I guess I could be considered a Hot Shot's Fanboy. I do like their products. I had good luck with them in problematic Duramax's in the past. When I first bought my pickup, I bought a 16 oz bottle of their Everyday Diesel Treatment. It is around $18 on Amazon. You mix it 1 oz to 25 gallons for maintenance treatment. So basically I used 1 oz at every fill up. So it figures out to around $1.12 per use. Now $18 is high for a bottle of treatment, as most additives go, but $1.12 per tank is good and cheap. I started with a dose of their diesel extreme before I started the EDT regiment. Now I had no reason to believe there was a problem that I was trying to fix, I just figured on a new to me rig I would start at the beginning. I am not currently using the EDT, primarily because I keep forgetting to get another bottle of it. It is not a "winterizer", so when we had a healthy ice storm in October, I did purchase some Power Service Anti-Gel, primarily that product because that is what they had at the Co-op when I was getting fuel. On the other side of the injectors, I did also add Stiction Eliminator at the last oil change. I know that 7.3's are not plagued by stiction issues the way the 6.0s are, but my pickup spent a lot of time sitting in its previous life, and while it never had many miles between oil changes, the oil was not always "fresh".

 

These are the real world test I like to watch. Wish there were more out there like this comparing different products. Would have loved to see how optilube would have fared in this test also.
Reminds me of the pour test for oil in the freezer. I think Colorado did it with the Triax oil.

This one was more for anti gelling. I'd like to see another one similar to this for their lubricity additives and another for their cleaning additives.

 

Best octane booster.... depends on situation I'm in. If I'm at home sitting in front of fireplace, my Baby might get a booster....

But if I'm in the mountains hiking in the freezing cold.... I'm sorry... that North Georgia Moonshine is not going in the truck....

 

I applied OptiLube XPD to the 75 gallons of diesel fuel I have on board. This was a calculated treatment as I will be using most of the fuel towing our 5th wheel to and from a beach camping trip next Saturday. Once that is complete, I will be draining the Rotella T6 and pouring in Triax Fleet Supreme 15w40. Then, I will be running that for ~7,500 miles during a cross country trip towing the 5th wheel.

I feel this will give me a fair shake at forming my own opinion on the fuel additive and the Triax oil so that I can move forward from there.

 

Diesel extreme is 41% more expensive then Opti-lube given this test data. I wonder what the test results would be with 41% more Opti-lube. I'll reach out to Opti-lube.

https://hss-cdn-lubricationspeci.net...port-1-LX4.pdf

 

(Opti-lube) I have not tested the LX4 yet to determine what it actually does.
I have tested their other 2 products prior to their release of the LX4.
Those tests resulted in a complete lack of trust from me and their claims.
(same with their oil additives that I have tested)

That being said, try and find a fuel that scores a 363 from the pump.
It just doesn't happen, unless that fuel is already treated somehow or has a good amount of Bio in it.
So the whole test is questionable from the GET GO.
If pump fuel was that good nationwide, there would be no need for an additive.

Then different types of lubricity additives affect fuel differently.
Apparently they have something that affects "their" base fuel really well, or it's fiction.


In our testing with a base fuel score of 458, Our XL scored 216.5.
A difference of 52.78%.

 

BRD, I am confused...Your last statement, is that in regards to the Opti-Lube or the Hot Shot Secret? It definitely seems you have a distinct opinion, but I am wondering...

 

Carry over from a 6.7 thread I'm on. I don't believe in hot shot.

 

Gotcha...I am sure you have access to "stuff" the rest of us do not since you are in the industry. Care to expand?

 

BTW, not being a smart aleck above, or anything like that...I am truly interested to know from someone in the Injector business about additives. Are you seeing 7.3 injector failures that could be helped by additives? What about the particular additives would help with the problems being seen in old injectors? I am truly curious and want to know. My experiences are with the Duramax, and thus a completely different injection system, injector, and everything else except being a v8 with a central mounted turbo!

 

Lubricity matters. Here are two examples.

1. AC code 7.3 injectors with ~160,000 miles running waste vegetable oil; plungers and barrels looked brand new.
2. 6.6 Duramax common rail injectors with ~160,000 of biodiesel; injector test results where not far from a new/reman injector.

A quality fuel additive should pay for itself with MPG saved, not talking much here. The long term benefit is reduction of wear in fuel system components. In the case of the CP4, it can keep your pump from sending metal into your fuel system costing you $10,000. Opti-lube in every tank. If you aren't going to use Opti-lube then use something that actually adds lubricity to the diesel fuel.

 

So it is your opinion that the Hot Shot Secret products do not help with lubricity? I personally have never experienced any kind of MPG improvement from "every tank" products of any brand. I have experienced benefits from periodic maintenance products, especially when there is an issue that needs helped.

 

So you haven't gained a 14 mile range per tank when using a quality fuel additive?

 

Summer diesel has more lubricating properties, so in summer i use nothing at all. When the refineries switch to winter diesel, i run howes additive in everything diesel, from equipment, semis, to pickups. Have for 14 years, and no problems.

 

If I have, it has escaped my notice! Things not working in my favor there...lots of idling, crappy canned tuner on truck, lack of right foot impulse control...and just a general mindset that I did not buy the truck to sip fuel. That is why I have a Suzuki I am working on to get back on the road.