Diesel Fuel differences by brand
 

Do you all get better performace with different brands of fuel with your 6.4l. It just seems like I get worse mileage/performance with Valero than Murphy or Flying J/Pilot. i have also had good, in fact the best, with Fina. I have used Diesel Kleen with both and without. Ya, I know it depends on how you drive, but I am comparing to traveling without a load on the Interstate at pretty constant velocity. Just an observation and was wondering if anyone else had noticed the differences. I don't want to get into a Brand war as we know we need to buy from "high volume" retailers.

Believe it or not, I do better when I fill up at the local Sheetz. My other place is Southern States, they cater mostly to the farm crowd.

I don't use any additives at all. I have used Diesel Kleen one time, I suppose it is time for another dose of the injector cleaner.

I always use diesel kleen , it helps boost cetane which the 6.4 needs a high number to run right.

I always use diesel kleen , it helps boost cetane which the 6.4 needs a high number to run right.

The 6.4L PSD has a recommended/required cetane of 45 in cold weather. The biggest reason to use a good additive (naturally Ford recommends theirs) is because the ULSD fuel is a very "dry" fuel. Has very little lubricating qualities. A good additive is cheap insurance for protecting your pump, injectors, etc. I have never been able to tell if my MPG's are better/worse from 1 brand to another.

Interesting you mentioned it. I use Shell, Chevron, or diesel from a truck stop right off of a freeway. I tried Valero once and it must have been an old/bad batch of fuel or something. I think I fueled up there because they were $0.20 cheaper than everyone else--all I remember was I was stuck in regen for the longest time for that whole tank. That scared me off.

CA only requires a min of 40 cetane, so I'm sure that's all we're getting. I started using Diesel Kleen about 4000miles ago. It certainly seems to quiet things down at idle, and my regen frequency seems to have slowed down to 200~300miles between regens. My hand calculated mpgs seem to average about 0.5mpg better (probably because of fewer regens)

As a side note, most of my driving is slow traffic <40mph around town...not too much freeway

It is a shame that we cannot buy 45 CETANE diesel fuel. Personally, I would pay more to be able to buy a uniform brand of fuel. With the number of diesel engines in America, it doesn't seem like a tough job. Only a few stations do I find 45 CETANE.

My worst experience is with Murphy/Wal Mart. I quit buying fuel from them as you save a couple pennies a gallon, and I was getting 2 mpg less, in my experience.

My mileage goes up running the Diesel Kleen, so our diesel in Colorado must be Cetane 35 or something equally crappy.

My truck seems to do a little better with the Shell fuel. Use the additive every 3rd or 4th tank as it doesn't seem to gain me much in the summer months, but I do like the lubricity factors mentioned.

My opinion is that the Cetane number is the key to this whole fuel thread. Lower cetane = less energy per unit of fuel by volume. It takes more fuel to power the vehicle when cetane is lower. If you can get 45 cetane fuel you should need less fuel to get power, better mileage, cleaner burn (more efficient combustion).

The only crux here is that if the sensors and programming are smart enough to recognize a better fuel and adjust the injectors/timing/air intake/variable turbo to actually make a difference between 35 and 45 cetane fuel, using only the amount of fuel necessary and no more.

Cetane improvers have been known to improve mileage long ago before all the electronic engine managements systems; back when it was a simple mechanical fuel injection pump. More power = less foot; less foot = better MPG.

Higher cetane lowers NOx.
http://www.epa.gov/OTAQ/guidance/420b04005.pdf

As others have posted it improves the complete combustion burn; less soot; less frequent DPF regens; EGR system can stay cleaner and less apt to plug.

It is hard for me to see a mileage improvement using Diesel Kleen additive and best I think it does for me is probably .5 MPG. I use it for the other reasons listed.

I might add; my regen frequency is no greater pulling +14,000 lbs vs. solo. Typically between 300-400 miles; had one (solo) go +500 miles during interstate 70 MPH driving. I have had a regen at less than 300 miles but it followed an incomplete previous regen that I did not run long enough to allow it to finish.

One might blame it on my cracked? DPF (yea, I have had black pipes since 18,000 miles on the clock); but the regen pattern hasn't changed that I recall since the truck was new. I am currently at 55K.

I use Diesel Kleen in my turbo diesel tractor for the same reasons. Insurance for good health; just like some of the pills I need to go take before bed....:-roll

Bob

diesel cetane levels
 

I came across this post in a VW TDI forum.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.p...74&postcount=1



***Cetane levels by fuel company. To ensure accuracy if you have a level to add to the list please forward an email from a corporate office to me, and I will add it to the list. Please bear in mind that the current minimum from refiners in North America is 40. Depending on the quality of the oil used as well as refining processes you'll find 40-42 from refiners in the US and Canada. Anything above that has to do with specific companies additive packages. When companies give a minimum value then it will be listed as a single number. When a company gives a range of numbers bear in mind that more often than not you'll probably find the lower number rather than the higher number. If 40 is listed then it generally means that fuel is bought as is from the refiner--if someone messes up and doesn't put in enough additive at the refinery then that can cause major problems for your fuel system. It's recommended therefore that if you get the inexpensive fuel with low cetane you use a cetane booster (PowerService, Redline 85+ or Stanadyne are all great choices), or run a little biodiesel in the tank. If something higher than 42 is listed then the retailer adds their own additive package in addition to the standard refinery additive package. Generally speaking as long as 49 or higher is listed you do not need to worry about adding any additives yourself.

BP (Amoco branded), 51;
Chevron, 49;
PetroCanada, 47-51
Marathon, 45-47
BP (Powerblend 47, otherwise 40-42)
Shell, 46;
Sinclair, 46;
Sunoco Gold, 45 (often +1-5) Sunoco regular is usually 40.
Holiday Stations, 40-43
HESS, 40-42, can be up to 45.
Husky, 40 + diesel Max additives raise another 1-3 from there (41-45 max)
Love's: 40
Pilot: 40
Valero: 40
Flying J, 40

i drive a ton and use murphy, valero, shell, exxon,mobil, loves, even kroger brand and havew not noticed one bit of differance in quality......only differance i have noticed is the price between certian stations

I'm new to diesel trucks and have only just filled my truck for the first time. Where on the pump does it list the cetane number? I checked a couple of pumps in our local gas stations and could not find it anywhere.

I've seen ONE pump with a Cetane level listed, and that was in Cali, and it said 40. Colorado doesn't list it at all.