinders. Story is up on Youtube if you want more info.

Long story short after 5000 miles Shell tore the motor down to see how well the Shell V-power kept the engine clean vs the other premium fuel it was filled with.

Figured maybe this may be the problem with the Volvo, I usually fill with what ever premium was cheapest. Well?

I dumped a bottle of Techron in and filled it up with Shell V-Power and headed out on a 400 mile Sunday drive. I didn't see much change until about 200 miles out the car suddenly started to run much better. By the time I got home she was purring, all the roughness and hesitation was gone but I didn't see much increase if any in fuel mileage via the Scan Gauge in the low 27's.

After two and half tanks of Shell V-Power and the bottle of Techron I saw the light as they say. I made a Sunday drive to check out a car museum of about 500 miles, and found my fuel mileage had improved back up into the low 29's, 29.2 to be exact. :thumbup: No more weasel pee gas for her, Top tier only if I can't find Shell V-power. Two plus miles per gallon or an 8%-10% increase in fuel mileage can't be ignored.

If your car isn't running smooth run a can of BG44K (the best, Dealer, Amazon, Ebay) or a bottle of Techron and a few tanks Top Tier fuel and see if you fuel mileage increases due to the cleaning effect.

I've seen others report using two-cycle outboard engine oil in fuel.

I know some in the diesel world says it improves lubricity now missing in ULSD fuel.

What is it said to do for a gasoline engine? Can it harm catalytic converters?

I tested 2 stroke oil in our 2000 Lincoln Town car. I would fill up one tank with 2 stroke, run it all the way empty till the miles tull empty read --. Then would fill it up with rug. And conducted an ongoing A-B-A test and saw no difference.

Hi, sounds interesting..But did it also save fuel??

FYI you can do this for almost free using water injection. Just spraying a fine mist into the engine with a bit of throttle for a few minutes works by essentially steam cleaning the combustion chamber.

Tuners use water/meth injection to keep intake temps down, but it also has the added bonus of removing carbon buildup. I also think that ericthecarguy made a video on this.

Water was the reason to keep the old 10-oz returnable Coca-Cola bottle in the tool chest bottom drawer. Prior to a tune-up one would use the right hand thumb to meter water flow into the carburetor while the left hand kept the rpm high enough working the throttle linkage on that 850-cfm ThermoQuad to prevent engine stall. Got to be an interesting race between the two at times. Listening to that V8-440 gulp and sing.

As to some of the additive claims above: some of you all aren’t working the drivetrain long enough (short trips are anything to the three hour mark), nor hard enough (car loaded to max capacity or trailer towing; with attendant full throttle use).

An Italian tune-up: get it out on the big road and do a series of acceleration runs 45-mph to well over 100-mph after the three-hour mark. And keep it there. And use the decel phase to get brakes well-heated.

Once back at shop is time for tune-up plus fluids/filters/belts change.

Some of the low end economy cars will be fine with a life of barely opened throttle. Something with substantial horsepower, won’t.

Fuel additives have their place. I use them. I expect better fuel stability and combustion. In this is no disappointment. In the days of carburetion as the 1960s faded and fuel quality declined, use became mandatory for really tight tuning for FE.

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I'm a fan of Amsoil products (as are many) but I'm also very partial to Redline's SI-1. It's got more PEA (the stuff that Techron is known for) than any of the other fuel additives on the market and I can pick up a bottle of the stuff at my local O'Reilly Auto Parts. I'm currently burning down a tank of SI-1 mixed in with Shell gas. Before I owned her, the car was owned by my sister-in-law who cared for the car enough not to kill it, but knows absolutely nothing about maintenance and used cheap gas. She took the car in regularly for service at quick-lube places, but I don't trust them (just before I bought the car, the quick-lube place put ATF if the PS reservoir...). Anywho, I exclusively use Shell gas (Chevron in a pinch on a road trip) and I've noticed that during this first tank of Shell gas and the SI-1 mixed in, the engine runs smoother and the injectors are a bit quieter. I plan to just run a bottle of SI-1 every oil change and hope that it, in combination with Shell gas, will keep my injectors and combustion chamber deposit free. It feels better anyway.

There's some good discussion of the various PEA containing fuel system cleaners over at BITOG. Here's the link if you care to read.
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forum...Number=1865221