I just bought a "new to me" 03 F250 6.0L and had a few quick questions about fuel additives. I had to fill up today and went to Advance and picked up a bottle of STP Diesel Treatment/Injector Cleaner. I wanted to get the Motorcraft but the dealership parts department was closed. My questions are:

1. Which is best
2. Do I really need to use them and how often

I'm pretty new to diesels but have done my homework on the 6.0L. I know it requires some TLC to stay on top. This was my first fill up and had to use what was available. Thanks in advance.

Brandon

 

fords pm 22 is a good product and yes IMO some form of cetain booster should be used,
its not an injector clear at all. it does however add lubricity to ulsd
there are other products out there too that work just as well

 

I have never used and do not know any 6.0 owners who use STP diesel fuel treatment.

I have used either Motorcraft (both regular and Winter formulas)and primarily Diesel Service (gray bottle Spring - Sumer, white bottle Fall - Winter). religiously.

Diesel fuel starts to cloud a 45F, so it is important to use an anti gel additive whenever temperature dictates.

I have not had any trouble with my 2005 6.0 except for minor oil leaks. Because I have always run an additive, I have no experience operating a 6.0 without it. Therefore, I cannot attribute any specific benefits to the additives.

On the other hand, I have NEVER gelled up my fuel system over five Wyoming Winters with temperatures touching -30F, but I've seen dozens and dozens of diesels with gelled fuel filters. The guys stuck on the sides of roads in Winter are those who believe they didn't need a fuel additive.

 

I'll be heading to my friendly local Ford dealership tomorrow for a few bottles of Motorcraft!

 

also an fyi if its cold were you are then they also have an antigel.
lots of guys also seem to like power serve.
im pretty much stick to ford do to the cost factor for me.

 

I have an '05 bought new. Have been using cetane boost (Power Service, gray container) in warm weather and white container (anti-gelling and cetaine boost) in cold weather plus Walmart 2 cycle outboard motor oil as an additive for extra lubricity. 4 ounces of each per 10 gallons of fuel. I feel there is not enough lubricity in low sulfur fuel nor in the Power Service additive, hence the use of the 2 cycle outboard motor oil. Have been using this procedure from the beginning. Probably over kill but whatever! As an experiment, I have put a small sealed jar of diesel fuel in my freezer ( labeled as such.. didn't want the wife to use it as a salad dressing) and at 10 degrees F. wax crystals formed. Living on Long Island, it really does not get much below 10 F., but below zero is another story. Follow the advice from the member from Wyoming. Good luck. MC.

 

Might not be too bad with some seasoned croutons and a little red onion!

I have been using Stanadyne Perfomance Formula since I bought my truck new in '05 (since the second tank of fuel, in every tank). Just yesterday I replaced the EGR valve...I was not having any problem with it, it's just that my curiosity got the best of me and i wanted to see what the valve looked like. I was glad that there was not a lot of fouling either on the valve or the intake manifold. Mainly just a dry black soot. Just wiped out the manifold with a tootbrush and a rag, hit it with the shop vac, and popped a new valve in. Truck has 93,000 miles on the odometer and I think the Stanadyne is largely responsible for what I have found...I have seen pictures of EGR valves that looked much worse with far fewer miles of service.

 

Here's some information to keep in mind:

There is an ASTM standard for diesel pour point from October through March. It's varies with location in the United States and for each month. Of course, pour point isn't enough to get the fuel through a 10 micron filter.

I've had telephone conversations with the gentleman in charge of diesel fuels at Conoco and a chemical engineer at Power Service. Here is what they both confirmed:

Different refineries use different processes to make diesel fuel. These processes have an effect on the cold temperature performance of diesel.

Crude oil is not uniform and what is delivered to refineries varies. This week's delivery will have different cold temperature performance than next week.

Your gasoline station gets typically fuel from several refineries. This is especially true if the oil company doesn't have a refinery close by.

Different processes, different batches of crude and multiple refineries mean you cannot predict the cold temp performance of diesel beyond the local ASTM pour point.

On top of this, the ASTM standard varies every month. What are the chances your station's diesel tanks are completely empty of +10F diesel on October 31 and full of -5F diesel on November 1? Probably ZERO.

Diesel fuel refined through different processes at different refineries with different crude reacts differently to anti gel.

The guys at Power Service get diesel samples from refineries every week for testing. I got the results for ten samples from ten refineries close to Cody, Wyomng a couple of years ago. Without additive, one sample was usable at 0F, another at +30F, and a third at -12F. With additive, the 0F fuel went down to -30F, the +30F to +15F, and the -12F to -15F.

