180 thou and some change on my Injectors since 04 ,I think I'll keep using Howes , maybe a cetain boost once in a while.

 

The two benefits that I believe to be real (and necessary) about additives are lubricity and cetane boost. I definitely see less soot in the system (EGR valve and intake) when I use a quality additive. I also believe that I see a mpg boost, but I do not have statistical proof of it because a 0.5 to 1 mpg improvement is hard to track and attribute to any specific change (too many variables). That fuel economy improvement is what I believe I see (and I have used it, quit using it, and then started using it again - and I also track and graph the mpg's with every tank). I definitely see the lie-o-meter and the hand calculated fuel economy become closer to each other when using the fuel additives - I graph that also.

I must agree that the water demulsifying and algae prevention claims make me feel better, but I have only obtained 1 batch of bad fuel (rust, sludge and bacteria with my 6.9L) in 40 years of owning diesels and I only started using fuel additives with the 6.0L. I have only seen small amounts of water (saw it in the 6.0L, 7.3L, and the 6.0L) when draining the water separator, but water is definitely present in small amounts periodically. Who knows how much help the additive is with regards to removing (demulsifying) water.

Whether or not it hurts the longevity of the fuel pump. I could not say - except it has not appeared to hurt mine at 150k miles. I have used additives for around 100k of those miles.

HT32BSX115 - I definitely see your point about making unfounded claims. It is easy to jump to conclusions without solid proof. This is especially true when long term reliability is desired. I want to minimize my problems over my expected ownership of 300k miles or 15 years (whichever comes first). So - it is hard to make accurate claims about long term reliability with limited data or experience. I will say that if one person can realize long term reliability of the fuel system when using fuel additives, then that reliability can not be a fluke (I just can't believe in fluke reliability). It doesn't mean everyone will get the same reliability, but it most likely does say that it is possible to use it and achieve reliability (and at worst, anyone experiencing unreliability is probably experiencing a combination of things and it is not the fuel additives alone). JMHO - FWIW

 

Additives of any sort will not fix a problem or cover for poor maintenance IMHO.

With that being said I was experiencing some stiction (sp?) so I spent the money and bought the Archoil snake oil, changed my oil, added the Archoil and nothing changed. I ran almost 1,000 miles before I blew a head gasket but as for stiction, noise etc, that never changed. I have read thread after thread talking about all the great things Archoil will do in the oil as well as the fuel treatment but in my limited experience I added $70 of oil to my engine that it did not need.

So going by what some others have already expressed on this particular thread it could be said that there's a possibility that adding the oil treatment caused my head gasket to fail. But then again, it's an early build, later remanufactured build that is a 6.0 and surprise of all surprises it blew a head gasket. Now I'm off to Autozone to get some of that special stuff that fixes blown head gaskets. It looks like silver stripper glitter so do I put it in the engine somewhere or do I sprinkle it over the motor like magic fairy dust??

 

I think it's fairly clear that testimonial "evidence" is not really evidence at all.....It's sort of why most of the manufacturers don't solicit independent analysis of their "products" OR, they tightly control the information and very carefully word their claims.......

You're right!....It really is.

When there's literally thousands of different types of diesel equipment and diesel powered vehicles and marine engines "out there in radio land" that operate hundreds of thousands of miles (and thousands of hrs) on just "pump" diesel, it makes me think the claims made by the "Snake oil salesmen " are somewhat less than accurate.

And it makes me pretty skeptical about those claims.....

HAR! (or is it LOL?)

Well, since we know what (usually) "blows head gaskets in a 6.0L :

Over-boost caused by trying to get another 200hp out of an engine that is already putting out more power than the "Corn-Binder Boys" really intended for it to put out...........AND dumping water into the intake via a cracked EGR cooler................(um, hydrolock--boom!)

I'm thinking that they might not be making the right kind of Head-Gasket Fairy Dust anymore!!...

I've been pretty lucky. I haven't drained any water at all. I would submit that if you DO get water, it was in the fuel before you pumped it into the tank.

It takes a LOT of alcohol to "mix" with water and then make it so you can actually pass it through a filter and burn it. Does ANY diesel engine manufacturer actually suggest using a fuel additive to "remove water"?

I think they pretty much recommend draining water when the "water-in-fuel" light comes on. It's the reason for having a water separating filter, primary/secondary filters water-in-fuel lights etc...etc.....


I am not trying to tell anyone NOT to use their favorite "stuff".....I'm just suggesting that most of it may not be necessary......

To the OP, Sorry for the thread hyjack.

Rick

 

eh... that's not a hijack.... *THIS* is a hijack....

not even diesel related..... but i discovered much to my
dismay, that leaving pump gas in your spiffy italian 4 stroke
race bike sitting without draining the float bowl for even a few
weeks does not go well..... plugged up the pilot jet among other
things... ran poorly above 2/3 throttle, and started only above 2/3
throttle.

instead of pulling the carb and cleaning everything, here is what i
did... i bought snake oil. and it sounded like the snakiest snake oil
around... works in gas, diesel, 2 stroke, 4 stroke, in the fuel or in
the crankcase.

the only place they didn't say it's wonderful is in the wash bucket.
but they do sell some bug remover to help with that..... sound
snakey enough?

i poured half a can into two gallons of rank gas in the bike's tank,
sloshed it to mix, opened the float drain to get some to the carb,
started the bike at half throttle, and made some passes in second
gear down the street with the choke on to get the carb wet.

let it sit an hour. did some more passes with the choke on.

drained the rancid fuel and filled the tank with fresh premium.
it now runs perfectly. thing flat screams... i left it in gear on the
sidestand idling, with the rekluse clutch engaged.... it sits there
idling perfectly. not even a tug on the rear wheel.

the snake oil? seafoam. i just ordered a case from amazon. the stuff works.

 

And when you put the stripper glitter in, you can change your oil cooler in about a month.

 

It'll last that long? I figured if the stripper glitter were good enough to fill a gap in a head gasket it would also plug the oil cooler in the first few minutes of running. But no fear Autozone also sells magic potion stuff to fix that problem as well, I just have the read the claims on the bottle to find the right color.

 

I have used stanadyne almost exclusively since i have owned my truck. This last week when I was buying a bottle I had to wait and actually read the label. It states do not store below 32*F/0*C. Although I had no issues all last year with temps -17*F. It kind of set an alarm off in my head I I can't store it at or below freezing it can not offer much anti gel protection can it?

 

I know that our Anti-Gel is the same way, but once it gets mixed into the fuel, it prevents gelling down to -65. I have had it explained to me that the more concentrated the anti gel is, the more susceptible it is to thickening up before it's mixed in.

 

Salt is a solid, but there is plenting of it in the oceans (and salt water freezes at lower temps than pure water).