Hello All,

I was wondering if I could get your thought on a fuel additive. I live in TX so I do not need it because of the cold. I am looking more for a cetane improver. From searching this forum I see a lot of talk about additives but it is tough to determine what the general census is.

As always thanks in advance for your time

Paul

 

I think you might get a better response in one of the Misc. forums; scroll down from the forum list and you will see topics like Oil and Lubrication, After Market stuff, etc.

I am not sure, but I think a lot of the additives are designed for the pre-ULSD trucks; the sulfer acts as a lubricant, and the older trucks need the additive.

Good luck.

 

litespeedvortex:

I think you bring up an interesting question which I have not seen much written about recently, and here is what I think. Fuel additives, historically did do what WhiteEx says above, but also, I can remember buying additives for performance.

Now, with the requirement that all over the road diesel fuel be compliant to 2010 Fed regulations, as such that means 15 ppm sulfur, ULSDF, that also means that someone just might be checking the cetane rating.

If the diesel fuel we buy for our trucks has a cetane rating of 45, I honestly believe a lot of potential problems will be circumvented.

After all, the 6.4 engine was designed for emissions pre 2010 compliant, but to burn 15 ppm ULSDF, it only seems logical they will run better, or best, if exactly that type fuel is used, and part of the fuel spec. was 45 cetane rating, as per Ford book.

P. S. I can see no reason for any additive. Using 45 cetane fuel with ULSDF, 15 ppm maximum should run perfectly. IMHO>

 

So the question would be, is our fuel at least 45 CN? I think there is a lot of evidence that it may not be. In some areas you can get regular and premium grades of ULSD. I've never seen such a thing here in the western states, so I don't know. But I've seen enough test data such that I have no confidence that we are getting 45 CN and probably closer to 40 CN. For that reason I believe a Cetane booster is good insurance.

 

I was filling up my car at a BP, on the way to work this morning & on the pump for diesel it only had a cetane rating of 40. That actually, is the first one I have seen!! Personally, I have not used any additives in my truck , but it is an interesting ? . Would be curious to know what cetane ratings are at various places. Flying J ,BP,Shell, Sunoco, ect.

 

We do use a fuel additive in our 08 6.4L and have since day one. There has been some question on the proper centane rating and the proper lubricity of the ULSD. These new motors need a 45 centane rating and there is no guarantee that we get that at all stations. Our dealer checked several stations in his area and none of them met that standard. Same with the lubricate issue. The jobber is supposed to do it..but who knows if they all do. Two diesel guys at two different dealers said it was a good idea to use the additive..we use Power service Quick Kleen. I do it because this is a very expensive truck/motor, and like chicken soup....it can't hurt. We will continue to use it till we have better answers to the centane and lubricity issues.

 

I've been doing a little research the last few minutes. Turns out that the U.S. minimum cetane requirement is only 40 CN. In Europe it is 50 CN. Our requirement of 40 is the worst in the developed world. Raising the requirement to at least 45 would decrease NOX emissions as well as raise fuel mileage.

Makes you think WTF don't it?

According to one source, CN numbers over 55 do not yield an improvement. So there is diminishing return. But if I can treat my fuel and get it up to at least 45 CN, it makes me feel like I am doing something worthwhile.

BTW, I'm driving an '06, but your topic caught my attention. I use the additive for the lubricity as well as the CN improvement.

 

I use the Ford Cetane Booster. While I can't say that I see any noticable improvement in the MPG, I do think the truck runs a little better. I assume that with the cetane booster it smokes less, which I think - but don't know, means less re-gens. I must be getting something for the cost of the additive!

 

It is amazing - what I learn here. When I posted the question, I did not think of some of the other points (quality control or lack of and who is accountable) that have been mentioned. It does make you think.

Thank you again for your inputs

 

Here's so info that may help!

Lubricity Additive Study Results - Diesel Place

 

I have used Diesel Kleen in my 08 since day one. On a trip out west this summer our friend, with a 06 Dodge Cummins, kept telling me it wasnt needed so I filled up the tank and didnt put the Diesel Kleen in. My performance went down and so did my mileage. (about 2 mpg).
I got the best mileage and performance when I filled up with Bio5 and added the fuel additive.
I had the customer satisfaction work done last week and it took the dealer a week to get the truck right. Blew out one TCM and had trouble getting the second one to accept the program. I was told that the tech spent the better part of 12 hours on the phone with the factory before they got it right. The service mgr. told me it was my truck that got the program put on hold but I doubt that. You guys were talking about it being on hold before I picked mine up

 

I was told from a Ford mechanic that adding Ford certified cetane boosters only improve truck performance. You do not however need to add lubricity additives unless running questionable fuel. Too much lubrication can lead to fuel pump failure.

All in all, from what I understood, adding a cetane booster is to your advantage.

 

Lots of companies make cetane additives I spent about an hour at my local shop which is also the biggest parts store is town they had cetane additives from about five different companies all except one send they were for ULSD.

 

why not go with the ones that FORD recommends? i did a mega search a few weeks ago on here about this very topic for my 6.0 and discovered that the best two options are stanadyne, and a little cheaper is the ford stuff.

the stanadyne (the one bottle i ran of it) did make a noticeable difference in mileage (about 1 mpg) and it ran a lot smoother.

now using some of the ford stuff, but don't have an opinion on it yet.

 

Only because of convenience. I only hang around the Ford dealership if I'm having a really bad day.

On the other hand, I might find myself at Walmart on any average day.