Diesel fuel additive

[Shimon]

I was looking for that report I read from Southwest Research and couldn't find it. I e-mailed Stanadyne and this what they had to say:

THANK YOU for your inquiry! We are in the process of updating all of the data with Southwest Research since the previous testing was done over 10 years ago and is no longer applicable with today's fuels, particularly ultra low sulfur diesel. We will be comparing Stanadyne's Performance Formula against 8 other national brands as well as testing for lubricity, cetane and cold flow. We hope the testing and subsequent data will be available by September and it will be posted on the Stanadyne website.

 

[Jay4200]

If so, where do I get all the things that you mention?

All that stuff is available at WalMart.

JayC

 

[N80]

Hmmm, this puts me in mind of two elephants. The first elephant is that one that the quotation from EMA put in the room but no one seems to be noticing:

Shortened life of engine components such as fuel injection pumps and unit injectors usually can be ascribed to a lack of fuel lubricity and hence is a concern to engine manufacturers...

So why isn't anyone talking about this part. This sure makes a strong case for doing something! I'm not saying that something needs to be any of the additives discussed so far, but it sure seems to indicate that improving on the lubricity of the fuel would be a good thing. With the new sulpher standards, which I know nothing about, there seems like there is an even greater role for something to increase lubricity.

I find it very frustrating that the fuel, additive and tractor manufacturers are leaving us in a state or relative ignorance about these things. Why aren't we given recommendations the way we are on every other aspect of tractor operation and care? And why aren't there any real, reproducible, industry accepted studies in this matter? It might seem like voodoo to us, but the engineers who do this stuff should be able to do the test. Of course the fuel companies don't have to...they have no real competition. The additive companies don't want any research that brings their product into question and the tractor companies likely remain silent because they don't want the liability of complicity in some doofus dumping some snake oil in his fuel tank.

The second elephant is the one that isn't there. Remember the joke about the guy throwing balls of paper out the bus window in Manhatten. Another guy asks why. The nut says its to keep elephants way. The second guy says there are no elephants in Manhatten. The nut replies, "That's because it works." No offense, but that is about the same as anyone saying they always use fuel additives and have never had any trouble with their engine.

The corollary is that if the cost is low enough and the peace of mind is worth it, then the additive has done its job already.

And for the record, these are just observations. I still haven't decided whether to add anything to my fuel or not.

 

[rdsaustintx]

if the cost is low enough and the peace of mind is worth it, then the additive has done its job already.

Exactly. A dash of power service in every tank and you can read the ULSD threads without too much drop in blood pressure.


(Man ,this reminds me of the old commercial where Andy Granatelli has a sumo wrestler try to pick up a screwdriver with STP on it. That would definitely be the perfect product if sumo wrestlers were stealing your screwdrivers...)



Russell in Texas

 

[jbrumberg]

At some point in time the high volume diesel station who services most if not all the area commercial guys and all the local school buses switched to ULSD. Last winter whenever the ambient temperature dropped to ~17 degrees F the "untreated" fuel started to cloud in my sediment bowl and when the temperature dropped to ~10 degrees F I started having gelling problems which got progressively worse as the temperatures dropped (and so did a lot of other local operators ) with this fuel. Power Service (White) in a "double dose" kept my tractor operational throughout the winter in subzero temperatures (plus an engine block heater ) without it my tractor would be stationary and my stored ULSD diesel fuel would have been jello-like. My point is the diesel fuel coming out of the refineries was insufficiently treated for my area prior to delivery to the local dealers so the need for additonal additives was necessary. Additives got me through the winter without problems; I now use Power Service (White) for lubricity and increased cetane boost as insurance. The untreated ULSD fuel direct from the pump did not meet my operational parameters of expectation
then and there are no guarantees this fuel can meet them now . Jay