THERE IS NO CORRELATION IN COLD TEMPERATURE PERFORMANCE OF DIESEL FUEL WITH AND WITH OUT ANTI GEL. ANTI GEL'S TEMPERATURE DEPRESSION DEPENDS ON THE DIESEL FUEL. DOUBLE DOSING DOES NOT PRODUCE PREDICTABLE RESULTS, EITHER.

So, you cannot know the cold temperature performance of the diesel you pump into your tank unless:

You are absolutely certain what refinery supplies your station and your station pays extra for winterized diesel that is mixed and tested to the oil company's standards and you know those standards.

My next door neighbor owns a local Conoco station. Because Conoco has a refinery nearby, he is contractually obligated to buy fuel from the Conoco refinery. I confirmed this with Conoco. My neighbor pays extra for winterized diesel. I confirmed this with Conoco.

Conoco lists -25F as its performance standard for winterized diesel in Wyoming. That means every batch of winterized diesel delivered to my neighbor's Conoco station is blended to work at -25F regardless of the type of crude it's made from or how it's refined. I always buy diesel from my neighbor's station during cold weather. I still add anti gel!

My neighbor swears he stopped adding anti gel to his diesels since buying winterized diesel from the Conoco refinery. I have never seen his Cummins parked in his garage.

So, that sample in your freezer predicts NOTHING.

Here is my suggestion:

Find the ASTM pour points for regular diesel here - ASTM pour point temperatures

Always use anti gel if the forecast is +45F or lower.

If the forecast is lower than the ASTM pour point for any given month, double dose the anti gel.

Drain your water separator every month (even if the water in fuel light doesn't come on). My dealer does it for free whenever I want and i stay clean!

Keep Your fingers crossed.


Whatever you do, do not fill up your auxiliary diesel tank in Arizona in January and drive back to Cody, Wyoming with (south) Arizona diesel still in the tank with no anti gel added. (I met a new diesel owner who did just that while he was screaming at the dealer service adviser about his new piece of **** Powerstroke that wouldn't start.)

 

Lucas oil products are pretty good stuff to use but they do not seem to have cetane boost
so i use the diesel service(white bottle stuff) for winter with lucas injector conditioner or ford additive blended in

lucas oil have suggested a quart of tranny fluid in fuel for lubicity
i heard even the 7.3 's have trouble with the new fuel

 

I can understand why Lucas would suggest using trans fluid for lubricity, because in a lubricity additive study Lucas additive actually decreased the amount of lubricity in out of the pump diesel fuel.

 

I've been using Stanadyne Performance since I purchased my truck two years ago. It's a little pricey and I have to have it shipped to the house but I think it's been worth the effort for me.

To date I've not had any injector issues nor have I had any gelling issues and I live in Michigan where it gets pretty cold. Usually have a least a week of below 0F temperatures.

Lots of people swear by the DK stuff too. The nice thing about that is that you can get it a Walmart and it's pretty cheap.

 

Each situation is different , but I RARELY if ever use an additive...
of course in Texus, we don't have the bitter cold 'youse guys' have up north, but also all 3 of my ex's have been daily drivers without any long term sitting...

EVERY once in a while I may add some RXP to clean out things, but mostly I just use a hard push on the accelerator to do that

 

I believe the fuel we purchase at the pumps don't even meet the Ford cetane specs.

 

i heard that as well thought the min cetain rating was 46 for the 6.0 and all i can get is 40 cetain at the pump? not sure how true that is.

 

And that's because you're a chemical engineer and your lab tests prove that mixing two products from two or three manufacturers doesn't negate the effect of any or all nor produce something that's harmful or decreases performance.

Why would you blend either version of Power Service with Ford additive anyway as they all have cetane additives?

It's pretty easy to think two substances won't interfere with each other, but every year hundreds of people find out you can't mix two common household cleaning agents without producing poison gas. That would be chlorine bleach and ammonia.

Additionally, Ford specifically warns about adding anything to fuel except anti gel and cetane booster. But, what the hell do they know? Lucas, the only seller of lubricants that spend more money on advertising than STP did in the '60s and '70s says add transmission fluid!

Guys are mixing anything and everything into diesel fuel trying to find a magic potion that will increase performance and/or longevity. I have never read any scientifically valid study that shows there is such a potion, but what the heck, Elmo down at the corner garage has a friend who has a cousinthat has a 6.0 with 533.654 miles on it and he got there by mixing a pint of used tranny fluid, 6 ounces of premium gasoline and 2 tablespoons of virgin olive oil (because that weird lady on the Food Network always raves about "V.O.O.") in every tank.