Follow this line of thinking:
We know that your fuel mileage goes down drastically when the truck goes through a regen, and a regen is triggered by soot build up in the filter. Is it possible for a fuel additive to reduce the amount of soot produced, thereby reducing the frequency or length of regens?
I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of that, and if were possible, it would already be in development, but wouldn't it pay for itself in reduced fuel cost?
What brought this about, I was rummaging around in the garage, and came across a few bottles of Stanadyne, left over from when I had my 7.3. I decided to use it up in the new truck, and have noticed that the length of the regens seems to be considerably shorter than normal. As a result, I'm getting better mileage over the last several tanks, with no other changes in my driving.

What are your thoughts?

 

Cetane booster can reduce soot production. Some additives actually make it worse. I haven't noticed a huge difference either way with any of the additives that I have tried. A much greater influence on the regen cycle is the quality of your motor oil.

 

I notice fewer regens when I burn BioDiesel. However, I use more DEF when I run BioDiesel. Unfortunately, since BioDiesel has less energy (BTUs) than D2 you get less MPG which offsets the savings in less regens...

I don't have an answer, but it is intriguing.

 

How does the motor oil affect the regen cycle?

 

Oil has blow-by and that gets burned and produces soot. You need low ash oil for the 6.7 because of this. There may be other reasons, but IIRC that is the main one.

 

I definitively am still trying to learn this whole regen and DEF stuff

I thought the DEF was used when doing a regen? If not, what triggers the DEF fluid injection?

 

Regen is diesel being dumped through the exhaust and ignited in the DPF. DEF is directly injected into the SCR when a NOX sensor detects too much NOX in the exhaust. Unfortunately, unlike a Catalytic converter in a gas engine there is no solid material (Like platinum) that can reduce the amount of NOX in the exhaust, there is however a fluid that can coat a catalyst that will reduce NOX and that fluid is Urea. You have two things going on to reduce diesel emissions. One reduces soot with a filter and that has to be cleaned via a regen and the other reduces NOX which is in a different exhaust chamber (SCR - Selective Catalyst Reducer/Reduction) and that uses a small amount of DEF (Urea). Both have a ton of sensors on them that the truck monitors and takes care of for you when needed.

 

I use Amalgamated TDR-S/FL to reduce regens. See this link:

News : Amalgamated, Inc.

With winter blend fuel and this additive I am seeing no regens due to soot level. After 500 to 900 miles, the PCM will force a regen regardless of soot level. Not sure why, but it does. In fact I just saw one yesterday. Soot level was just 1.30, less than half of the usual 2.66 level that should trigger a regen. But I had travelled about 660 miles since the last regen, so no complaints from me.

This additive also boosts lubricity by 150 points on the scar test. Mileage is up about 1 MPG too.

Note that I do use Valvoline Premium Blue 5W-40 synthetic oil. Best I found for reducing regens. Big improvement over Motorcraft and Rotella T6 oil.

The real test for this additive won't happen until we get back to summer blend fuel. Summer blend has a higher paraffin content, which provides more power and MPG, but also creates more soot.

Pricing is about $95 for 2.5 gallons. Mixture is 0.3 oz. per gallon of fuel, but I use 0.4 oz. Seems to work better. 2.5 gallons treats 800 to 1066 gallons of fuel.

 

Dakster pretty much summed it up. Oil vapor is drawn into the intake prior to the turbo via the crankcase ventilation system. This oil is then burned in the combustion process and exits via the exhaust. The higher the ash content of the oil, the more it affects the buildup of soot in the DPF.

I noticed a long time ago that certain brands of oil caused my truck to regen more often. At first I thought there must be something else causing this, but sure enough, change oil brands and there was an immediate difference. It has been discussed on this forum several times and quite a few other people have echoed my findings. What many believe to be the holy grail of diesel oil (mainly because it is cheap and readily available at Wally World) is actually the devil in disguise!

 

Well said Matt!

BTW, check out my post above yours regarding regens. I've been testing many different additives and came across one that shows real promise.

 

Time for me to try Valvoline Premium Blue 5W-40 and Amalgamated TDR-S/FL.

I don't have winter blend anything where I live. If we get to even the teens it would break every cold record by 20F degrees. If we got to zero, the world is probably getting ready to end so the number of regens would be immaterial at that point.

 

Awesome response, Romeo Scorpion!
When I follow the link, I don't see TDR-SF/L, only TDR-S. Are they the same thing? Thanks for the tip, that's what I was hoping for.

 

It's not listed with their standard consumer products. It's really for fleet use, but it is available. Here is some more information on TDR-S/FL:

News : Amalgamated, Inc.

There is a phone number at the bottom of the page that you can call to order it. You can also order it directly from their site. Here is the correspondence and pricing info that I received from them via email:

"These are the sizes and prices to be referenced if you choose to order via our website with Paypal. Remember, you do not need a Paypal account to purchase.

TDRS/FL
6 pack of quart bottles $73.94
2.5 gallon jug $98.49
5 gallon pale $185.75

The price includes shipping. This is the exact same additive as what is being used to reduce regen issues with the heavy duty/bus fleet as noted on our website."

To purchase directly from their website, just click the "Pay Now" button for any of their TDR-S products, then change the description, qty and pricing info to TDRS/FL with appropriate pricing from above.

Like I said, it's working great with winter blend fuel. I hope it will continue to work this well with summer blend too.

Note: I am not affiliated with this company in any way, shape or form. They just seem to have a good product that does what it says it does.

 

Thanks! You rock!

 

I think I ordered 6 qts. I guess I'll find out next week some time. Thanks for the tip.